Clinton's poll day threat to Iran

Hillary Clinton has issued a stark warning to Iran, as Democrats in Pennsylvania vote to choose between her and Barack Obama to run for president.

She said the US would attack, and could "obliterate" Iran, if it launched a nuclear strike on Israel.

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Iran shows off its military might

Iran has been displaying its military power at a ceremony to mark the country's annual army day.

Speaking at the parade, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran was the most powerful nation in the world.

The country's strength was such that no major power would dare to challenge its security, he said.

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Iran accuses U.S. of invading Afghanistan, Iraq under pretext of Sept. 11 attacks

TEHRAN, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday accused the United States of invading Afghanistan and Iraq under the pretext of Sept. 11 terror attacks.

President Ahmadinejad made the accusation while addressing a large group of local residents in Iran's central city of Qum, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying that over one million people have so far been killed in the occupied Iraq and tens of thousands of civilians have died in Afghanistan after U.S. forces invaded the two countries.

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Iran nuclear talks in China fall short of agreement

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Six-nation talks looking to revive nuclear negotiations with Iran fell short on Wednesday of agreeing on a new package to present Tehran, while Iran's president said he was open to talks within limits.

The meeting in Shanghai of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France -- plus Germany and an EU representative, was a first such meeting for China, which has kept away from the spotlight in the dispute.

But China's Assistant Foreign Minister He Yafei emerged from several hours of bargaining to say the diplomats failed to fully agree on a fresh plan to offer Iran, which rejected an earlier offer of negotiating incentives put to it in 2006.

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Iran stresses validity of agreements inked by Iran, former Soviet Union on Caspian Sea

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said in Tehran on Tuesday that any new agreement on the Caspian Sea legal regime should be based upon the previous agreements signed between Iran and the former Soviet Union, IRNA reported from Tehran on Tuesday.

The Iranian foreign minister called on all participating delegates to pay due attention to common interests of all littoral states, the sea's stability and security, environmental issues of the sea and economic prosperity of the littoral states.

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Countries surrounding the Caspian Sea and arguing over the Caspian Sea.

China: 6 nations in Iran nuclear talks this week

The five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany will try this week to restart efforts to ensure Iran's nuclear intentions are peaceful.

The talks in China on Wednesday in the commercial hub of Shanghai aim to follow up on a package of political, security and economic incentives offered to in Iran June 2006 in tandem with further sanctions to punish Tehran's defiance.

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The UN security Council and Germany are worried that Iran is not going to use its nuclear weapons for peace. They went to China to discuss this problem.

Probes into Iran Deadly Blast Continue

Iran was on Monday investigating an explosion in a mosque in the southern city of Shiraz that killed 12 people and wounded more than 200.

The police commander said the munitions were apparently left behind after a "Sacred Defense" exhibition was held at the mosque, which also serves as a cultural center. "Sacred Defense" is a local reference to the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s.

"It was not because of bombing," Mohtaj said, but did not elaborate.

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A mosque was blown up but they claim it was an accident not a bomb. They believe that it was past weapons that were held there exploded and it was an accident.

Assessment Complete

Iran cleric rejects Bush's accusations on Iraq

An influential Iranian cleric on Friday rejected President George W. Bush's accusations that Iran was arming and funding Shi'ite militias in Iraq to kill American soldiers, state radio reported.
Iran has never interfered in Iraq ... such claims are sheer lies made by Iraq's occupiers to continue Iraq's occupation," Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a senior advisor to Iran's top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told worshippers in a Friday prayers sermon at Tehran University.

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The Us believes that Iran is helping Iraqi soldiers kill Americans, but Iran has disagreed.

U.S. has photos of secret Iran nuclear sites

The United States has evidence that Iran has secretly been building large nuclear facilities -- sites that could possibly be used to make nuclear weapons, senior U.S. officials tell CNN.
But Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said the country's only nuclear activity is of a peaceful nature, and its facilities have been "regularly and frequently" inspected by the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA.

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the US believes that Iran has a larger nuclear program and that is making the US nervous. Iran claims that the program is for peace not war.

Iran launches some 500 new centrifuges to enrich uranium - agency

Iranian authorities have repeatedly said the country needs 50,000 centrifuges to provide its annual requirements for nuclear fuel.

Iranian nuclear officials in Natanz have launched about 500 new centrifuges to enrich uranium, a source told the Iranian agency IRNA .

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced tests on advanced nuclear equipment on Tuesday - Nuclear Technology Day in Iran - also adding that the country had started to install another 6,000 'ordinary' uranium enrichment centrifuges at its underground facility in Natanz.

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Iran is buying more centrifuges to help its nuclear program.

Petraeus: Iran is destroying Iraq

Top US commander in Baghdad General David Petraeus accuses Iran of playing a 'destructive' role in Iraq by financing militia groups. Speaking at a Tuesday Senate hearing, General Petraeus claimed Iran's influence on militia groups is the longest-term threat to the liability of a democratic Iraq.

