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Iranian Gambit May Force US into a MoveSince they invented the game we now call chess, Iranians are generally deemed by outsiders to be unusually well equipped at dealing with situations that require complex mental gymnastics. The ability to see several moves ahead of your opponent is key to winning at chess, and Iranian political thinkers are believed to be fiendishly clever at outmanoeuvring their enemies on the chequered board of geopolitics. more By The Times

Posted 3/4/2007 @ 12:7:58 GMTIranian News Agency Reports Release of Iranian Diplomat Who Was Seized in Iraq in FebruaryTEHRAN, Iran -- An Iranian diplomat in Iraq who was kidnapped in mysterious circumstances two months ago has been released, the Iranian authorities reported Tuesday. Jalal Sharafi, the second secretary at the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad, will return to Tehran later Tuesday, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported, citing "informed sources." The report gave no indication of why or how Sharafi had been freed. more By The Associated Press

Posted 3/4/2007 @ 10:43:13 GMTIslamic Fighters Heading to Iranian Training CampsAccording to DEBKAfile’s military and intelligence sources, in the last several weeks, Damascus international airport main has become the main transport hub for a stream of Lebanese and Palestinian terrorists heading for Revolutionary Guards installations in Iran. more By DEBKAfile

Posted 3/4/2007 @ 10:18:23 GMTThe Botched US Raid that Led to the Hostage Crisis A failed American attempt to abduct two senior Iranian security officers on an official visit to northern Iraq was the starting pistol for a crisis that 10 weeks later led to Iranians seizing 15 British sailors and Marines. more By Independent Online

Posted 3/4/2007 @ 10:2:45 GMTWhat Saudi Arabia WantsStrange things are happening in Saudi Arabia. First, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah brokered a deal between Fatah and Hamas, a religious party that won a popular election--not an example the kingdom is keen to promote. Then, by hosting the Arab League summit, the king decided to embrace a meeting of Arab leaders best known for discord and crisis (eight heads of state, including Saudi Arabia's, declined invitations in 2005 and ten the following year in Khartoum). more By The New Republic

Posted 3/4/2007 @ 9:40:3 GMTBlair: Next 2 Days With Iran Are Crucial LONDON -- The next two days are "fairly critical" to resolving the dispute over a seized British navy crew, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Tuesday, after Iran's chief international negotiator offered a new approach to end the standoff with Tehran. more By The Associated Press

Posted 3/4/2007 @ 9:34:6 GMTIran Plans to Enrich Uranium on its Own - AgazadehTEHRAN -- Lack of Russia’s nuclear fuel supplies to Bushehr in March creates a precondition for Iran to enrich uranium on its own, Iranian Deputy President Gholamreza Agazadeh, who heads Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, told journalists on Tuesday. more By Itar-Tass

Posted 3/4/2007 @ 9:25:13 GMTExclusive: Iran Nuclear Bomb Could Be Possible by 2009Iran has more than tripled its ability to produce enriched uranium in the last three months, adding some 1,000 centrifuges which are used to separate radioactive particles from the raw material. more By ABC News

Posted 2/4/2007 @ 22:28:15 GMTFormer FBI Agent Missing in Iran WASHINGTON -- The U.S. is seeking information from Iran about a former FBI agent who was reported missing while on a business trip there several weeks ago. more By The Associated Press

Posted 2/4/2007 @ 21:51:1 GMTLarijani Rules Out Trial for British SailorsAli Larijani, Iran’s top security official, said on Monday Tehran wanted a speedy diplomatic solution to its dispute with Britain and had no wish to put the 15 British naval personnel it has captured on trial. more By The Financial Times

Posted 2/4/2007 @ 21:44:24 GMTThe Surprising Thing is That We're Surprised by Tehran's ActionsOscar Wilde insisted that “life imitates art far more than art imitates art”. What would he have made of the present hostage crisis? Twenty-four hours before Iran seized 15 Britons its mission to the UN issued a statement expressing outrage at 300, a movie based on the Battle of Thermopylae in 480BC. In this epic struggle between a small band of Spartans and a massive army of Persians, the ancestors of modern Iran have been painted, the protest ran, as the “embodiment of evil, moral corruption”. They have a point. more By The Times

Posted 2/4/2007 @ 21:39:36 GMTThe Mullahs Scoff at Geneva ... AgainFor what seems like the millionth time since 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran has perpetrated an act of war against the West, reaffirmed its hostile, revolutionary intentions, and demonstrated that it is a rogue state which scoffs at the civilizing impulses of international law, including the laws and customs of war. more By Human Events

Posted 2/4/2007 @ 21:31:8 GMTIran Arrests Four Women Activists TEHRAN -- Four women's rights activists were arrested for collecting signatures for a campaign demanding equal legal rights for women in Iran, an Iranian news agency reported. more By Reuters

Posted 2/4/2007 @ 13:13:41 GMTIran Could Wait for Blair To Go, America FearsWASHINGTON -- American officials, hoping for a tougher line from Europe and Britain, fear the Iranian government will hold hostage the 15 royal marines seized on March 23 until Prime Minister Blair is out of office this summer. more By New York Sun

Posted 2/4/2007 @ 13:1:43 GMTIran Airs Footage of More Members of Held U.K. CrewIran aired footage showing more members of the 15-strong team of British sailors and Marines captured March 23. The U.K. government decried the Islamic Republic's use of ``stage-managed'' appearances and renewed demands for the crew's release. more By Bloomberg

Posted 2/4/2007 @ 12:25:58 GMTAhmadinejad Endorses Detention of British Marines TEHRAN -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Sunday said that his country's border guards have shown ultimate courage, vigilance and fairness in arresting the British marines who had trespassed on Iran's territorial waters. more By Fars News Agency

Posted 2/4/2007 @ 12:16:16 GMTUS and Israel Not Planning Attack on Iran, Syria, Olmert SaysJerusalem -- The U.S. and Israel are not planning a coordinated attack against Iran, Syria and the Lebanese terrorist organization Hizballah, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said...Iranian Chief of Staff Hassan Fayrouz Abadi was quoted over the weekend by the Iranian Fars News Agency as warning that Israel planned to launch a "suicidal attack" against neighboring countries this summer to prevent a withdrawal by U.S. troops. more By CNSNews.com