Florida Could Divest Billions from U.S. Foes

Florida Could Divest Billions from U.S. FoesTALLAHASSEE -- In an effort lawmakers are comparing to the boycott that helped end apartheid in South Africa, Florida could shed billions in state investments in companies that do business with Iran and Sudan. more By Miami Herald

Posted 18/4/2007 @ 22:29:53 GMTIran Doubles Capacity to Enrich Uranium, Official SaysIran has doubled its capacity to enrich uranium in the last two months but remains far from the industrial-scale capabilities that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad recently claimed, according to an official letter written by a senior U.N. nuclear inspector today. more By The Washington Post

Posted 18/4/2007 @ 21:52:2 GMTIAEA: Iran Starts Enrichment at Natanz SiteVIENNA -- Iran has assembled some 1,300 centrifuges at a key underground nuclear plant and has started to feed them with the uranium gas necessary for enriching uranium, the UN atomic watchdog said Wednesday. more By AFP

Posted 18/4/2007 @ 18:17:26 GMTU.S. Enlists Others to Help Find Ex-FBI Agent in IranThe United States said on Wednesday it is asking other countries to help find out what may have happened to a former FBI agent missing in Iran. Washington has not had formal diplomatic relations with Tehran since 1980, when it cut ties after the Iranian revolution and the holding of American hostages. more By Reuters

Posted 18/4/2007 @ 18:6:5 GMTGates Calls Iran "The Curse of the Region" U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates warned that failure to pacify Iraq would endanger the security and prosperity of the entire Middle East. He made his remarks during a luncheon speech to the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt. He spoke shortly after meeting in Cairo with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who opposed the U.S.-led 2003 invasion of Iraq. more By Bloomberg

Posted 18/4/2007 @ 11:55:13 GMTU.S. Keeps Eye on Iran's Involvement in Afghanistan Amid Reports Taliban Using Iranian WeaponsBRUSSELS, Belgium -- The U.S. will keep a close eye on Iran's involvement in Afghanistan following reports that Taliban insurgents used Iranian-made weapons against NATO forces, a senior U.S. official said today. more By The Associated Press

Posted 18/4/2007 @ 11:49:41 GMTOfficial Iranian Daily on Virginia Tech MassacreThis editorial in the official daily reflects the views of the Supreme Leader and the Revolutionary leadership of the regime. It is truly disgusting. more By National Review Online

Posted 18/4/2007 @ 8:34:50 GMTBlair Laments Lack of Dialogue with IranLondon -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair lamented Tuesday the lack of a reasonable dialogue with Iran, reiterating London's readiness for a "different relationship" despite Tehran's hardline stance. His comments came as Iran said it was working "continuously" to expand its nuclear programme at an ultra-sensitive facility, in defiance of United Nations calls on Tehran to stop its controversial atomic activities. more By Agence France-Presse

Posted 18/4/2007 @ 8:12:0 GMTRussia Won't Finish Bushehr NPP Construction in 2007Russian nuclear contractor Atomstroyexport cannot complete the work on Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant by the end of 2007, Igor Ivanov, secretary of Russia’s Security Council said on Tuesday, April 17. Ivanov sited cash crunch and technical problems as reasons for the delay. more By MosNews

Posted 18/4/2007 @ 8:7:35 GMT10 Israelis 'Recruited as Spies by Iran'Iran has been making concerted efforts to recruit Israelis as spies during their visits to relatives in the Islamic Republic, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said on Tuesday. The Shin Bet has, over the past two years, questioned about 10 Israelis, some of them Jews, who are suspected of agreeing to spy for Iran during visits to the country. more By The Jerusalem Post

Posted 18/4/2007 @ 8:2:35 GMTAhmadinejad Vows to "Cut Off the Hand" of Any AttackerTEHRAN -- Iran's army will "cut off the hand" of any attacker and is at the ready to fulfil its defensive duties, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday during an annual military parade. more By Reuters

Posted 17/4/2007 @ 21:56:26 GMTIsraeli-Iranians: We Will Never be Iranian SpiesThe announcement Tuesday that Iranian intelligence has been trying to recruit Israeli spies came as no surprise to Israel's Iranian immigrants, many of whom say the efforts have been going on for some time. more By The Jerusalem Post

Posted 17/4/2007 @ 21:45:56 GMTAl-Alam and Iran's Expanding Media InfluenceIran’s assertiveness goes well beyond military posturing and defiance of the West. The Islamic Republic is trying to win Muslim hearts and minds through its well-financed, expanding array of media outlets targeting the Middle East, Caucasus, and Central Asia. Tehran is attempting to counter the ‘global media stranglehold’ of the West and present its own view of world events. To the detriment of others, this retaliation seems to be making an impact. more By Iran Analytical Report

Posted 17/4/2007 @ 15:14:6 GMTU.S., Iran Lose from Major Changes in BaghdadThe al-Sadrite bloc pulled out of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's coalition government on Monday. This move is a function of intra-Shiite wrangling at the tactical level. The development also affects U.S.-Iranian relations and the stabilization of Iraq, but the question is whether it has brought the United States and Iran closer to a deal on Iraq or has had the opposite effect. more By Stratfor

Posted 17/4/2007 @ 15:4:4 GMTTop U.S. general says Iranian weapons in AfghanistanThe United States' top general on Tuesday said U.S. forces intercepted Iranian weapons headed to the Taliban in Afghanistan in the last month, but he did not know who had sent them. more By Reuters