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Iran deplores civilian deaths in Basra, Sadr City

Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mohammad-Ali Hosseini, on Tuesday deplored civilian losses in Iraq, condemning US forces for indiscriminate bombardment of residential areas in Sadr City and Basra.

On Iran's stand regarding the recent invasion on residential areas in different parts of Iraq, he said Tehran also strongly condemns attack on Baghdad Green Zone where the diplomatic missions and state organizations are situated.

Lauding rightful measures taken by the Iraqi government to counter illegal armed groups, he said the move is aimed at establishment of security and stability in the country.

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Iran Steps Up Defiance of UN With More Centrifuges

April 8 (Bloomberg) -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran is installing 6,000 new advanced uranium-enrichment centrifuges at its Natanz nuclear facility, a move that steps up the Persian Gulf country's dismissal of United Nations sanctions.
Natanz already has 3,000 of an older version of the fast- spinning machines that produce uranium 235, a material that can be used to fuel a nuclear power plant or build a bomb. The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency said in February that Iran was testing a faster, more reliable centrifuge. Iran plans to install 50,000 centrifuges at Natanz, Ahmadinejad said in 2006.
``In addition to installation of 6,000 new centrifuges, there are also reports about other new achievements,'' Ahmadinejad said on the National Day of Nuclear Technology, marking Iran's mastery of uranium enrichment in 2006. Details of the nuclear advancements will be announced later today, he said, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.
Whether Iran enriches uranium is at the heart of the dispute with the U.S. and some European countries. The UN Security Council voted on March 3 to tighten trade, travel and financial sanctions against Iran for the country's refusal to suspend nuclear work that might lead to an atomic bomb. It was the third resolution imposing UN sanctions on Iran, all of which the government in Tehran has rejected.
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US moves towards engaging Iran

The coming few weeks are going to be critical in the standoff between the United States and Iran as the upheaval in the Middle East reaches a turning point. And all options do remain on the table, as the George W Bush administration likes to say, from military conflict to a de facto acceptance of Iran's standing as the region's dominant power.

One thing is clear. The time for oratorical exercises is ending. A phase of subtle, reciprocal, conceptual diplomatic actions may be beginning.

An indication of this is available in the two radio interviews given by Bush last weekend and beamed into Iran, exclusively aimed at reaching out to the Iranian public on the Persian New Year Nauroz.

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Iran to hold run-off parliament votes April 25

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will hold run-off votes on April 25 for parliamentary seats not decided in a first election round earlier this month, Iranian media said on Wednesday, but the outcome will not threaten a conservative majority.

More than 200 of parliament's 290 seats were decided in the first round and the Interior Ministry said over 70 percent of those went to conservatives, who call themselves "principlist" for their loyalty to the Islamic Republic's ideals.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may not get an easy ride even though he shares the "principlist" tag because the camp is broad and includes political rivals who may use parliament as a springboard for next year's presidential race.

Some conservatives have also joined the president's staunchest critics, reformists, in questioning Ahmadinejad's economic management, blamed for double-digit inflation.

The Guardian Council, a supervisory body of clerics and jurists, said run-offs would take place on Friday, April 25, the official IRNA news agency reported.

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Cheney accuses Iran and Syria of sabotaging peace process

US Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday hit out at Iran and Syria as he wrapped up a Middle East peace push, saying the two countries were undermining the renewed but faltering Israeli-Palestinian talks. Iran and Syria "are doing everything they can to torpedo the peace process," Cheney told reporters in Occupied Jerusalem as he wrapped up a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories before heading to Turkey.

During his talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, "I reaffirmed the president's commitment to help the process forward," Cheney said.

US President George W. Bush has said he hoped the two sides could strike a deal before he ends his term in January 2009.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who met twice with Cheney during his visit, "reaffirmed his commitment to the president's vision and his willigness to do everything he can to achieve a result in 2008 although he is well aware of the difficulties," Cheney said.

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This is relevant because anytime a leader or a vice leader say a negative comment about another country is causes controversy.

Iran in Olympics

Legendary Iranian slugger Mehdi Ghorbani has out-powered his Jordanian contender so that he can take part in the 2008 Olympic Games.Boxer Ghorbani's move into the final in Almaty, Kazakhstan, secured the 81 kg class boxer a much-coveted berth at the Olympics in Beijing.

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Iran is now definitely in the upcoming olympics.

Amin Ebrahim Nikfar breaks Iran's record in shot put

Tehran, March 24, IRNA - Amin Ebrahim Nikfar, Iran's champion in shot put, who lives in the USA, broke Iran's record in this athletic event.

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This article shows the victories that Iran has and how proud the people are of their victories

Iran's Inflation-Driven Housing Crisis

In the three years since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected president, Iranians have been had to contend with a novel kind of policy-making on domestic, foreign and economic affairs. One area that would appear to back up such claims is the housing sector, where Ahmadinejad's policies are widely blamed for fuelling an astronomical rise in prices over the last 18 months.

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This is a major economic problem because the people need to be able to buy houses and they can not because of the housing prices inflating.

