Iran

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McCain: Skip the Bombs, Send Smokes to Iran

Mac jokes about killing Iranians with cigarettes

(Newser) - Told that cigarette exports to Iran rose tenfold under President Bush’s reign, McCain pondered aloud:“Maybe that's a way of killing 'em." When his wife nudged him, he quickly clarified to Reuters: "I meant that as a joke—as a person who hasn't had a cigarette...

Stocks Surge on Oil, Fed News
 Stocks Surge on Oil, Fed News 
MARKETS
Jul 8, 2008 3:38 PM CDT

Stocks Surge on Oil, Fed News

Bernanke's comments encourage the battered financial sector

(Newser) - The markets made strong gains today as crude futures fell more than $5 and the Fed took steps to shore up the housing market, MarketWatch reports. The Dow gained 152.25 points, its biggest jump in a month, to close at 11,384.21. The Nasdaq rose 51.10 points...

Washington's War Drums Beating Loudly
Washington's War Drums Beating Loudly
OPINION
Jul 3, 2008 10:25 AM CDT

Washington's War Drums Beating Loudly

Amid US, Israeli, Iran saber-rattling, 'all options on the table'

(Newser) - Is Washington, or its Israeli allies, really ready to attack Iran? "The threats, counterthreats, and counter-counterthreats … have reached new levels of hysteria in recent days," Dana Milbank writes in the Washington Post. Rumblings of an Israeli strike prompted Tehran threats to close oil-shipping lanes. That would be...

Oil Gushes Past $145
 Oil Gushes Past $145 
Jul 3, 2008 7:07 AM CDT

Oil Gushes Past $145

Experts say a further weakening of the dollar will push prices higher still

(Newser) - The specter of conflict in Iran and a surprisingly large decline in US stockpiles pushed European oil prices above $145 today for the first time, reports the AP. A further weakening of the dollar, if the European Central Bank raises interest rates as expected later today, could push prices even...

Confidence Surges in Baghdad
Confidence Surges in Baghdad
Jul 3, 2008 6:00 AM CDT

Confidence Surges in Baghdad

Residents see 'astonishing,' if fragile, return to normal

(Newser) - Economic activity and confidence in the government are booming in Baghdad, Der Spiegel reports, in a look at the "astonishing" resurgence of normal life there—despite fear that progress could vanish as quickly as it appeared. For the first time in 4 years, a popular Baghdad supermarket is stocking...

Iran and American Jews: 'Divided Loyalties'?

Right-wingers get 'vicious,' 'dishonest' in bashing perceived critics

(Newser) - With rhetoric on Iran escalating almost daily, Glenn Greenwald reviews recent charges that Israel's agenda is what's behind all this agitation for war. When Joe Klein argued last week in Time that some war proponents are “motivated by their allegiance to Israel,” reaction was "as vicious, furious...

Iran Considering Nuclear Talks: Foreign Minister

New incentives could bring Tehran to table, enrichment freeze

(Newser) - Iran’s foreign minister turned heads yesterday with optimistic talk about nuclear negotiations with the international community, the Wall Street Journal reports. Tehran is “carefully examining” an offer of economic incentives, Manouchehr Mottaki said, and won’t rule out halting enrichment work during negotiations. “We see the potential...

The Decider Has Time for a Last Hurrah
 The Decider
 Has Time for
 a Last Hurrah 
Opinion
Jul 1, 2008 10:24 AM CDT

The Decider Has Time for a Last Hurrah

Bush isn't gone yet, and he's got unfinished business

(Newser) - It’s comforting to think of George W. Bush as yesterday’s news, but the Decider is still very much in office and itching to tie up loose ends. These “loose ends” might include signing a treaty with Iraq, or continuing his quixotic quest for Israeli-Palestinian peace, or, more...

US Steps Up Covert Plots in Iran
US Steps Up Covert Plots
in Iran
GLOSSIES
Jun 30, 2008 2:15 AM CDT

US Steps Up Covert Plots in Iran

Critics view $400M program as prelude to war

(Newser) - Congress agreed to boost covert operations against Iran last year despite reservations by key officials, Seymour Hersh writes in the New Yorker. President Bush sought up to $400 million for the program, which supports dissidents intent on undermining Tehran and gathers data on its nuke plans. Some analysts believe the...

Israel Has a Year to Thwart Iranian Nuke: Official

Iran responds with threat; Tel Aviv worries about US backing

(Newser) - Israel has 12 months to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons or risk Tehran’s wrath, a former Israeli defense official said. “The time that is left to be ready is getting shorter all the time,” Shabtai Shavit told the Telegraph. “We should do whatever (is) necessary...

