Back in October, Iran put the Obama administration in a tough spot. Tehran test-fired a next generation, surface-to-surface ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
On Thursday, we detailed the Obama administration’s plan to impose fresh sanctions on Iran in connection with the test-firing of Tehran’s next-generation, surface-to-surface ballistic missile the Emad back in October.
While the launch did not technically violate the nuclear accord (on which the ink is barely dry), it did run afoul of a UN Security Council resolution on developing and testing missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads. That prompted some US lawmakers to call for new penalties against the country just as international sanctions are set to be lifted.
Amidst all the current shadow play, the true test of the Obama administration's intentions is whether the US coalition will really fight Daesh, al-Nusra and Ahrar ash-Sham (which harbors a lot of jihadists from Chechnya, Dagestan and Uzbekistan), with no reservations.
The alleged ties between Turkish President Erdogan and Islamist terrorists in Syria is an embarrassment for the Obama administration and the U.S. news media, which would prefer to look the other way rather than face up to the danger created by an out-of-control NATO "ally," writes Robert Parry.