Iran

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Iran Vows to Crack Down on 'Obscene' Rap Music

Officials will 'confront' musicians

(Newser) - In its latest bid to protect traditional Islamic morality from encroaching Western influences, Iran announced it will crack down on rap music it considers "obscene." Rap music in Farsi focusing on social, political and sexual themes is growing increasingly popular on the black market. An official recently condemned...

Fear of Iran Driving Push for Peace
Fear of Iran Driving Push for Peace

Fear of Iran Driving Push for Peace

Arab leaders at conference unified by mounting extremist threats in Mideast

(Newser) - Fear of Iran and Islamic extremism is the catalyst that's bringing together delegates at the Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, the New York Times reports. Sunni Arab leaders see their young people becoming radicalized and Iran's influence expanding, and fear the region could be transformed in new and dangerous ways....

Iran Boasts of Missile That Can Reach Israel

Device's reported 1,200-mile range also includes US bases

(Newser) - Iran has developed a missile with a range of more than 1,200 miles—far enough to strike Israel and American bases in the Mideast. Tehran's announcement today that the Ashura missile is operative will heighten tensions between the US and Iran, which continues to defy Security Council demands to...

Ahmadinejad Offers to Safeguard US Elections

Iranian prez is sure Bush won't win again

(Newser) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday offered to oversee the 2008 US presidential elections, saying he’s convinced that, given a free poll, Americans won’t re-elect George W. Bush. That Bush isn’t constitutionally allowed to run seemed lost on the Iranian president—as was the irony that his own government opposes...

Ahmadinejad Gets a Blog, Hilarity Ensues

Iranian prez finds unexpectedly critical audience online

(Newser) - When Mahmoud Ahmadinejad started his blog, he thought circumventing the media would let him present his message unadulterated to fawning supporters, free from opposition catcalls. What he found instead was a hypercritical audience typical of the online realm, the Guardian reports. Iranians, among others, are mercilessly flaming their president, criticizing...

All Eyes on OPEC for Oil Price Relief

Saudis expected to boost output as prices close in on $100

(Newser) - With oil prices poised to pass the $100 mark any day now, a pair of reports speculates that OPEC will cool the overheated market by boosting oil production, the Wall Street Journal reports. One consulting firm said OPEC, spurred by Saudi Arabia’s increased deliveries to the US, could up...

Iran Closer to Fueling Nuke Reactor, VP Claims

First time Iran has made claim

(Newser) - Iran claims to have made nuclear fuel pellets of uranium oxide, a major step in its quest to fuel a heavy water reactor, the AP reports. It also claims to be making pellets for light water reactors, like the one Russia is helping it build on the Persian Gulf coast—...

Iran Warns Against UN Sanctions
Iran Warns Against UN Sanctions

Iran Warns Against UN Sanctions

US, Europe allies call for penalties after inspectors' report

(Newser) - Iran warned today that UN sanctions might bring a halt to its cooperation with nuclear inspectors, Reuters reports. The warning comes a day after Britain, France, and Germany joined the US in calling for such sanctions because a report by international inspectors gave Tehran mixed marks on its openness. "...

Iran Defends Nuke Program in Letter to the World

Tehran insists it's making electricity

(Newser) - Iran has written a letter to world diplomats insisting that the nation's nuclear program is not a threat. "I would like to emphasize that Iran's nuclear program is completely peaceful," the foreign minister writes, adding that Iran has worked with the IAEA "even beyond its legal commitments....

Greenback Assaulted at OPEC meeting
Greenback Assaulted at
OPEC meeting

Greenback Assaulted at OPEC meeting

Dollar a 'worthless piece of paper,' Iran's president says

(Newser) - Calling it a "small and worthless piece of paper,” Iran’s president today urged OPEC's members to drop the depreciating US dollar as its official currency. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blamed President Bush for the dollar’s decline and its adverse effects. The comments highlight mounting tension among OPEC members,...

