July 30, 2012 | 1:02 am

July 30, 2012

Posted by Shmuel Rosner

Benjamin Netanyahu greets Mitt Romney in Jerusalem, July 29, 2012. (Photo: Reuters)

In-depth

Iran sanctions halt long-range ballistic-missile development

The increasingly severe sanctions on Iran over its nuclear ambitions could be having an effect on the country’s weapons program, according to a study by the International Institute for Strategic Studies

While it is impossible for outsiders to identify the precise reasons behind the stalled Sajjil-2 programme, it is reasonable to conclude that trade sanctions have disrupted Iran’s access to key propellant ingredients and compromised development efforts.

Managing the Endgame in Syria

The collapse of the Assad regime in Syria - with or without foreign intervention - could impact on the entire Middle East, writes Chuck Freilich in The Diplomat.

Iran and Hezbollah are already on the “wrong side of history”, their former stature as revolutionary actors, who successfully confronted the region’s conservative states, the U.S. and Israel, has been greatly tarnished by their avid support for the Assad regime. Both also face other crises as well, Iran over its nuclear program and the future of its regime, Hezbollah over its domestic and regional standing. 

Mrs. Assad Duped Me

Writing in the Daily Beast, Jewish journalist Joan Juliet Buck tells the story behind her notorious Vogue interview with Asma Assad.

I met the devil and his wife, with full fashion-magazine access to their improbable fishbowl apartment where they lived out their daily lives on display to the eyes of thousands, like a Middle-Eastern version of The Truman Show. They showed off their fantasy lives for me. Assad told me just who he was, but I didn’t use it; he repeated it a year later to Barbara Walters, but no one heard him.

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