Planting Flag in Iran Would Be Good for US
Planting Flag in Iran Would Be Good for US
analysis
Jun 23, 2008 3:18 PM CDT

Planting Flag in Iran Would Be Good for US

Political heat worth the contact office, however small, would bring

(Newser) - President Bush is considering opening a small US office in Iran, Fred Hiatt writes in the Washington Post, a move that could spur contact with citizens—and perhaps the hostile regime. "It's not a softening," one official said of the proposed interest section, steps below a full embassy....

Dow Plummets to Below 12,000
 Dow Plummets to Below 12,000 
MARKETS
Jun 20, 2008 3:34 PM CDT

Dow Plummets to Below 12,000

An oil boost and continued financial woes batter the markets

(Newser) - The markets tumbled today to lows not seen since the Bear Stearns fiasco in March, MarketWatch reports. Oil surged back over $135 a barrel, erasing yesterday’s meager gains, and bad news continued to depress financials. The Dow fell 220.40 to 11,842.69, the Nasdaq 55.87 to...

US: Israeli Exercise Was Dry Run for Iran Strike

Israel 'ready' to hit Iran's nuke facilities if talks fail

(Newser) - A recent Israeli exercise looked to US officials very much like a rehearsal for a strike on Iran, the New York Times reports.  The Pentagon also believes the massive exercise in the first week of June, involving over a hundred fighter jets, was a message to the world that...

How to Transition Out of Iraq
 How to Transition Out of Iraq 
OPINION
Jun 19, 2008 1:37 PM CDT

How to Transition Out of Iraq

David Ignatius offers a strategy for scaling back in Iraq

(Newser) - It's time for the US to carve out a practical strategy in Iraq, David Ignatius argues in the Washington Post. At a cost of $400 million a day, the war is draining America's economy—precisely what Osama bin Laden hoped for. The solution will not be quick, simple, or easy,...

Blogger Busts Tripled Last Year: Report

Political crackdowns especially harsh in Egypt, Iran and China

(Newser) - The number of blogging "citizen journalists" arrested worldwide in political crackdowns tripled in 2007 from the previous year, Ars Technica reports. Over half of last year's 36 arrests occurred in Egypt, Iran, and China, according to a new survey, which sorted arrests into six categories, most related to stirring...

Britain Rolls Out New Iran Sanctions

Brown also promises more troops for Afghan fight as Bush departs Europe

(Newser) - Britain and the European Union will slap Iran with a new round of sanctions over its refusal to curtail its nuclear program, PM Gordon Brown announced today, handing President Bush an unexpected farewell gift on the last day of his weeklong European trip. Brown froze the assets of Iran's largest...

Arms Smugglers Had Nuke Blueprints
Arms Smugglers Had Nuke Blueprints
Jun 15, 2008 11:02 AM CDT

Arms Smugglers Had Nuke Blueprints

Design could have been passed to any 'treacherous regime'

(Newser) - Smugglers who sold weapons parts to Libya, Iran, and North Korea also had blueprints for a compact nuclear weapon—plans that could have been sold “to some of the most treacherous regimes in the world," warns an upcoming report by American and international investigators. The device could be...

Bush, Sarkozy Warn Iran Over Spurned Nuke Offer

Tehran turns down 6-nation deal to stop enriching uranium

(Newser) - Iran said no to an incentive offer today to stop making uranium, sparking a warning from President Bush and Nicolas Sarkozy not to build nuclear weapons, the AP reports. "Our allies understand that a nuclear-armed Iran is incredibly destabilizing," Bush said. Even before an EU official delivered the...

Top Ideas of Past Year
 Top Ideas of Past Year 
OPINION
Jun 11, 2008 5:19 PM CDT

Top Ideas of Past Year

Atlantic Monthly runs down issues steered the national discourse in past year

(Newser) - Which ideas informed the national discourse (or lack thereof) in the past year? Well, the Atlantic Monthly knows, and there are 11 … er, 11½. From the troop surge in Iraq to post-partisan politics to the provocatively titled “mass-market atheism,” a look at some of the most captivating...

Bush Rues Gun-Slinger Image
 Bush Rues Gun-Slinger Image 
Jun 11, 2008 8:22 AM CDT

Bush Rues Gun-Slinger Image

'I could have used different rhetoric' prez says on farewell swing

(Newser) - Looking back on his years in office, President Bush admitted yesterday he regrets using phrases like "bring 'em on,” and “dead or alive,” which “indicated to people that I was, you know, not a man of peace." In "retrospect I could have used...

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