Iran – News Stories About Iran - Page 96

Dec 5, 2008 4:24 PM CST

Bush Touts Mideast Legacy

(Newser) - President Bush is optimistic about his legacy in the Middle East, saying the region is a “more hopeful and more promising place than it was in 2001,” the Washington Post reports. Bush does acknowledge some missteps: “As with any large undertaking, these efforts have not always gone...

US Claims Success in Latest Missile Defense Test

Dec 5, 2008 4:12 PM CST

US Claims Success in Latest Missile Defense Test

System shoots down projectile over Pacific

(Newser) - The Pentagon says the latest test of its missile-defense system, performed today, was a success, Reuters reports. An interceptor missile dispatched from an Air Force base in California shot down a test projectile—similar to those Iran and North Korea claim to possess—fired from Alaska over the Pacific this...

Iran's Former Prez Mulls Run Against Ahmadinejad

ANALYSIS

Dec 5, 2008 1:34 PM CST

Iran's Former Prez Mulls Run Against Ahmadinejad

Moderate Khatami, battered by conservatives, still has large following

(Newser) - Mohammad Khatami is considering a run to reclaim the Iranian presidency, the Economist reports. Frustrated with successor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s financial mismanagement and controversial rhetoric, moderate Iranians have swamped Khatami with entreaties to run. Although Khatami ultimately failed to deliver reform, his 1997-2005 tenure is remembered fondly for relaxed restrictions...

Obama to Fill
WMD Post
Bush Ignored

Dec 3, 2008 2:24 PM CST

Obama to Fill WMD Post Bush Ignored

Dem has long focused on stopping proliferation of nuclear, chemical arms

(Newser) - President-elect Obama will hire an official to oversee efforts to stop terrorists from gaining nuclear and biological weapons, the Boston Globe reports, a position the Bush administration approved but left unfilled. Such efforts are currently spread among many agencies, and a report predicting a deadly attack within 5 years using...

Iran Boosts Uranium Stockpile

Nov 20, 2008 2:42 AM CST

Iran Boosts Uranium Stockpile

UN reports finds country may already have enough for bomb

(Newser) - Iran is rapidly moving forward with its nuclear program and may already have enriched enough uranium to take the next step toward building a nuclear bomb, the Financial Times reports. The uranium will need more enrichment to reach weapons-grade levels, say UN experts, who believe the country will wait until...

Israel Target in Syria
Likely Nuclear Site: UN

Nov 19, 2008 3:42 PM CST

Israel Target in Syria Likely Nuclear Site: UN

Uranium, site features could be remnants of reactor

(Newser) - The Syrian facility Israel bombed last year looks a lot like a nuclear reactor, UN inspectors said today, though they stopped short of calling it one. The independent investigation found manipulated uranium and features like large cooling pumps that are hallmarks of a nuclear site, the Washington Post reports. Syria...

Want to Stop Iran, President Obama? Cut Its Gas Supply

OPINION

Nov 13, 2008 12:47 PM CST

Want to Stop Iran, President Obama? Cut Its Gas Supply

Limited refining capacity is chink in Tehran's armor—and opportunity for US

(Newser) - Could Barack Obama petro-blackmail Iran on its nuclear ambitions? Former State Department official Orde Kittrie thinks so. Despite abundant crude oil, limited refining capacity forces Iran to import 40% of its gasoline, Kittrie explains in the Wall Street Journal. And though none of its main suppliers are based in the...

Iran Toughens Stance
on Obama

Nov 13, 2008 10:34 AM CST

Iran Toughens Stance on Obama

Offer to talk merely signals shift from 'hard conflict to a soft attack,' commander says

(Newser) - Facing a US president-elect willing to negotiate, just as they’ve asked for, Iran’s leaders have adopted a more hostile tone toward Barack Obama, the Washington Post reports. “People who put on a mask of friendship, but with the objective of betrayal, and who enter from the angle...

Iran Claims to Test New Missile

Nov 12, 2008 3:54 PM CST

Iran Claims to Test New Missile

Sejil has the capability to reach Israel, Tehran says

(Newser) - The Iranian government said today it test-fired a new model of missile capable of reaching Israel or US bases in the Middle East, although it insisted its intentions were peaceful, the Times of London reports. Tehran released photos of a test of what it said were Sejil missiles, which it...

World Policy Can Wait
a While, Obama

opinion

Nov 9, 2008 7:30 PM CST

World Policy Can Wait a While, Obama

For a while, inaction may be the best course

(Newser) - From Iran to Venezuela, President-elect Obama's best foreign policy option is to lie low for now, John Barry writes in Newsweek. Sudden forays into tricky hotspots—think Bay of Pigs, or President Bush's North Korea missteps—can prove costly, and most of the world's problems need a breather anyway. In...

