Against the backdrop of the Democratic Party’s drift leftward, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) appears mainstream. He has represented a shifting set of California districts for nearly 30 years. Not only is he a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, but he was also previously chairman of the Asia subcommittee. While Sherman votes reliably Democratic, he avoids the

I’ve been invited before to meetings with the Iranian government leadership—president, foreign minister, another president. It’s always a hard call going to the meeting; on the one hand, it somehow feels like an acknowledgement, a seal of approval. Many friends have made an eloquent case to boycott Iranian leaders. On the other, a sterile appreciation

President Joe Biden approved the release of $6 billion to Iran as part of a hostage ransom and prisoner swap. It follows a similar $1.5 billion hostage deal his same aides arranged during the Obama administration. Five illegally detained Americans will come home, though it appears that Biden has agreed to leave behind Jamshid “Jimmy” Sharmahd , much as Obama agreed to abandon Bob

Word leaked on Monday that Iran had held Johan Floderus, a Swedish diplomat working for the European Union’s foreign service, for more than 500 days. The West kept his detention quiet so as not to disrupt diplomacy. Iran apparently seized Floderus as a chit to trade for Hamid Nouri, an Iranian national held in Sweden for his

Last week’s announcement that Brics—an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—will induct six new members has renewed chatter about China eclipsing the West. The new members—Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Ethiopia and Argentina—supposedly give Brics the heft to rival the industrialized democracies in the Group of Seven and reshape […]