Iraqi official says Iran arms evidence not conclusive5 May 2008Summary: Ali al-DabbaghA top Iraqi official said Sunday there was no conclusive evidence that Shiite extremists have been directly supplied with some Iranian arms as alleged by the United States. source: APread more
The old drumbeat5 May 2008Summary: Here we go again: anonymous briefings, dubious dossiers and claims of secret weapons. Watch out, Iran source: The Guardianread more
Iran Opens War Avoidance Flank4 May 2008Summary: As threats of military action against Iran continue to issue from various spokesmen of the war party in the U.S., the Islamic Republic has launched an ambitious initiative aimed at preventing war, based on a comprehensive package of economic, political and security measures on a vast regional plane. The package includes proposals to settle remaining questions related to Iran’s nuclear energy program, but is not limited to that. source: Global Researchread more
Iran will not bow to Western pressure, leader says4 May 2008Summary: TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran’s supreme leader said on Sunday Tehran would not give up its rights in the face of Western pressure, two days after major powers said they would make a new offer to convince Tehran to halt its nuclear plans. source: Reutersread more
Iran denies militia backing in Iraq4 May 2008Summary: BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN)—An Iraqi delegation that arrived in Tehran on Wednesday confronted Iranian officials with “evidence” that Iran is smuggling weapons and explosive devices into Iraq and training Iraqi militants, charges that the Iranians vehemently denied, an Iraqi politician said Saturday. source: CNNread more
United States is drawing up plans to strike on Iranian insurgency camp4 May 2008Summary: President George W Bush is known to be determined that he should not hand over what he sees as ?the Iran problem? to his successor. A limited attack on a training camp may give an impression of tough action, while at the same time being something that both Gates and the US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, could accept. source: Times on lineread more
Iran won’t talk to U.S. on Iraq till US attacks on Iraqis stop3 May 2008Summary: TEHRAN (Reuters) – A senior Iranian official said on Saturday Tehran saw no need for more talks with the United States about Iraqi security until what he described as U.S. attacks on Iraqis stopped, Iran’s Fars News Agency reported. source: Reutersread more
Terrorist who took hostages in Iranian embassy in London to be released3 May 2008Summary: Fowzi BadaviThe only terrorist to escape alive when the SAS stormed the Iranian Embassy in London 28 years ago is on the point of being freed to build a new life in Britain. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said: “Freedom of the terrorist is not at all justified and is a sign of the UK’s double-standard approaches towards the issue of terrorism.” source: Daily Mailread more
Secret Bush “Finding” Widens War on Iran3 May 2008Summary: Six weeks ago, President Bush signed a secret finding authorizing a covert offensive against the Iranian regime that, according to those familiar with its contents, “unprecedented in its scope.” source: Counterpunchread more
Iran is not the enemy2 May 2008Summary: Augusta, Georgia – The “axis of evil” has no relevance for me when I think of Iran, a country I’ve found to have a human, loving, hospitable face throughout 40 years of encounters. I lived in Iran between 1968 and 1978, and started returning again, this time with peace delegations, in 2005. It is one of the great joys of my life to see the layers of misunderstanding and fear gradually fall away from those who visit Iran today for the first time. source: Fellowship of Reconciliationread more
NIAC Welcomes Creation of First Iranian-American Lobby2 May 2008Summary: Dr ParsiWashington DC - The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) is pleased to welcome the launch of the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA), the first Iranian-American lobbying organization in Washington DC. Iranian-American political voices can only mature with the advent of more organizations focusing on the community’s concerns. Like NIAC, PAAIA aims “to build an influential voice for the Iranian-American community in the US political process. source: NIACread more
Sr. Ellen Francis, OSH plans to co-lead a Peace Delegation to Iran, August 15-30, 20081 May 2008Summary: The purpose of this delegation, sponsored by the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), is to seek alternatives to the current political standoff between the United States and Iranian governments and to affirm friendship and solidarity between the people of the United States and the people of Iran. This will be the eighth Iran Peace Delegation to be sponsored by FOR. source: The Order of Saint Helena read more
