President Ahmadinejad said Iran will announce enrichment of uranium to 20 percent purity at the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution, which is next month. Opposition leader Mehdi Karoubi acknowledged Ahmadinejad as the country’s legitimate president. EU foreign ministers met to discuss new sanctions on Iran.
Russia’s foreign minister said that his country “regrets Iran’s rejection of the UN nuclear deal.” Iranian students boycotted school exams in protest of last summer’s election. Parliament speaker Larijani argued that the US fueled Israel’s war in Gaza last year.
The US, Russia, France, Britain, and Germany are expecting China to get on board with a tougher sanctions regimen on Iran. The government is planning on placing new limits on cash withdrawals for citizens.
Jamsheed and Carol Choksy of Indiana University wrote an insightful piece in RealClear Politics this morning addressing Tehran’s investment in leftist governments in South America. Their conclusion reinforces the belief that Iran is projecting a preponderance of power globally to put US and other Western allies in a bind. The Latin American angle is especially […]
Tehran rejected the IAEA’s plan to ship uranium abroad. US intelligence agencies corrected policy statements on Iran’s nuclear program made in the 2007 NIE report. More than 40 protesters were arrested by police, on the basis of photographs taken at protests.
Iran’s opposition urged protests on Revolution Day next month. Germany warned Iran that it faces new sanctions unless the nuclear issue is resolved. A city prosecutor was assassinated in northwestern Iran.
Iran vowed revenge on Israel and the US for a physicist’s death. The chief prosecutor called for the death penalty for protesters on trial. Iranian state television said it would give air time to the opposition.
Iran’s police chief warned opposition supporters not to use cell phones and e-mail messages to organize protest rallies against the government. Tehran police arrested a dissident cleric and warned against additional protests. The government will try sixteen people in connection with the December protests.
Dueling protests erupted at the funeral of the Iranian nuclear scientist who was killed in a bombing in Tehran. Parliament speaker Ali Larijani accused President Obama of state terrorism.
A US official released a statement denying involvement in the bombing that killed an Iranian physicist. Ayatollah Rafsanjani said Iran’s political crisis must be resolved. The ‘Iranian Cyber Army™ attacked a Chinese web site.
An Iranian nuclear physicist was killed in a bomb blast in Tehran. The major world powers are to meet in New York City to discuss new sanctions on Iran.
Opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi accused the Iranian government of “suppressing people in the name of religion.” Tehran dismissed General Petraeus’ remarks that Iranian nuclear sites could be bombed. Tehran announced plans to expand economic growth to 8 percent per year over the next five years.
In an article published in London’s Guardian, Debby Wu reports that a Taiwanese firm has admitted fulfilling an order from a Chinese company to ship nuclear components to Iran. Steven Lin of Heli-Ocean Technology Co. Ltd. said that the company received an order from a Chinese firm in January or February 2008 to obtain an […]
Iranian and Iraqi envoys met after a border clash at the disputed Fakka oil well. US Defense Secretary Gates said an attack on Iran would be “very, very destabilizing” to the Middle East. In a meeting with Bahrain’s parliament speaker, President Ahmadinehjad urged unity among Muslim nations.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (L) and his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov. Photo by AFP. During a recent visit to Iranian expatriates in Turkmenistan, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made several announcements about the Islamic Republic’s energy alliances with Central Asia. One development in particular stood out. In a joint press conference, Ahmadinejad and Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow announced […]
Tehran will prosecute five protesters. Foreign Minister Mottaki stressed that Tehran’s relationship with Baghdad is strong and is “based on mutual respect.” Bahrain’s speaker of parliament called for expanded bilateral ties with Iran.
Satellite imagery shows Iran shielding its nuclear infrastructure with a maze of tunnels. The Chinese ambassador to the United Nations said more sanctions on Iran are a bad idea. Iran and Turkmenistan agreed to launch a new gas pipeline.
Iran accepted Secretary of State Clinton’s non-deadline on continuing nuclear negotiations. Iran’s interior minister warned opposition activists that they risk execution as “enemies of God” if they continue anti-government demonstrations. The Esfandiar oil field awaits finance approval from Qatar’s National Bank.
The US rejected Iran’s counter-proposal for its nuclear program and the exchange of nuclear fuel on Iranian soil. Chinese companies evaded US sanctions on Iran. Tehran will conduct defensive military exercises.
An aide to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that protesters are “enemies of God.” Iranian police vowed to crush protesters with “no mercy.” Supporters of President Ahmadinejad’s regime hosted counter-protests.
Iranian security forces intensified their crackdown on anti-government protesters. The US moved toward more sanctions on Tehran. Iran looks to Kazakhstan to purchase uranium.
Police killed 10 civilians during protests on Ashura. Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri, the deputy commander of Iran’s armed forces, called the protests disgraceful. Israel said Iran is close to producing nuclear weapons.
President Ahmadinejad claimed that nuclear initiator documents are a US forgery. The US Joint Chiefs said that force must remain an option with dealing with Iran. The US will increase funding for Israel’s missile defense program.
One of Shia Islam’s most revered jurists and theologians died over the weekend in Iran’s holy city of Qom. Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazari, aged 87, is said to have died of heart failure in his sleep on the evening of Dec. 19. From the Guardian: He was born into a poor peasant family in […]
Iranians mourn the death of opposition cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazari. Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, called for a global atomic weapons ban in Tokyo.
The Iraqi Oil Ministry announced that Iran seized an oil well along the Iraq-Iran border. Iran announced a new model of centrifuges for its nuclear program. President Ahmadinejad criticized the US at the Copenhagen climate talks.
Western nations condemned Iran’s latest ballistic missile test. President Ahmadinejad arrived in Denmark for the Copenhagen climate talks. An Iranian official called on Pakistan to detain the leader of Jundallah and extradite him to Iran.
In “Surat al-Fil” (“The Elephant”)–one of the Holy Qur’an’s shortest chapters–God sends a flock of birds to destroy the followers of Sultan Abraha, because of their plot to destroy the Kaaba, a holy monument in the center of Mecca that was built by Father Abraham himself. God equips the birds with baked clay stones, which […]
Iran successfully test-fired an upgraded version of the Sajjil-2 ballistic missile. The US House approved the Iran energy sector sanctions bill. Tehran said the US fuel sanctions move will fail.
Iran denied it is working on nuclear bomb components. The US pushed for a tougher sanctions regimen on Iran. Iranian nuclear officials announced that the Bushehr reactor passed its main tests.