Iran

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Merkel, Sarko Keep Heat on Iran
Merkel, Sarko Keep Heat on Iran

Merkel, Sarko Keep Heat on Iran

Partners insist sanctions are still possible despite new intelligence

(Newser) - Angela Merkel joined Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday in reaffirming their hard line on Iran's nuclear program despite the new American intelligence assessment that weapons development was halted in 2003. "I don't see why we should renounce sanctions," said the French president at a joint press conference in Paris, with...

OPEC Declines to Boost Oil Output
OPEC Declines to Boost
Oil Output

OPEC Declines to Boost Oil Output

$80 crude seems to be producers' new target; $3 gas isn't going anywhere soon

(Newser) - OPEC’s decision yesterday not to boost oil production, despite prices hovering around $90 a barrel, underscores a new reality, the New York Times observes: the oil producers aim to keep prices nearly that high—say around $80 a barrel—a target unthinkable a few years ago. In the US,...

Iran Flip Shows US Intelligence Turnaround

Tougher procedures born of Iraq failure result in nuke reversal

(Newser) - In reversing its 2005 finding that Iran was pursuing nuclear weapons, the US intelligence community is putting into practice changes adopted after crucial failures in the run-up to the Iraq war. The original used weak sourcing and less than rigorous fact-gathering, critics say. “I think people should take comfort...

Bush: Iran Is Still a Threat
Bush: Iran Is Still a Threat

Bush: Iran Is Still a Threat

Prez resists suggestions that new report undermines his rhetoric

(Newser) - President Bush insisted today that Iran is still a threat, despite a new NIE report released yesterday concluding that the country shut down its nuclear weapons program in 2003. "Iran was dangerous, Iran is dangerous, Iran will be dangerous," he said in a news conference. The report should...

U-Turn on Iran Will Shake Up Foreign Policy

News of nuke halt leaves hawks isolated; intel agencies undercut

(Newser) - The National Intelligence Estimate's findings yesterday that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 will have dramatic fallout at home and abroad, the New York Times reports, beginning with the collapse of the White House's recent campaign to portray Iran as an immediate threat to world peace. It will...

Iran Praises Nuke Report; Israel Skeptical

Barak says Tehran hasn't stopped, urges more US pressure

(Newser) - Iran trumpeted a US intelligence report released yesterday that said it suspended its nuclear weapons program in 2003, but Israel expressed skepticism, Reuters reports. "The condition of Iran's peaceful nuclear activities is becoming clear to the world," an Iranian official said of the report. Not so fast, said...

Iranians Chuck Canuck
Iranians
Chuck
Canuck

Iranians Chuck Canuck

Tit for tat: ambassador booted after Canadians reject radical envoys

(Newser) - Iran has ordered the Canadian ambassador out of the country, reports the Globe and Mail.  The expulsion is thought to be due to Iran's unhappiness at Canada's rejection of several proposed Iranian ambassadors with suspected violent student radical pasts. "It is one-sided love," said an Iranian diplomat....

Gates Surveys US War in Afghanistan

'Not worried about a back slide' despite rise in attacks, he says

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates landed in Afghanistan today to size up areas where attacks have recently doubled and suicide bombings spiked 30%, Reuters reports. He was upbeat despite a Pentagon admission that al-Qaeda is helping Taliban forces to recover. "I'm not worried about a back slide as much as...

‘Anti-Rumsfeld’ Cools Iran War Rhetoric

Servant to 7 presidents prefers 'soft power' to VP's battle plans

(Newser) - Dubbed the “Anti-Rumsfeld,” Defense Secretary Robert Gates is soothing fears that the US will bomb Iran—while trying to guard against mishaps that might trigger a war. Certain that a Tehran strike would spark a wider conflict and terror in Europe, Gates coolly tries to “lower the...

Iran Halted Nuke Weapons Work in 2003: US Report

In reversal, NIE says Tehran hasn't been building weapons for 4 years

(Newser) - Iran stopped work on its nuclear weapons program in 2003, a US National Intelligence Estimate revealed today. The report, which represents the consensus of America’s 16 spy agencies, contradicts a 2005 report that concluded Tehran was working toward building a bomb, the New York Times reports. The new assessment...