Iran condemns Clinton for threatening force1 May 2008Summary: Danesh-Yazdi said “Iran is a leading nation in rejecting and opposing all kinds of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons.” He added that Iran has repeatedly declared “that nuclear weapons as the most lethal and inhumane weapons have no place in the defense doctrine of the country.” source: APread more
India raises a toast to Iran1 May 2008Summary: Ahmadinejad’s visit is perhaps the first time that the Congress-party led New Delhi government headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has stood up to the United States on Iran, making an effort to emphasize an independent foreign policy not influenced by Washington’s ideas. source: Asia Times Onlineread more
Is there a resurgence by the remaining hawks in the Bush administration?30 Apr 2008Summary: Are the latest accusations and tough language leveled against Iran, Syria, and North Korea evidence of a resurgence by the remaining hawks in the administration of President George W. Bush hoping for a final confrontation against one or more members of the revised ‘axis of evil’ before his term next January? source: IPSread more
Azerbaijan: Did Washington have a hand in stopping nuclear shipment headed for Iran?30 Apr 2008Summary: Azerbaijan?s refusal to release Russian nuclear power plant equipment headed to Iran has put the country at the center of a diplomatic firestorm. Analysts are divided over the source of the trouble. A former Azerbaijani presidential aide believes that the United States asked Baku to halt the shipment, while another expert contends that Russia, ambivalent about Iran?s nuclear program, is deliberately delaying handing over the necessary documentation to release the shipment. source: Eurasianet.orgread more
New U.S. carrier in Gulf a “reminder” to Iran: Gates30 Apr 2008Summary: HMS CornwallMEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The U.S. Navy has temporarily added a second aircraft carrier in the Gulf as a “reminder” to Iran, but this was not an escalation of American forces in the region, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday. source: Reutersread more
Vote for peace in the London election29 Apr 2008Summary: CASMII calls on all its supporters to mobilize fully to vote in the London election on 1 May for a mayor for peace. The two candidates with the most chance of being elected are the anti-war Ken Livingstone and the pro-war Boris Johnson. source: CASMIIread more
Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline is on29 Apr 2008Summary: Pepe Escobar: Asian countries create interdependent energy economy with Iran, despite US opposition:
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has met with Pakistan’s president, Pervez Musharraf, and the prime minister, Raza Gilani, to discuss the construction of a gas pipeline from Iran to India. source: The Real Newsread more
Hypocrisy Par Excellence29 Apr 2008Summary: Israeli threats to “destroy the Iranian nation” in a retaliatory strike should Iran attack Israel seems perfectly acceptable to the US State Department. However, its spokesman, Sean McCormack, is voicing his strong condemnations against the Iranian officials when they respond in kind. How hypocritical is that? source: Intellectual Discourseread more
Iran holds key to India’s energy insecurity29 Apr 2008Summary: In the rapidly intensifying international energy game, Iran holds a master key to the most staggering roadblock to India’s economic growth – energy insecurity. With the issue of energy cooperation expected to dominate talks on Tuesday between visiting Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and his hosts in New Delhi, a new chapter in India-Iran relations is on the horizon that will likely bring the two countries closer together on a long-term basis. source: Asia Times Onlineread more
Rabbi leads interfaith delegation to Iran28 Apr 2008Summary: Rabbi GottliebFor the first time, an American rabbi will be traveling to Iran Tuesday on a mission of interfaith dialogue and understanding. source: JPostread more
Iran looks eastward28 Apr 2008Summary: The visit of the Iranian president Mr Mahmud Ahmadinejad to Islamabad may be the first step towards inaugurating a new chapter in Iran?s geopolitical vision. And the reason behind this could be Iran?s economic compulsions: it has a resource that needs to be exported to develop its national economy to the level where it can be recognised as a regional power. In an era of pipelines, geopolitics is no longer linked to invasions. From the point of view of trade, westwards of Iran, the markets for its product are small; source: Pakistan Daily Timesread more
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII)