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Behind the Scenes of Al-Assad's Visit to Iran London -- An Iranian source, who followed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's talks with his Iranian counterpart, President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, during his "very important" visit to Tehran, spoke to Asharq al-Awsat about the content of the talks that the Iranian and Syrian presidents held. more By Asharq Al-Awsat

Ankara Played Key Role in Validating Damascus-Tehran Pact and Marketing a Nuclear Iran The intense exchanges afoot between Ankara, Damascus and Tehran in recent months burst into the open Tuesday, Aug.5 at the south Turkish Aegean resort town of Bodrum, when Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan entertained Syrian president Bashar Assad and a large party of notables. This is revealed by DEBKAfile’s Middle East sources. more By DEBKAfile

This weekend, yet another "deadline" passed for Iran to indicate it was seriously ready to discuss ending its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Like so many other deadlines during these five years of European-led negotiations, this one died quietly, with Brussels diplomats saying that no one seriously expected any real work on a Saturday. The fact that the Europeans are right -- this latest deadline is not fundamentally big news -- is precisely the problem with their negotiations, and the Bush administration's acquiescence in that effort. By John R. Bolton >Read the Article

Iran Letter Offers No Concrete Response to Offer WASHINGTON -- Iran gave no concrete response to an incentives offer by world powers to halt its nuclear program but said in a letter it would give a clear reply as soon as possible, according to extracts obtained by Reuters. more By Reuters

Iran Threatens Strait of Hormuz WASHINGTON -- Two days after a diplomatic deadline passed for Iran to end the reprocessing and enrichment of uranium, the chief of the country's Revolutionary Guard force is threatening to close down one of the world's most critical oil shipping passageways, the Strait of Hormuz. more By New York Sun

Gaddafi Warns 'Arrogant' Iran Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi today warned "arrogant" Iran that it faces military humiliation on the scale of Iraq for its refusal to respond to western powers over a nuclear impasse. "What Iran is doing stems simply from arrogance," Mr Gaddafi said during a visit to Tunisia after Tehran ignored another western deadline to accept an incentives package in exchange for full transparency on its nuclear drive. more By Agence France-Presse

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Why Iran Won't Budge on Nukes When U.S. officials appeal to the Iranian people over the heads of its regime, they like to assume that Tehran's defiance on the nuclear issue reflects only the extremist position of an unrepresentative revolutionary leadership. Plainly, they haven't met Dr. Akbar Etemad, who ran the nuclear program of the Shah's regime, which was overthrown in the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The scientist who first launched Iran's nuclear technology program under a U.S.-backed regime in 1974 today urges the regime that stripped him of his job to reject any international demand that it halt uranium enrichment. more By Time Magazine

Big Six to Discuss Next Iran Move Senior officials from six big powers will hold a conference call today to discuss Iran's response to a recent initiative aimed at negotiating an end to the country's disputed nuclear programme, writes Stephen Fidler . more By The Financial Times