Iran

Stories 2221 - 2240 | << Prev   Next >>

Bush Urges Stiffer Sanctions on Iran

Iran persists in building nukes, against UN orders

(Newser) - President Bush called for tougher sanctions against Iran today, a day after a new report showed the country is continuing its nuclear enrichment programs. Bush vowed to form a multinational bloc with Russia, China, and European allies to pressure Iran into ceasing its nuclear aspirations, reports the Washington Post.

CIA Op Aims to Destabilize Iran
CIA Op Aims to Destabilize Iran

CIA Op Aims to Destabilize Iran

Covert campaign suggests financial pressure favored over military action

(Newser) - President Bush has secretly approved a CIA "black" operation to destabilize the Iranian government, ABC reports. Sources tell ABC the covert mission deploys propaganda, misinformation, and financial manipulation. A retired senior CIA official says economic pressure may be the most effective means to curb Iran's nuclear buildup.

Iran Charges American Scholar
Iran Charges American Scholar

Iran Charges American Scholar

Imprisoned academic accused of working against government

(Newser) - The Iranian government has charged an Iranian-American scholar already in custody in Tehran with working for "the soft-toppling of the country." Haleh Esfandiari, 67, was arrested May 8 after being under house arrest since January. The accusations come just days before American and Iranian diplomats are to meet...

Iran Said to Be Plotting Iraq Offensive

Makes new allies to increase violence, prompt withdrawal

(Newser) - Iran is secretly allying with al-Qaeda and Sunni insurgents to launch a major summer offensive against the US in Iraq, reports the Guardian. The goal is  to trigger a political mutiny in Congress to force a withdrawal of US troops. Iran had previously been linked to Shia militias but had...

Why Iran Must Be Bombed
Why Iran
Must Be Bombed

Why Iran Must Be Bombed

Norman Podhoretz on Ahmadinejad, Hitler, and the case for war with Iran

(Newser) - The only way to protect the West from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to bomb Iran now, writes Norman Podhoretz in Commentary. The irascible neocon blasts left-wingers who downplay the threat of a nuclear Iran, and argues that deterrence won’t stop the Iranian leader once he’s armed.

Iran Extends Hand Into Southern Iraq

Foreign militias threaten tenuous stability in Basra area

(Newser) - The southern Iraqi city of Basra is under the control of an array of private militias, some of which have strong ties to Iran, the Guardian reports. Factions like "God's Revenge" mete out patronage and enforce a fragile order in Iraq's second-largest city at the behest of competing warlords...

Iran Boosts Nuclear Capability
Iran Boosts Nuclear Capability

Iran Boosts Nuclear Capability

Surprise inspection turns up improved enrichment technology

(Newser) - Iran has made a quantum leap in its nuclear program, and now has the capacity to enrich uranium on a much larger scale than previously believed, the International Atomic Energy Agency reports after a short-notice inspection last weekend. With dramatically improved centrifuge technology, engineers are turning out reactor-grade uranium.

US Engages Iran on Iraqi Security
US Engages Iran on Iraqi Security

US Engages Iran on Iraqi Security

Ambassadors to meet in Baghdad; nuclear program won't be on the table

(Newser) - The US will sit down with Iran to enlist its aid in quelling violence in Iraq as early as next week, reports the Washington Post. US ambassador Ryan Crocker will meet with his Iranian counterparts in Baghdad to encourage the country, frequently accused of sponsoring sectarian violence in neighboring Iraq,...

Iranians Embrace Underground Fashion Shows

Stylish rebels flout fundamentalism

(Newser) - Under the nose of Iran's fundamentalist Islamic government, Western standards and customs are gaining ground. From satellite dishes to hip-hop parties to screenings of banned films, temptations abound. The LA Times goes behind the scenes of a fashion show in Tehran, where women and men mix freely and models flash...

Iranian, U.S. Diplomats Meet Briefly

Three-minute discussion focuses on Iraq, hints at Bush administration policy shift

(Newser) - It didn't involve the American Secretary of State or the Iranian foreign minister, but a brief meeting of high-level diplomats today in Egypt signals a thaw in relations between the countries, the International Herald Tribune reports. U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker said the three-minute conversation concerned the situation...

