State Department’s Burns to resign: Rice18 Jan 2008Summary: The third highest-ranking official at the US State Department and the pointman in talks to step up sanctions on Iran is quitting his job, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday. source: AFPread more
Congress Should Investigate Release of Pentagon Iran Video18 Jan 2008Summary: It is likely that there would never have been a new Iran intelligence estimate if it had not been for Congressional pressure and the reforms that were implemented after the White House manipulated intelligence prior to the invasion of Iraq. If Congress could create the conditions in which the new Iran intelligence estimate was released in spite of the strong opposition of the White House, it can create the conditions in which the Pentagon cannot release significantly false information about military encounters to the ne source: commondreams.orgread more
Israel tests missile after warnings to Iran18 Jan 2008Summary: JERUSALEM, Jan 17 (Reuters) – Israel tested a missile on Thursday, prompting speculation about its ability to launch nuclear strikes on Iran following Israeli warnings and accusations about Tehran’s atomic ambitions. source: Reutersread more
Israeli Minister Gets Little Support18 Jan 2008Summary: Sergei LavrovRussia, by contrast, denies that there is any military element in the Iranian program and has opposed U.S. calls for tough sanctions against Teheran. Without mentioning Israel or the United States, Lavrov repeated past warnings against unilateral action. source: Moscow Timesread more
How the American Media Enables Bush17 Jan 2008Summary: After much was made by the Bush administration about Iran’s covert nuclear program, recently there was acknowledgment that many of those fears may have been over-exaggerated or even misplaced. Yet no one from the administration was taken to task for spreading such sinister misinformation. More disturbingly, there was no substantive criticism from the American media either. source: Counterpunchread more
How the Pentagon Planted a False Hormuz Story17 Jan 2008Summary: WASHINGTON ? Senior Pentagon officials, evidently reflecting a broader administration policy decision, used an off-the-record Pentagon briefing to turn the Jan. 6 U.S.-Iranian incident in the Strait of Hormuz into a sensational story demonstrating Iran?s military aggressiveness, a reconstruction of the events following the incident shows. source: Commondreams.orgread more
Bush in Middle East: Who Is Isolating Whom?16 Jan 2008Summary: “But I fear that since he [Bush] is not facing reelection, he might really undertake something very drastic in military terms. And if he fails to build the kind of coalition that he’s trying to build, he’s simply going to turn around and say, look, we tried to work with you all, you didn’t work with us, so we have had to take this onus upon ourselves.” source: The Real Newsread more
Iran says it will join Iraq security conference16 Jan 2008Summary: US President George W. Bush, who finished a tour of the Middle East on Wednesday, has called on his Arab allies to unite against Iran, saying that Tehran’s role in “fomenting violence” in Iraq has been exposed. source: AFPread more
New U.S. audit questions efficacy of Iran sanctions16 Jan 2008Summary: WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The economic impact of U.S. sanctions against Iran is unclear and Iran has signed about $20 billion in energy contracts with foreign firms since 2003, said a U.S. audit report. source: Reutersread more
The Futility of Sanctioning Tehran16 Jan 2008Summary: Given that the realities on the ground supersede the strategic calculus of the anti-Iranian lobby, sanctioning Iran is a futile endeavour. The policy of confrontation merely serves the political agenda of the crisis-ridden neo-conservative minority on both sides. source: Monthly Reviewread more
NIAC Guide: Presidential Candidate Positions on US-Iran Relations16 Jan 2008Summary: As the presidential elections draw near, Iranian Americans are faced with the challenge of gleaning candidate positions on Iran amidst a blur of sound bytes and vague rhetoric. Iran remains a key issue in both Republican and Democratic debates and continues to play a major role in determining who will be elected president. With the recent emergence of the National Intelligence Estimate deeming Iran?s nuclear weapons program halted since 2003, candidates must now tread carefully on earlier positions that rested on the imminent warnings of a nuclear Iran. Which candidates favor policies that will reduce the risk of war with Iran? source: NIACread more
Bush takes distance from key Iran findings16 Jan 2008Summary: US President George W. Bush on Tuesday appeared to distance himself from what he called an “independent” US intelligence finding widely seen as dousing the likelihood of armed confrontation with Iran. source: Row Storyread more