Tehran Outpost Looks More Likely Before Bush Leaves

Nov 7, 2008 5:13 PM CST

Tehran Outpost Looks More Likely Before Bush Leaves

Though Obama team hasn't been consulted, move could insulate Dem from criticism

(Newser) - The Bush administration is moving ever closer to establishing a long-rumored diplomatic office in Iran, Newsweek reports, with a decision possible by Thanksgiving on putting an “interests section” inside another embassy in Tehran, likely the Swiss. The move might signal a victory for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and...

Iran Impeaches Minister for Fake Oxford Degree

Nov 4, 2008 3:08 PM CST

Iran Impeaches Minister for Fake Oxford Degree

Key Ahmadinejad ally misspelled words on 'honorary doctorate'

(Newser) - It turns out lying on your resume is frowned upon in Tehran, too. Iran’s parliament gave Interior Minister Ali Kordan the boot today, for posing as an honorary Oxford law graduate, the Daily Telegraph reports. Kordan’s bogus diploma is riddled with typos and misspellings, declaring Kordan “intitled”...

Iran Faces Its Nightmare:
Falling Oil

OPINION

Oct 29, 2008 9:24 AM CDT

Iran Faces Its Nightmare: Falling Oil

Suddenly negotiating is starting to look pretty smart, says Friedman

(Newser) - Barack Obama's promise to negotiate with Iran once seemed like a dubious idea to Thomas Friedman—pre-conditions or not, the US had no leverage. But everything's changed now that the price of oil is at $57 and falling, writes the New York Times columnist. Once the mullahs went on a...

Iranian Prez's Illness
Nothing Serious, MP Says

Oct 26, 2008 11:01 AM CDT

Iranian Prez's Illness Nothing Serious, MP Says

Rumors to contrary are just political 'ploy'

(Newser) - The irrepressible Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is suffering from exhaustion, but it won’t keep him down for long, an MP told an Iranian news agency. Rumors that the Iranian president is very sick are “psychological warfare,” “an old ploy” designed to undermine him among fundamentalists before next June’...

US Election Captivates Iran

Oct 25, 2008 6:40 AM CDT

US Election Captivates Iran

Some Iranians pro-McCain, some pro-Obama, for strange and different reasons

(Newser) - Though isolated and remote, Iran is understandably interested in the outcome of the US presidential election. Iranian papers are covering every aspect, publishing extensive biographies and transcripts of the debates. Opinions run the gamut, but one consensus seems to be that it doesn't matter who wins because the US has...

OPEC Slashes 1.5M Barrels
a Day to Boost Oil Prices

Oct 24, 2008 7:14 AM CDT

OPEC Slashes 1.5M Barrels a Day to Boost Oil Prices

(Newser) - OPEC today decided to take 1.5 million barrels of oil per day off the markets to boost prices flirting with 16-month lows, the Wall Street Journal reports. The deep cut will take effect next month. “This slowdown in oil demand is serving to exacerbate the situation in a...

Iran Cannot Be Allowed to Go Nuclear

OPINION

Oct 23, 2008 12:04 PM CDT

Iran Cannot Be Allowed to Go Nuclear

Next president must prevent proliferation, no matter the cost

(Newser) - The US must prevent Iran from going nuclear, even if it means military intervention, write Daniel Coats and Charles Robb, heads of a bipartisan think tank on the issue. “An Islamic Republic of Iran with nuclear weapons capability would be strategically untenable,” they argue. Even if Iran doesn’...

Foreign Views Prove Less Neat Than 'Hawk' and 'Dove'

ANALYSIS

Oct 23, 2008 9:13 AM CDT

Foreign Views Prove Less Neat Than 'Hawk' and 'Dove'

Candidates have complicated ideas on American power

(Newser) - For the presidential candidates, divergent experiences in Asia—John McCain's time in a Vietnam prison, Barack Obama's childhood years in Indonesia—gave rise to opposing views of American power. Yet the nominees' foreign policy stances have often blurred during the campaign, with Obama appearing more hawkish and McCain more diplomatic,...

OPEC Panics as Oil Plunges

Oct 22, 2008 8:33 AM CDT

OPEC Panics as Oil Plunges

Cartel plans emergency meeting this week to cut production

(Newser) - Earlier this year the nations of OPEC were riding high as booming economic growth and tight supplies buoyed crude above $100. But now a barrel of oil is $70 and dropping fast, and frightened petroleum producers are holding an emergency meeting this week to discuss a production cut. As the...

Iran Nabs 'Spying' Pigeons

Oct 21, 2008 2:57 PM CDT

Iran Nabs 'Spying' Pigeons

Two birds arrested near Natanz nuclear site

(Newser) - Two pigeons are under arrest in Iran after the alleged avian spies were found hovering near the nation's uranium-enrichment plant at Natanz, the Telegraph reports. The first, a black one, was caught wearing espionage gear—a metal ring held by “invisible” strings. The birds may have been communicating what...