Talk to Iran
5 Jul 2008
Summary: Markets have been watching every move of President Bush and the Israeli government to decipher whether war with Iran is in the making. Few expected, however, that the equivalent of a green light for war would come from our Democratic-controlled Congress. That is what Congress is preparing to do through a resolution calling for a de facto naval blockade in the Persian Gulf to prohibit Iran from importing refined petroleum products. source: Washington Timesread more

Iran: War or Privatization: All Out War or “Economic Conquest”?
5 Jul 2008
Summary: Washington has no interest in the imposition of a privatization program on Iran, as an “alternative” to an all out war. In fact quite the opposite. There are indications that the Bush adminstration’s main objective is to stall the privatization program. source: Global Researchread more

Military action ‘would destabilise Iraq’
4 Jul 2008
Summary: Iraq will be plunged into a new war if Israel or the US launches an attack on Iran, Iraqi leaders have warned. Iranian retaliation would take place in Iraq, said Dr Mahmoud Othman, the influential Iraqi MP. source: The Independentread more

Iraqi Shiites denounce security pact with US
4 Jul 2008
Summary: US troops in IraqLarge crowds of Shiites on Friday denounced the security pact Baghdad is negotiating with Washington for a long-term US military presence in violence-wracked Iraq. source: AFPread more

Another Nail in the NPT Coffin
4 Jul 2008
Summary: United States is the most flagrant violator of NPT commitments, frequently intervening to prevent other NPT signatories from exercising their “inalienable rights” affirmed under the NPT to access nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, “without discrimination.” source: AntiWar.com read more

Iran Issues Response to Nuclear Offer
4 Jul 2008
Summary: Iran formally responded Friday to the 5+1 proposal of incentives aimed at resolving the impasse over the country?s nuclear program. The reeponse said ?The time for negotiating from the condescending position of inequality has come to an end,? Earlier on Friday, Mr. Jalili told Mr. Solana by telephone that Iran?s government had prepared its reply ?with a focus on common ground and a constructive view? source: New York Timesread more

Iran-US: A Gesture for Peace
4 Jul 2008
Summary: Yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of the shooting of an Iranian airliner by the US guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes killing all its 290 passengers. Given the significance of this event and the graphic memory it has left in the Iranian psyche, an apology by US officials now, may well be an important step in inducing the Iranian government into announcing its readiness for rapprochement with the US. source: CASMIIread more

Iraq task, Iran risk
4 Jul 2008
Summary: The architects of the “war on terror” in the George W Bush administration will soon be leaving office. But the four months until the United States presidential election on 4 November 2008 could be momentous. In Iraq and Iran, what happens in the next four months – or does not happen – will shape events in the next four years and even beyond. source: Open Democracyread more

Betting On War With Iran
3 Jul 2008
Summary: Afshin RattansiPioneer of predictive real-world markets, Max Keiser, in Paris talks to Afshin Rattansi in Tehran about oil, the U.S. economy and changing financial probability markets on the chance of an airstrike on Iran source: Afshin Rattansiread more

Iran willing to talk
3 Jul 2008
Summary: With respect to the nuclear negotiations, Mottaki indicated that the recent Tehran trip of European Union’s foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, was “serious and somewhat different from the past” and emphasized the “common points” between Iran’s package and the “Iran Six” package of incentives and added that he was happy that the latter nations had viewed Iran’s package “positively”. source: Asia Times Onlineread more

Iranian Academicians Call for Long-lasting Peace
3 Jul 2008
Summary: In a moving statement, a group of academics from Iranian universities have expressed their strong opposition to the intensifying economic sanctions against Iran and the harmful suspense of ?neither war, nor peace?, demanding unequivocal and long-lasting peace. source: CASMIIread more

Iran warns about attack, refers to nuclear ‘solution’
3 Jul 2008
Summary: Iran warned Wednesday of a fierce response and radically higher oil prices if the country were attacked, but also signaled possible progress in its five-year nuclear standoff with the West. source: AFPread more

New Anti-war Network Rejects Threats Against Iran
3 Jul 2008
Summary: PourzalResponding to a call by a new network named the National Assembly to End the Iraq War and Occupation, some 300 anti-war leaders from a broad array of U.S.-based organizations gathered in Cleveland, Ohio, June 28 and 29. The conference goal was to mobilize the antiwar movement for a mass protest next spring with the single demand of immediate withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Iraq. source: CASMIIread more

‘Documents will expose West’s dishonesty’
3 Jul 2008
Summary: Larijani and SolanaIran says it is ready to publish documents which would prove the West has broken the promises it made during nuclear talks with Iran. source: Press TVread more

Ex-Agent Says CIA Ignored Iran Facts
3 Jul 2008
Summary: A former CIA operative who says he tried to warn the agency about faulty intelligence on Iraqi weapons programs now contends that CIA officials also ignored evidence that Iran had suspended work on a nuclear bomb. source: Washington Postread more

Official Says Iran Accepts P5+1 Talks Proposal
3 Jul 2008
Summary: PorterA senior Iranian official reportedly told members of the Iranian parliament Monday that Iran has agreed to freeze its enrichment program for six weeks and begin negotiations with the P5+1 group of states as early as next week, according to reports of that decision by the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) and by a Farsi-language website in Iran. source: AntiWar.com read more

Iran: Nuclear compromise can be reached
3 Jul 2008
Summary: VelayatiA senior adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution says a ‘compromise’ can be reached in Iran’s nuclear standoff with the West. source: Press TVread more

Anti-Iran Arguments Belie Fearmongering
2 Jul 2008
Summary: ClawsonNew arguments by analysts close to Israeli thinking in favor of U.S. strikes against Iran cite evidence of Iranian military weakness in relation to the U.S. and Israel and even raise doubts that Iran is rushing to obtain such weapons at all. source: AntiWar.com read more

Pentagon Warns Against Israeli Attack on Iran
2 Jul 2008
Summary: Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, who was in Israel over the weekend, issued a strong warning today about the dangers of a military attack on Iran. source: ABC Newsread more

The alternative to an Israeli attack on Iran
2 Jul 2008
Summary: The real choice in the long run is not between suspension of enrichment or war ? it is between a verifiably nuclear-free Middle East or uncontrolled proliferation. source: Christian Science Monitorread more

Iran foreign minister dismisses threat of attack
2 Jul 2008
Summary: MottakiNEW YORK (AP) ? Iran’s foreign minister on Wednesday dismissed talk of a U.S. or Israeli attack against his country, calling the prospect of another war in the Middle East “craziness.” source: The Associated Pressread more

US says Israel-Iran story false
1 Jul 2008
Summary: The US state department has criticised reported comments by a defence official that it was increasingly likely Israel would attack Iran in the coming months. source: BBCread more

Iran-Contra?s ?Lost Chapter?
1 Jul 2008
Summary: Oliver NorthAs historians ponder George W. Bush?s disastrous presidency, they may wonder how Republicans perfected a propaganda system that could fool tens of millions of Americans, intimidate Democrats, and transform the vaunted Washington press corps from watchdogs to lapdogs. source: Consortium Newsread more

Does Iran Have Bush Over a Barrel?
1 Jul 2008
Summary: In addition to retaliating against any regional powers, presumably including Israel, which take part in such an attack, Jafari warned that Tehran would “definitely act to impose control on the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz,” after which, he added, “the oil price will rise very considerably, and this is among the factors deterring the enemies.” source: AntiWar.com read more

Interview with Hersh: Congress Agreed to Bush Request to Fund Major Escalation in Secret Operations Against Iran
30 Jun 2008
Summary: While covert operations against Iran are not new, Hersh writes that the scale and the scope of the operations in Iran, which involve the CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command, have now been significantly expanded. source: Democracy Nowread more