How the Pentagon Planted a False Story16 Jan 2008Summary: The commanding officer of the guided missile cruiser Port Royal, Capt. David Adler, dismissed the Pentagon’s story that he had felt threatened by the dropping of white boxes in the water. Meeting with reporters on Monday, Adler said, “I saw them float by. They didn’t look threatening to me.” source: Anti War.Comread more
Legal mist stokes US-Iran tensions in strait15 Jan 2008Summary: The recent, and escalating, tension between Iran and the US in the narrow corridor of the Strait of Hormuz has once again drawn attention to the strait’s international maritime status, and to the ramifications of this tension as a flashpoint in the Middle East. source: Asia Times Onlineread more
Bush uses Abu Dhabi speech to escalate threats against Iran15 Jan 2008Summary: To the people of Iran, Bush promised that the day would come when Iran ?joins the community of free nations. And when that day comes, you will have no better friend than the United States of America.? The Iranian people could only interpret these words as a threat that the same horrors wrought in Iraq will be visited upon them if Iran does not accede to the demands of American imperialism. source: WSWSread more
Reformers inside Iran excluded from US support: Zibakalam15 Jan 2008Summary: ZibakalamHe told IRNA that when the reformist government of President Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005) sought rapprochement with Washington, the US Administration did not give positive response to it. source: Payvandread more
Gulf allies turn their backs on Bush15 Jan 2008Summary: Bush’s Persian Gulf tour has suffered erosion from various quarters. ElBaradei’s visit to Tehran virtually pre-empted any attempt by Bush to stoke the fires of the Iran nuclear issue. source: Asia Times Onlineread more
Blood price for the US support to Turkey?s PKK operation: A military base against Iran14 Jan 2008Summary: Having given no support to Turkey?s struggle against the PKK for a long time, the US supported the Turkish army?s recent bombing of the Qandil mountain. The reason behind this support is becoming clear now: An agreement made between the US, Turkey and the Federal Administration of South Kurdistan for the construction in South and North Kurdistan [i.e. Northern Iraq and Southeastern Turkey respectively] of two strategic US military bases targeting Iran. source: ANF F?rat News Agencyread more
Sensationalist Media Did Pentagon’s Bidding in Fake Naval ‘Provocation’ with Iran14 Jan 2008Summary: Amy GoodmanThe United States has lodged a formal diplomatic protest against Iran for its “provocation” in the Strait of Hormuz on January 6. But new information reveals that the alleged Iranian threat to American naval vessels may have been blown out of proportion. Democracy Now! spoke with investigative historian Gareth Porter. source: Alternet.orgread more
Bush Mideast speech draws cool response14 Jan 2008Summary: “Iran is a neighbor, we have to deal with that,” said Ambassador Ibrahim Mohieldin, director of the Arab League’s Americas department. “The U.S. is thousands of miles away from Iran – it’s OUR national security that will be affected” if leaders agree to keep Tehran isolated at Washington’s request. source: McClatchy Newspapersread more
Iran says US ‘lost face’ over ship incident13 Jan 2008Summary: TEHRAN (AFP) ? Iran on Sunday said the United States had “lost face” and should apologise over its portrayal of an incident between Iranian and US naval forces in the Strait of Hormuz. source: AFPread more
Iran Demands Exclusive IAEA Oversight13 Jan 2008Summary: TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Iran’s top leader demanded an end to U.N. Security Council oversight of the country’s nuclear program during a meeting Saturday with the chief of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, state-run television reported. source: APread more
Iran Attacks US Fifth Fleet! American Casualties Reported!!!12 Jan 2008Summary: “You hear that, Mabel? Come, watch!” Hank calls from the sofa. “Five of them Iranian swift boats like they used to blow up the Cole just attacked the Fifth Fleet! Don?t say how many killed. Just ? ?We?ve suffered casualties!? Those damn Arab-Iranian-al-Qaeda-speedboat-sand-devils! Get in here, Mabel! Watch!” source: LewRockwell.comread more
If you believe Iran ?harassed? US ships, you have forgotten USS Vincennes12 Jan 2008Summary: USS VincenessThe US navy claimed yesterday that Iranian fast boats harassed them in the Straits of Hormuz. On July 3, 1988, USS Vinceness shot down Iran Air Flight 655 (IR655) killing 290 innocent civilian from six nations including 66 children. source: Truthnews.usread more
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII)