Iran
President Ahmedinejad said “even more wars” cannot save Israel from its downfall. US Secretary of Defense Gates said Iran’s support for the Taliban is “pretty limited.” The three US hikers imprisoned in Iran have contacted their families.
President Ahmedinejad said “even more wars” cannot save Israel from its downfall. US Secretary of Defense Gates said Iran’s support for the Taliban is “pretty limited.” The three US hikers imprisoned in Iran have contacted their families.
Saddam Hussein weighed nuclear ‘package’ deal in 1990, documents show
An Iranian naval vessel successfully test-fired a new anti-ship missile. The US Secretary of Defense visited Saudi Arabia to discuss Iran. President Ahmadinejad said foreign troops in Afghanistan are not a solution for peace.
Iran blocking foreign, domestic Web sites to curb anti-government activists
US changing focus of Iran policy
Israel, Syria pursue nuclear-powered Mideast
Harvard professor and Foreign Policy blogger Stephen Walt published an interesting piece last Friday raising objections to the containment argument for Iran. Responding to an article in Foreign Affairs by Ray Takeyh and James M. Lindsay titled “After Iran Gets the Bomb” (a shorter version appeared as an op-ed in the Washington Post), Walt offers […]
Iran urged China to resist Western pressure to impose additional sanctions. President Ahmadinejad made plans to visit Afghanistan. Speaker Larijani criticized US General Petraeus for calling Iran a “thugocracy.”
Vitol, Glencore, and Trafigura agreed to stop supplying refined petroleum products to Iran. China signed a deal with Iran that allows it to drill in the Persian Gulf. The US Treasury Department will allow the export of Internet communications services to Iran.
US hopes Internet exports will help open closed societies
The US has paid $107 billion to US and foreign companies that have done business in Iran in violation of international sanctions. China said new sanctions “are not the fundamental way to resolve the Iran nuclear problem.” Iran opened the production line for the Nasr 1 anti-ship missile.
Heroin lab menace grows in Afghanistan
President Ahmedinejad said the Sept. 11 attacks on the US were a “big fabrication” designed to allow the US to wage the war on terror. Iran warned it would retaliate for Italy’s detention of an Iranian journalist, who is accused of participating in an arms smuggling ring.
Iran’s Ahmadinejad calls Sept 11 “big fabrication”
Charming and chilling: Osama bin Laden’s bodyguard
President Ahmadinejad said Iran has no use for nuclear weapons and that Iran’s “bombs” are its youths and “athletic heroes.” Iran criticized the US on new sanctions. Iran’s IAEA Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh said the IAEA’s most recent report has “reopened already closed issues.”
The UN human rights chief criticized Iran for its human rights record after the June 12, 2009, election. Tehran has been accused of exercising influence in Iraq’s federal elections. China, Turkey, and Brazil are urging the US to slow down on the new sanctions regimen.
Seven arrested in Iranian weapon smuggling plot
The UN Security Council is ready to tackle a new sanctions regimen for Iran. Tehran is placing more pressure on opposition media outlets and intellectuals. Italian authorities arrested Iranian arms smugglers.
The Qassed 2, Iran’s prototype for a laser-guided bomb. As the defense buildup in the Persian Gulf continues, Iranian Air Force Commander Brigadier General Hassan Shahsafi announced plans for Iran to test a prototype of the Qassed 2 (Farsi for “messenger”) laser-guided bomb. Iran’s experimentation with laser-guided bombs began in September 2006 with a series […]
The West gained momentum from the IAEA for new sanctions on Iran. Russia may back new sanctions. The Iranian Air Force prepared to test-fire the new Qassed 2, a laser-guided bomb.
The IAEA director said Iran is “not cooperating” with their investigation. Japan offered to send Iran 20 percent enriched nuclear fuel. The government released three journalists and three opposition members.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed that the IAEA “lacks independence” and its decisions “should not be influenced by the US and some (other) countries.” A top commander in the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said “Europe will spend the winter in the chill” if Iran chooses.
How nuclear equipment reached Iran
Iran is ruled by a “cult,” opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi said. “This is the rule of a cult that has hijacked the concept of Iranianism and nationalism,” he said in an interview on his website. Iranian intelligence broke up a Wahabi terrorist group in the province of West Azarbaijan. Jundallah has named Muhammad Dhahir […]
Jundallah leader Abdul Malik Rigi, after his capture by Iranian intelligence. Just three days after Iran captured Abdul Malik Rigi, the government is claiming that the US supports Jundallah, Rigi’s terror group, which conducts suicide and other attacks in southeastern Iran. Here is what Rigi said during an interrogation, according to the Iranian-government owned and […]
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei dismissed cooperation with opposition groups. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah met with President Ahmadinejad in Syria. Jundallah leader Rigi claimed that US offered him military aid to work with the West.
Tehran said the IAEA’s new report on Iran’s nuclear program is misleading and biased. A senior Russian diplomat warned the West not to enact paralyzing sanctions against Iran’s energy and banking sectors. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak pushed for “severe sanctions” on Iran, during a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Much has been written about whether the West can effectively sanction the Islamic Republic of Iran. For policymakers, sanctions remain an attractive option for either deterring or slowing the progress of Iran’s nuclear program. While there is disagreement over the effectiveness of sanctions, there are many creative ways the West can put the pinch on […]
Pakistan helped Iran nab Jundallah chief