Iran

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Rushdie Honor Sparks Furor
Rushdie Honor Sparks Furor

Rushdie Honor Sparks Furor

Novelist's knighthood prompts uproar from some corners of the Muslim world

(Newser) - Pakistan wants Britain to revoke Salman Rushdie's just-granted knighthood—and the UK should prepare for suicide attacks if it doesn't, a Pakistani cabinet minister said today. "If someone exploded a bomb on his body he would be right to do so unless the British government apologizes and withdraws the...

G8 Concludes with AIDS Pledge
G8 Concludes with AIDS Pledge

G8 Concludes with AIDS Pledge

World leaders renew $60B pledge to fight disease in Africa

(Newser) - Global leaders renewed their vow to spend $60 billion to help fight AIDS, TB, and malaria in Africa today as the G8 summit wrapped up. But they set no deadlines for delivering the relief, leading critics to question the pledge. "I think it is deliberately the language of obfuscation,...

UK May Seek Iran's Help on Iraqi Captives

Brits suspect kidnappers connected to Iran; search in Sadr City continues

(Newser) - Britain may ask Iran for help in finding the five British hostages kidnapped in Iraq. Senior Iraqi officials think a rogue faction of the Mahdi Army—possibly under the influence of Iranian intelligence —is responsible for the kidnappings. British sources tell the Guardian they believe the kidnapping was not...

Iran Won't Budge on Uranium
Iran Won't Budge on Uranium

Iran Won't Budge on Uranium

Negotiator bound for EU talks puts enrichment off-limits

(Newser) - Iran won't stop enriching uranium, its chief nuclear negotiator said today, hours before scheduled talks with the EU. Tomorrow's meeting will focus on Iran's nuclear program, seen as an increasing threat after recent inspections indicated the country is moving closer to nuclear capability. Monday's US-Iran negotiations on Iraq have no...

U.S. Tells Iran to Stop Supporting Iraqi Insurgents

Iran proposes trilateral security group for Iraq

(Newser) - Ryan Crocker, US ambassador to Iraq, used the first formal meeting between the two countries in 27 years to tell his counterpart  that the US wants Iran to stop supporting insurgents in Iraq. In a press conference after the meeting in Baghdad, Crocker said the Iranian ambassador did not respond...

US-Iran Talks First Since 1979
US-Iran Talks First Since 1979

US-Iran Talks First Since 1979

On the table: Iraqi security. Off the table: Iranian nuclear buildup, detainees.

(Newser) - Ambassadors for the US and Iran met for four hours today in Baghdad, in the first bilateral talks between the countries in decades. The US's Ryan Crocker was expected to press claims that Iran is providing training and weapons to Iraqi insurgents, and his counterpart Hassan Kazemi Qomi to raise...

Interest Rate Cut Triggers Panic in Iran

President goes over finance minister's head, ignites sell-off

(Newser) - Iran's erratic president has set off a stock market scare by ordering banks to slash interest rates, despite high inflation and lots of expert advice to the contrary. The move sparked panicked selling and fears of a full-blown financial crisis, the Guardian reports. The new decreed rate is 12%, down...

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...

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