Middle East/North Africa

The call came after news reports that Obama refused to meet with Netanyahu when he visits the U.S. this month.

The White House denied Obama was snubbing the Israeli prime minister on his U.S. visit, citing scheduling differences.

Protests in Benghazi and Cairo sparked by anger over anti-Islam video linked to Florida pastor Terry Jones.

Senate hawks John McCain (R-Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) on Tuesday called on the Senate to quickly approve President Obama's pick to be the new ambassador to Iraq. Read more...

Back from a trip to Iraq, Senate hawks say Obama is to blame for creating the conditions fueling post-war strife. 

Netanyahu unleashed his harshest comments to date after Secretary Clinton said Sunday the administration was "not setting deadlines" on Iran.

The Obama administration is sending one of its top Treasury officials on a tour of the Middle East this week to help ramp up sanctions against Iran and Syria.

Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin's trip to Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia comes as the administration is under fire from Republicans and Israel to turn the screws on Iran and get the country to abandon its alleged nuclear weapons program. 

Wolin is expected to press Lebanon to “prevent abuse of the Lebanese financial sector by illicit actors” and “discuss the need for Lebanese banks and regulatory authorities to remain vigilant against the evasion of sanctions by Iran and Syria.” The Treasury Department last year imposed sanctions on the Lebanon-based subsidiary of the Commercial Bank of Syria.

President Obama on Monday named a former ambassador to Jordan to lead the world's largest embassy in Baghdad after his first choice was felled by a sex scandal.

Robert Beecroft served as ambassador to Amman from 2008 to 2011 before being named deputy chief of mission in Iraq since July 2011 and chargé d'affaires since June 2012. If confirmed, he will replace James Jeffrey, who stepped down in June to retire. 

Obama's first pick, Brett McGurk, withdrew his nomination in June when Republicans threatened to block him after racy e-mails with a Wall Street Journal reporter whom he later married became public.

Resettlement for Syrians displaced by the civil war in their country isn't on the agenda as the top U.S. official for migration issues visits Turkey this week, the State Department said Monday. 

Anne Richard, the assistant secretary for Population, Refugees and Migration, is scheduled to visit an Istanbul refugee processing center that mostly handles Iraqis during her week-long visit to Turkey. She won't be announcing any agreement to resettle Syrians, an agency spokeswoman told The Hill. 

Deborah Sisbarro said resettling the displaced Syrians to the United States would be “more of a last resort,” and the administration is not there “yet.”

“Right now everything is kind of based on the hope that the [Bashar] Assad regime will fall,” she said, adding that Syrian refugees would then be able to return home.

In an interview McCain urged the administration to “get them arms and weapons so it is a fair fight.”