Iran Vows to Crack Down on 'Obscene' Rap Music

Officials will 'confront' musicians

(Newser) - In its latest bid to protect traditional Islamic morality from encroaching Western influences, Iran announced it will crack down on rap music it considers "obscene." Rap music in Farsi focusing on social, political and sexual themes is growing increasingly popular on the black market. An official recently condemned...

Fear of Iran Driving Push for Peace
Fear of Iran Driving Push for Peace

Fear of Iran Driving Push for Peace

Arab leaders at conference unified by mounting extremist threats in Mideast

(Newser) - Fear of Iran and Islamic extremism is the catalyst that's bringing together delegates at the Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, the New York Times reports. Sunni Arab leaders see their young people becoming radicalized and Iran's influence expanding, and fear the region could be transformed in new and dangerous ways....

Iran Boasts of Missile That Can Reach Israel

Device's reported 1,200-mile range also includes US bases

(Newser) - Iran has developed a missile with a range of more than 1,200 miles—far enough to strike Israel and American bases in the Mideast. Tehran's announcement today that the Ashura missile is operative will heighten tensions between the US and Iran, which continues to defy Security Council demands to...

Ahmadinejad Offers to Safeguard US Elections

Iranian prez is sure Bush won't win again

(Newser) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday offered to oversee the 2008 US presidential elections, saying he’s convinced that, given a free poll, Americans won’t re-elect George W. Bush. That Bush isn’t constitutionally allowed to run seemed lost on the Iranian president—as was the irony that his own government opposes...

Ahmadinejad Gets a Blog, Hilarity Ensues

Iranian prez finds unexpectedly critical audience online

(Newser) - When Mahmoud Ahmadinejad started his blog, he thought circumventing the media would let him present his message unadulterated to fawning supporters, free from opposition catcalls. What he found instead was a hypercritical audience typical of the online realm, the Guardian reports. Iranians, among others, are mercilessly flaming their president, criticizing...

All Eyes on OPEC for Oil Price Relief

Saudis expected to boost output as prices close in on $100

(Newser) - With oil prices poised to pass the $100 mark any day now, a pair of reports speculates that OPEC will cool the overheated market by boosting oil production, the Wall Street Journal reports. One consulting firm said OPEC, spurred by Saudi Arabia’s increased deliveries to the US, could up...

Iran Closer to Fueling Nuke Reactor, VP Claims

First time Iran has made claim

(Newser) - Iran claims to have made nuclear fuel pellets of uranium oxide, a major step in its quest to fuel a heavy water reactor, the AP reports. It also claims to be making pellets for light water reactors, like the one Russia is helping it build on the Persian Gulf coast—...

Iran Warns Against UN Sanctions
Iran Warns Against UN Sanctions

Iran Warns Against UN Sanctions

US, Europe allies call for penalties after inspectors' report

(Newser) - Iran warned today that UN sanctions might bring a halt to its cooperation with nuclear inspectors, Reuters reports. The warning comes a day after Britain, France, and Germany joined the US in calling for such sanctions because a report by international inspectors gave Tehran mixed marks on its openness. "...

Iran Defends Nuke Program in Letter to the World

Tehran insists it's making electricity

(Newser) - Iran has written a letter to world diplomats insisting that the nation's nuclear program is not a threat. "I would like to emphasize that Iran's nuclear program is completely peaceful," the foreign minister writes, adding that Iran has worked with the IAEA "even beyond its legal commitments....

Greenback Assaulted at OPEC meeting
Greenback Assaulted at
OPEC meeting

Greenback Assaulted at OPEC meeting

Dollar a 'worthless piece of paper,' Iran's president says

(Newser) - Calling it a "small and worthless piece of paper,” Iran’s president today urged OPEC's members to drop the depreciating US dollar as its official currency. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blamed President Bush for the dollar’s decline and its adverse effects. The comments highlight mounting tension among OPEC members,...

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