Condi Sits Down With Syria
Condi Sits Down With Syria

Condi Sits Down With Syria

Rice talks with Syrian Foreign Minister about border security

(Newser) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice conferred with her Syrian counterpart Thursday in an unexpected half hour sit-down that ended a two-year cold-shoulder between the Bush administration and a state it considers a sponsor of terrorism. Rice asked asked Sryia's help in restricting the flow of foreign fighters across the Syrian...

Presidential Peck Sets Off Iranian Sex Scandal

A kiss on the hand lands Ahmadinejad in hot water with hard-liners

(Newser) - Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is at the center of an unlikely sex scandal today, after being caught on camera kissing the hand—even if it was gloved—of a retired schoolteacher. Ahmadinejad's sexy faux pas, at a ceremony honoring the country's teachers, is a violation of Shariah law, hard-liners say.

Some Mahdis Going Freelance
Some Mahdis Going Freelance

Some Mahdis Going Freelance

What's worse than Moqtada al-Sadr? The Mahdi Army ignoring him

(Newser) - The Madhi Army is letting loose. Officially locked down by leader Moqtada al-Sadr during the troop surge, renegade Mahdis are unleashing a wave of random violence on once-peaceful areas of central and southern Iraq, Newseek reports. That worries even al-Sadr's commanders, who are now seeking U.S. help to control...

Middle East Solution? Ignore It
Middle East Solution? Ignore It

Middle East Solution? Ignore It

The only option: "backward societies must be left alone"

(Newser) - As experts scramble to respond to escalating crises in the Middle East, think-tanker Edward Luttwack has a novel solution—leave 'em be. The strategic implications of the Arab-Israeli crisis ended with the Cold War, he argues, and local regimes don't control oil supplies—oil companies do.

Condi Says She'll Talk to Iran
Condi Says She'll
Talk to Iran

Condi Says She'll Talk to Iran

Meeting at Iraq conference will be first between US and Iran since 2004

(Newser) - Iran will be attending next week's regional conference on Iraq, the Times reports, offering the first sitdown between the Axis of Evil power and the U.S. in three years. Condoleezza Rice yesterday reiterated accusations that Iran is stirring insurgent violence in Iraq, but also hinted that the meeting in...

Tehran Rescue Caper Was Screen Gem
Tehran Rescue Caper Was Screen Gem

Tehran Rescue Caper Was Screen Gem

How a fake movie saved Americans trapped in revolutionary Iran

(Newser) - Wired looks back at one of the most daring (and cinematic) CIA operations ever declassified: the smuggling home of six American hostages during the 1980 Iranian revolution. With the Canadian government's help, agent Tony Mendez painstakingly crafted the elaborate guise of a Canadian sci-fi film crew scouting locations; eventually, the...

Iran Frees Murderous Vice Squad
Iran Frees Murderous
Vice Squad

Iran Frees Murderous Vice Squad

Convictions overturned for hardliners who killed "morally corrupt" citizens

(Newser) - Iran's Supreme Court has exonerated a group of Islamic hardliners earlier convicted of the vigilante killing of Iranians they considered "morally corrupt,"  the Times reports. Six members of the Basiji force, an elite paramilitary group, were originally convicted of murdering five people, including an engaged couple walking...

Iran Raises Nuclear Stakes
Iran Raises Nuclear Stakes

Iran Raises Nuclear Stakes

'Can Produce Uranium on Industrial Scale'

(Newser) - Iran claims to have scaled up its nuclear capability by enriching uranium "on an industrial scale, " the Guardian reports, in defiance of U.S. and U.N. pressure to dimantle the program. The announcement from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad  is sure to heighten conflict with the White House and...

UK About-Face On Sailors Selling Stories

Public outcry leads to ban on further embarrassing interviews

(Newser) - The British Ministry of Defense bowed to public opinion last night and banned further media deals for the sailors and marines released from captivity in Iran. The decision to let the detainees sell their stories had "not reached a satisfactory outcome," the defense secretary said.

Freed 15 Deals Spur Outrage
Freed 15 Deals Spur Outrage

Freed 15 Deals Spur Outrage

Officials defend go-ahead to cash in

(Newser) - Britain’s military chiefs are under fire for allowing 15 British sailors and Royal Marines released by Iran to sell their stories. Faye Turney has already closed a deal for almost $200,000, and at least two others are considering offers. The families of British servicemen killed and wounded in...

Stories 2221 - 2240 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser