Iran

Pols Want Obama To Hit Iran Harder, Make Its Bank 'Radioactive'

Susan Crabtree | October 14, 2011, 1:03PM

Iranian Pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a Shahab 3 missile and Pres. Obama

Republicans and even some Democrats are coming down hard on President Obama's policy toward Iran and Syria just three days after the Justice Department released information about a foiled Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the U.S.

A Friday House hearing devoted to examining the threats posed by Iran and Syria quickly devolved into attacks on Obama's record toward the two Middle Eastern dictatorships.

Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) lambasted the administration's execution of Iran human rights protections passed into law last year, calling its record "truly pathetic and inadequate" and arguing that "a pack of Iranian boy scouts could do better by far."

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Bashar al-Assad

Obama Steps Up Pressure On Syrian Leader To Resign

Susan Crabtree | August 18, 2011, 10:12AM

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

President Obama on Thursday issued his most explicit call to date for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down from power after months of the Syrian leader's brutal assaults on peaceful pro-reform protestors.

In a written statement, Obama urged Assad to resign and announced a host of new sanctions against the Syrian government. Previously, the President and the administration had said only that Assad had lost all credibility to rule Syria.

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Barack Obama

Obama Appeals To 'Hope' Not 'Hate' In Unveiling Shift In Middle East Policy

Susan Crabtree | May 19, 2011, 2:10PM

President Barack Obama

President Obama attempted to reset relations with the Arab world Thursday in a comprehensive speech that positioned the United States and its values squarely behind the democratic uprisings sweeping the Middle East and North Africa and promised aid to help promote economic growth and stability across the region.

"Across the region, those rights that we take for granted are being claimed with joy by those who are prying loose the grip of an iron fist," Obama said during a 45-minute speech at the State Department.

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Middle East

Obama To Lay Out Economic Recovery Plan For Middle East In Major Speech

Susan Crabtree | May 19, 2011, 8:27AM

President Obama plans to outline an ambitious economic recovery plan for the Middle East and Northern Africa designed to spur economic growth and build on democratic reforms that began in Egypt and Tunisia and have swept to countries across the region this Spring.

In major speech at the State Department Thursday, Obama will announce U.S. steps to cancel nearly a billion dollars worth of Egyptian and Tunisian debt, establish a Egyptian-American private enterprise fund and guarantee up to a billion dollars in borrowing through the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation, a U.S. agency that mobilizes private-sector investment in new and emerging markets, according to senior administration officials.

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Syria

Obama Imposes Tougher Sanctions On Syria

Susan Crabtree | May 18, 2011, 2:45PM

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

President Obama Wednesday announced tougher sanctions against Syria and its President, Bashar al Assad, as well as other senior officials in his government, in an effort to turn up the pressure on his regime and their increasingly deadly crackdown against peaceful protesters.

Previously, the United States has frozen assets and banned trade deals with senior Syrian government officials including al Assad in an effort to convince him to end the violent response rebel groups in Syria and their desire to institute democratic reforms.

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Syria

White House Issues Strongest Threat To Syria Yet

Susan Crabtree | May 6, 2011, 6:57PM

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

The White House issued its strongest denouncement to date on the Syrian government's bloody crackdown on peaceful protesters demanding democratic reforms.

A statement on Friday from press secretary Jay Carney said the Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad's desperate attempt to hold onto power isn't working and "will not restore stability and will not stop the demands for change in Syria."

In addition to a series of sanctions the U.S. has imposed on Syria, the White House warned Assad that the U.S. would "take additional steps to make clear our strong opposition to the Syrian government's treatment of its people," although he did not specify what those steps would be. He also welcomed the European Union's decision to impose sanctions on Syrian officials responsible for human rights abuse.

The full statement from the White House:

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Syria

Obama Imposes New Sanctions Against Syria

Susan Crabtree | April 29, 2011, 6:42PM

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

The White House imposed new sanctions on Syria Friday and called on other U.S. allies to follow suit.

President Obama announced the sanctions through a White House executive order in response to a violent crackdown on protesters airing grievances with the government of Bashar Al-Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for four decades.

Syrian citizens Friday crowded the streets in more than 30 cities and towns across the country for its latest "day of rage" protests, promptly a deadly blow from Al-Assad's military, which killed nearly 30 people, according to a Syrian human rights group.

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Syria

U.S. Considering Targeted Syria Sanctions

Susan Crabtree | April 25, 2011, 2:27PM

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

The Obama administration is weighing targeted sanctions against Syrian President Bashar Assad and his regime for their increasingly violent backlash against anti-government protesters.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Monday that targeted sanctions is one way to turn up the heat on Assad and convince him to allow protesters to air their grievances against the government without fearing for their lives.

"We are considering targeted sanctions to respond to the crackdown in Syria," Carney told reporters at a Monday briefing as the administration stepped up its denunciations of the Syrian government. "We're looking at other means to increase the pressure on Syria in a meaningful way."

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Syria

White House Sidesteps Questions About Whether Syrian Leader Should Go

Susan Crabtree | March 25, 2011, 4:03PM

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

The White House is strongly condemning the Syrian government's attacks on its citizen-protesters with similar language it used against Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi in the weeks and days leading up to U.S. air strikes in the North African country.

Noticeably absent from the denouncement, however, is any broad statement from President Obama or his staff that Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad has lost his "legitimacy" and must step down or be removed from power.

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