Iran Prez: Go Ahead Make My Day
Iran Prez:
Go Ahead
Make My Day

Iran Prez: Go Ahead Make My Day

We're ready for a US attack, warns Ahmadinejad

(Newser) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday warned that his nation is fully prepared to respond if attacked, but downplayed the possibility of a war with the US. "We have made all preparations, and if there is any suspicion, then we are ready," he said during a visit to Bahrain....

Chavez Warns of $200 Oil if US Strikes Iran

But call to make OPEC 'geopolitical agent' rejected by Saudis

(Newser) - Crude oil prices could hit $150-$200 a barrel if Bush is “mad enough” to strike Iran, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez warned today at the OPEC summit. “The basis of all aggression is oil,” said Chavez, arguing that OPEC should set itself up as “an active geopolitical...

Iran Prepared for Large-Scale Nuclear Fuel Output: UN

Report likely to raise debate on sanctions

(Newser) - Iran is able to produce nuclear fuel on an industrial scale, with 3,000 centrifuges capable of enriching uranium, a UN watchdog agency said today in a report sure to fuel diplomatic wrangling over sanctions. In praising Iran’s openness but demanding more, the International Atomic Energy Agency provided ammunition...

Iranian Official Says Gays Merit Death Penalty

Confirms quiet policy of torture, execution for homosexuals

(Newser) - Tehran is sanctioning the execution and perhaps torture of homosexuals, reports the London Times, and an Iranian politician confirmed the policy at a meeting with British MPs. Quizzed about the hanging of two boys accused of homosexual activity, a member of Iran's energy committee responded that gays should be killed—...

US Finding More Iranian Arms in Iraq

Easing tensions between Washington and Tehran not stemming weapons flow

(Newser) - US soldiers are finding more Iranian weaponry in Iraq than ever before, despite an apparent easing of tensions between Washington and Tehran, Reuters reports. Iran has vowed to stop funneling armor-piercing explosives into Iraq, and such attacks are down, but Iran is still exerting extensive influence in Iraq, a top...

Bush, Merkel Meet in the Middle
Bush, Merkel Meet in the Middle

Bush, Merkel Meet in the Middle

US supports Iran diplomacy; Germany agrees on sanctions

(Newser) - Bush vowed to play nice with Iran today and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed to mull more sanctions despite resistance to the notion in Germany, the BBC reports. Facing reporters on Bush's Texas ranch, the president backed diplomacy as a way to thwart Iran's nuke program. "We will continue...

US Releases 9 Iranian Prisoners
US Releases
 9 Iranian Prisoners

US Releases 9 Iranian Prisoners

Men arrested in Iraq said to be no threat after nearly a year

(Newser) - The American military released nine Iranian prisoners in Iraq today, including two captured when US forces stormed the Iranian consulate in Irbil last January. The men were initially accused of being members of Iran's Quds Force, an arm of the Revolutionary Guards Washington has accused of funding and arming Shiite...

Siemens, Banks Bow to US Pressure to End Iran Biz

Firms falling in line with anti-nuke arm-twisting

(Newser) - The Siemens company in Germany, one of the world's largest engineering operations, and the country's three largest banks are cutting business ties with Iran under White House pressure to get out or risk US interests. It's a sign that major European corporations are beginning to line up behind American economic...

Iran Nuke Claim Raises Fears of Israeli Strike

Tehran's alleged 3K enrichment centrifuges heightens tensions

(Newser) - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced yesterday that Iran has 3,000 working centrifuges for uranium enrichment—enough, experts say, to make a nuclear bomb within a year. But what worries Washington more, the Times of London reports, is whether Israel will launch a preemptive airstrike. US military sources say Tehran's announcement...

Mideast War to Defeat Dems? Worked Once, Could Again

Frank Rich: Iran bluster really about '08 election

(Newser) - Bush's rumblings about bombing Iran look like a strategic dead end: With the military stretched thin and Iraq a debacle, what does a lame-duck president stand to gain from a full-scale regional war? The answer, Frank Rich argues in his New York Times column, is a proven election-year tactic of...

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