Latest Articles about IRAN

Beckett: Ahmadinejad Shot Himself in Foot by Seizing British Soldiers
Earlier this month, 15 Royal Navy sailors and marines were released. They had been seized by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard while on patrol in Iraqi waters under a UN mandate and held for 14 days. It was a relief to all of us – above all for their families and colleagues, but also for the many in London and in our embassy in Tehran who worked tirelessly towards bringing them home.
By Margaret Beckett
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Posted 25/4/2007 @ 10:2:31 GMTIran's Nuclear Envoy Expects "New Ideas" From EU On UraniumANKARA -- Iran's top nuclear envoy said Wednesday he expected "new ideas" from a senior European Union official at talks on resolving the deadlock between Tehran's refusal to freeze its uranium enrichment program and U.N Security Council demands it do so. more By Dow Jones Newswires

Posted 25/4/2007 @ 9:15:12 GMTIran's Reformers Must Address Economic Problems, Panelists SayWashington -- Iran’s democratic reformers must offer solutions for the country’s economic problems, which for most Iranians represent the current government’s biggest failure, said participants at a recent seminar on the future of democracy in Iran. more By US Department of States

Posted 25/4/2007 @ 9:6:16 GMTPowers Consider Iran Nuclear ProposalANKARA, Turkey -- The United States and other world powers may be ready to allow Iran to keep some of its uranium enrichment program intact instead of demanding its complete dismantling, foreign government officials said Tuesday. more By The Associated Press

Posted 25/4/2007 @ 8:57:9 GMTBush Says Talks With Iran PossibleNEW YORK -- President Bush said Tuesday that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice might have one-on-one talks with Iranian leaders at an international conference on Iraq next month, but that Tehran's nuclear program would not be on the table. more By The Associated Press

Posted 25/4/2007 @ 8:51:21 GMTU.S. Now Negotiating Indirectly with IranWASHINGTON -- The United States has quietly increased its back-channel diplomatic contacts with Iran, a sign that those who favor engagement have strengthened their hand in the administration, U.S. officials say. more By McClatchy Newspapers

Posted 24/4/2007 @ 22:38:36 GMTU.S. Denies Mulling Proposals to Allow Iran to Continue EnrichmentThe United States denied Tuesday that it is considering proposals that would allow Iran to partially retain its uranium enrichment program. "We're not considering any proposals that would allow the Iranians to retain any enrichment-related activities," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. "We would hope the Iranians would take us up on the offer for negotiations, but the conditions for entering those negotiations are the same." more By Ha'aretz

Posted 24/4/2007 @ 22:32:22 GMTHint of UN Deal to Resolve Iranian Nuclear Stand-offWorld powers could be ready to allow Iran to retain some of its uranium enrichment programme instead of demanding it be mothballed completely, diplomatic officials suggested last night. more By The Herald

Posted 24/4/2007 @ 22:2:1 GMTEU Spells Out New Iran SanctionsThe European Union set out a new set of sanctions on Iran on Tuesday, focusing on individuals and companies that could also be subjected to United Nations measures in coming weeks. more By The Financial Times

Posted 24/4/2007 @ 17:13:55 GMTThe Secrets of a Hizballah RenegadeThe white walls and guard towers of the hilltop Sheikh Abdullah military barracks are clearly visible from the home of Sheikh Sobhi Toufeili. As one of the founding fathers of Hizballah and its first secretary-general, the gruff 60-year-old cleric knows the barracks well — during the turbulent 1980s, it housed fighters from his organization and a contingent of Iranian Revolutionary Guards, as well as several Western hostages, including William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut who died in captivity. But that was then. more By Time Magazine

Posted 24/4/2007 @ 16:58:35 GMTIran Tones Down Rhetoric Ahead of Nuclear TalksIran's unusually conciliatory tone ahead of two key meetings tomorrow raised hopes that its tense confrontation with the US and some western countries on nuclear and security issues is beginning to subside. more By Guardian Unlimited

Posted 24/4/2007 @ 10:15:13 GMTSqueeze Play: Approach Tehran with Sticks, Not CarrotsConsider this scenario: The Saudis have gone nuclear. So have the Egyptians. Both countries had been signatories to the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty, but that agreement is now dissolved. Riyadh and Cairo acquired their weapons from Pakistan, a Sunni ally, in response to the nuclear threat from Shia Iran. Meanwhile, Iraq continues to fester, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is far from settled, and Iranian proxies remain firmly entrenched within Lebanon's combustible sectarian mix -- a mix that pits Sunni against Shia and just so happens to exist on Israel's northern border. In short, all the key players in the Middle East -- Sunni, Shia, Israeli -- now have nuclear weapons at a moment when the simmering and, in some cases, quite open conflicts between the region's states, sects, and ethnicities are almost too numerous to count. more By New Republic

Posted 24/4/2007 @ 9:26:37 GMTU.S. Sanctions List Over Syria, Iran RisesThe United States has imposed sanctions on 14 foreigners, companies and government agencies, including the Syrian navy and air force, in an effort to stop transfers of advanced weaponry to and from Iran and Syria. more By The Washington Times

Posted 24/4/2007 @ 9:20:27 GMTUnder'cover' Crackdown in IranTEHRAN, Iran With the arrival of spring, Iranian police have launched a crackdown against women accused of not covering up enough, arresting nearly 300 women, some for wearing too tight an overcoat or letting too much hair peek out from under their veil, authorities said Monday. more By The Associated Press

Posted 24/4/2007 @ 9:2:59 GMTBritain To Rethink Relations With Iran in Formal Protest Over Hostage CrisisBritain is to protest formally to Iran as part of a "recalibration" of relations with the Islamic Republic since the seizure of 15 sailors and marines in the Shatt al-Arab waterway this month. more By The Guardian>