Bomb Defused on Iranian Airliner

(NEWSER) - A violent and chaotic day in Iran left dozens of protesters injured, with reports ranging from 13 to 19 deaths, reports the New York Times. The government's feared militia, the Basij, cracked down with water cannons, electric rounds, and live bullets against thousands of protesters in Tehran. The developments came on a day when challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi declared he is "ready for martyrdom" and President Obama criticized the government action as "unjust and violent" and warned that the "whole world is watching." More»

Voting runs extra 3 hours to accommodate volume

(NEWSER) - Both leading candidates for Iran’s presidency are trumpeting victory after Iranians swarmed the polls, forcing them to remain open an extra 3 hours, Reuters reports. Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad each claimed some 60% of the vote. Meanwhile, President Obama applauded the election, which he said heralded “robust debate” and a “possibility of change” in Iran, the AP reports. “You’re seeing people looking at new possibilities.” More»

Norman Podhoretz on Ahmadinejad, Hitler, and the case for war with Iran

(NEWSER) - The only way to protect the West from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to bomb Iran now, writes Norman Podhoretz in Commentary. The irascible neocon blasts left-wingers who downplay the threat of a nuclear Iran, and argues that deterrence won’t stop the Iranian leader once he’s armed. More»

Next meetings take place in Moscow in June

(NEWSER) - The talks on Iran's nuclear program that began amid such high hopes didn't exactly succeed, but they didn't exactly fail, either. Instead, both sides have agreed to keep talking, reports the New York Times . The next round will be June 18-19 in Russia, one of six nations including the US trying to get Tehran to scale back. Those talks will come just weeks ahead of a tough new phase of European sanctions. More»

Iranian president swats down talk of rising hostilities with Israel

(NEWSER) - With talks on Iran's nuclear program hot on next week's agenda, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is swatting down talk of Israeli-Iranian war, comparing the threat posed by his regional rival to so much buzzing from a pest, reports CNN . "Israel is nothing more than a mosquito which cannot see the broad horizon of the Iranian nation," he said yesterday, according to a semi-official state news agency. More»