The already-strained relationship between Tehran and Washington ties worsened on 20 June, when Iran said that it had downed a US drone over Iranian soil. US President Trump then tweeted that he had halted a military strike against Iran 10 minutes before it was set to be carried out, upon learning that some 150 Iranians might die in the attack. [...]

The United States earlier threatened to remove Turkey from it's F-35 program after Ankara refused to scrap a deal with Russia to buy Moscow's cutting-edge S-400 missile systems, which Washington claimed could compromise US-made aircraft. [...]

Concerns are growing in the Trump administration over Turkey and India's adamant decision to buy the Russian-made S-400. Indian military observer Rakesh Krishnan Simha and UK-based geopolitical analyst Adam Garrie have shared their views on whether Washington will make New Delhi an offer it won't be able to refuse in order to nix the S-400 deal. [...]

It was the Spanish philosopher, poet and novelist, George Santayana (1863-1952), who warned us all: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it". [...]

Baghdad will not allow Washington to use its military bases to launch an attack on Iran, the country's president stressed, thrashing Donald Trump's warmongering policies towards the Islamic Republic. [...]

Earlier this week, Washington imposed a new round of sanctions on Tehran after the Iranian military downed an American drone, stating it had violated the country's borders. [...]

Tensions between Iran and the US have intensified since Tehran downed an American drone, which as Iran said, had violated the country's borders. Washington, meanwhile, has accused Tehran of allegedly attacking oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, something that the Islamic Republic denies doing. [...]

US National Security Advisor John Bolton has said that defiant Iran stays silent over meaningful talks with Washington, when, in fact, Tehran repeatedly argued that a barrage of threats and sanctions has made talks impossible. [...]

Iran has shot down an American RQ-4 reconnaissance drone flying over Hormuzgan province, Tehran claims. The US military declined to comment. [...]

US President Donald Trump does not appear to be in control of his own administration’s Iran policy and he should fire national security adviser John Bolton, special adviser to EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told RT. [...]

Iran’s envoy to the United Nations has called on the international community to end “unlawful destabilizing measures” by the US, declaring that while Iran does not seek war, it “reserves the right to counter any hostile act. [...]

As tensions with Iran threaten to spill over into war, the big question is who has sway over President Donald Trump, his hawkish advisers or a cautious Fox News host, and the answer might make all the difference. [...]

Turkey’s planned deployment of Russian S-400 missile defense systems would be “devastating” for the F-35 program to which Ankara has contributed over $1 billion, the Pentagon has warned. “Completion of this transaction would be devastating, not only to the F-35 program, on which the West has placed its modernized integrated air capability, but it would potentially rupture Turkish interoper [...]

Iran dismisses Washington's calls to "talk" as a waste of time since Tehran is fighting for true economic autonomy and independence from the Western-led dollar diktat, says Pye Ian, an American economic analyst and private equity executive, explaining why US efforts to confuse and scare the Islamic Republic don't work. [...]

S-400 anti-air missile systems will begin to arrive in Turkey in two months, says the head of Russian state defense corporation Rostec, despite Washington warning Ankara that the deal could threaten their partnership. [...]

As Donald Trump cozies up to the hardline Israeli right-wingers, it seems that support for a sensible Middle East policy is in decline. But a number of the US’ European allies seem to be beginning to break ranks with Washington. [...]

US citizens are weary of endless wars, Virginia State Senator Richard Black believes. He warned President Donald Trump against dragging the country into another one with Iran, and blamed John Bolton for being the top warmonger. [...]

The European Union has denounced Israeli authorities’ plans to expand settlements into occupied East Jerusalem as “an obstacle to peace.” [...]

Frustrated by a legal ban on sharing intelligence with Israeli operatives conducting targeted assassinations against Hezbollah, the NSA crafted a loophole giving them total access even to US citizens' data, leaked documents show. [...]

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu beamed as he showed off a new, Donald Trump-signed US State Department map which redraws Israel’s border to include the Golan Heights – an occupied territory annexed from Syria. [...]

Lebanon's Defence Minister Elias Bou Saab has warned that the Lebanese Air Force will strike Israel's Ben Gurion airport in the event of a military conflict between the two states, the Jerusalem Post reported, citing Hezbollah's al-Manar news site. [...]

US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus has warned Turkey about the “very negative consequences” their acquisition of the Russian S-400 missile defense systems will have if it goes ahead. The purchase of the surface-to-air missile defence systems will seriously affect the defence relations of the United States and NATO with Turkey, she said. [...]