Iran

20121230-175814-pic-40580651.jpg

Chuck Hagel, a potential nominee for defense secretary, called the 2007 troop surge in Iraq a “blunder” and advocated talks with Iran with no strings attached. (Associated Press)

20121218-165547-pic-838248139.jpg

Iran seems to understand it cannot hang its entire strategy on the survival of Syrian President Bashar Assad (wearing sash next to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) and needs to build new alliances as contingencies. Iran has proposed a plan for elections in Syria for parliament and president. (Associated Press)

Iran Nuclear_Live.jpg

Herman Nackaerts, deputy director general and head of the Department of Safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), waves as he arrives from Iran at Schwechat Airport in Vienna, Austria, on Dec. 14, 2012. (Associated Press)

IRAN_WEB_20121210_0002

This photo released Dec. 8, 2011, by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards claims to show a U.S. RQ-170 Sentinel drone that Tehran said its forces downed earlier in the week, as Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh (right), chief of the aerospace division of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, listens to an unidentified colonel in an undisclosed location in Iran. (Associated Press/Sepahnews)

IRAN_WEB_20121210_0001

** FILE ** This photo released Dec. 8, 2011, by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards claims to show Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh (left), the chief of the aerospace division of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, listening to an unidentified colonel as he points to a U.S. RQ-170 Sentinel drone that Tehran said its forces downed earlier in the week. (Associated Press/Sepahnews)

B1-B-monday-AH.jpg

Illustration Iran likes Obama by Alexander Hunter for The Washington Times

20121105-203351-pic-328564731.jpg

FILE - In this Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012 file photo, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. Netanyahu ordered the military in 2010 to go on high alert for a looming attack on Iran's nuclear program, but backed off following strong objections from senior security officials, according to an Israeli news program. The show suggests Israel came close to carrying out the strike, and exposes a deep rift between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his top security men over the wisdom of attacking Iran. (AP Photo/Gali Tibbon, Poo, File)

20121028-175450-pic-450460663.jpg

Former United Nations Ambassador John R. Bolton says his major concerns include “the nuclear proliferation issue, as manifested both in Iran and North Korea ... relations with Russia, and the approach to the U.S. intelligence budget,” which is facing a $25 billion cut over the next 10 years. Mr. Bolton is critical of the White House for claiming that the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden last year has diminished his terrorist network. (Associated Press)

B1-iran-red-line-AH.jpg

Illustration Iran's Red LIne by Alexander Hunter for The Washington Times

Mideast Iran Nuclear _Reps.jpg

In this photo released by an official website of the Iranian supreme leader's office, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses a large group of Basij militia, during his tour in northeastern Iran, on Monday, Oct. 15, 2012. Iranian officials have made no secret about their desire to reopen nuclear talks with the U.S. and other world powers as economic sanctions dig deeper — with Iran's supreme leader even depicting his envoys as waiting at the negotiating table. (Associated Press)