By Elle Chadwick

Satellite Launch over Summer

--Head of Iranian Space Organization said on Tuesday Kavoshgar-1 (Explorer-1) has transmitted data from 200 km above the earth’s hemisphere and the satellite ’Omid’ will be launched in summer.

"We have skilled manpower in the field of aerospace technology. Space technology courses have also been launched at the doctorate level,“ he added.

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Iran will be launching a satellite over the summer.

Gay Iranian Fights For Asylum In Europe

(AP) The Netherlands' highest court rejected a gay Iranian asylum seeker's last-ditch bid to avoid deportation to Britain, where he fears authorities will send him back to Tehran and possible execution.

In a ruling published on its Web site Tuesday, the Council of State said Britain is responsible for Mehdi Kazemi's case, because it was there that the 19-year-old first applied for asylum.

Gay rights campaigner Rene van Soeren said Kazemi's Dutch lawyer was considering an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. The lawyer, Borg Palm, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Boris van der Ham, a lawmaker who has taken up Kazemi's cause, has tabled questions in Parliament asking the junior minister for immigration, Nebahat Albayrak, to lobby British authorities on Kazemi's behalf.

Albayrak should either urge Britain not to send Kazemi back to Iran or offer him asylum in the Netherlands, Van der Ham said in a telephone interview.

Kazemi's case highlights not only the plight of homosexuals in Iran, but also differences in the way European Union allies deal with asylum seekers.

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US not seeking war with Iran: White House

The White House says "there is no one" inside the US Government who wants war with Iran, even though US President George W Bush has not ruled out any options.

"There's no one in the administration that is suggesting anything other than a diplomatic approach to Iran," spokeswoman Dana Perino said one day after the commander of US forces in the Middle East resigned.

Ms Perino said "it's nonsense" to say that Admiral William Fallon was pushed out because he reportedly disagreed with Mr Bush's hardline approach towards forcing Tehran to end its suspect nuclear program.

"The President welcomes robust and healthy debate," she said, adding that there were "dissenting views on a variety of issues that get worked out through our policy process. That is usually not played out in the press."

"What the President has said is that all options are on the table is what helps make diplomacy work and makes it more effective," she said.

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Vice President coming to Iran

President Bush is sending Vice President Dick Cheney to the Middle East, following on last week's trip to the region by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. VOA's Paula Wolfson reports from the White House, Cheney will be encouraging Israelis and Palestinians to move forward following an outbreak of violence in Gaza, and new concerns about Israel's settlements policy.

"His goal is to reassure people that the United States is committed to a vision of peace in the Middle East, that we expect relevant parties to obligate themselves - uphold their obligations on the road map," said Mr. Bush.

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Cheney is going to Iran to try to keep peace in Iran and the Middle East.

Iran's rise owes much to Bush's Iraq and Afghan wars

By Alistair Lyon, Special Correspondent - Analysis

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Five years on, Iran can thank the United States for unwittingly aiding its drive for regional power by ousting Saddam Hussein, one of Tehran's deadliest foes.

The U.S. military had already defeated Afghanistan's Taliban after the September 11 attacks on U.S. cities in 2001 -- with the unintended consequence of wiping out another of Iran's enemies and tilting the local balance of forces in Tehran's favor.

"The removal of these two regimes without powerful successor states benefited Iran greatly...and opened elbow room for Iran to spread its influence," said Vali Nasr, senior fellow at the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations.

Iran cannot entirely rule out U.S. military action to destroy its nuclear sites, and its oil-reliant economy may prove vulnerable a few years hence, but for now it is riding high.

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This is significant because it is about nations involving with other nations.

Indonesia supports Iran

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has thanked Indonesia for abstaining from a vote last week on a U.N. resolution that imposes new sanctions on Iran for its nuclear program.

Iran's state news agency, IRNA, says Mr. Ahmadinejad also described Iran and Indonesia as strong leaders in the Islamic world. It quotes him as saying that promoting bilateral relations would benefit other Muslim countries.

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Indonesia has decided to go against the UN and support Iran in their nuclear program.

Assessment Complete

Iran's President Claims no one likes Americans

"No one likes them," Ahmadinejad told reporters prior to returning to Iran, referring to the predominantly U.S. makeup of coalition forces in Iraq.

His visit follows trips to Iran last year by top officials of Iraq's Shiite-led government, which has been fostering a closer relationship with predominantly Shiite Iran since the Saddam Hussein regime was toppled by U.S.-led forces in 2003.

The Iranian president made digs at the United States. He contrasted his trip, which was advertised in advance, with the "stealth" visits of others, a reference to visits by U.S. officials who sometimes do not broadcast their visits to Iraq for security reasons.

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GRADE ME

Iran wants countries, especially the United States, to stay out of their business. They are starting to get fed up.

China and Russia show sympathy

Russia and China Tuesday scuttled a Western attempt to introduce a resolution on Iran's nuclear defiance at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, diplomats said.

It came a day after the U.N. Security Council imposed another round of sanctions on Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment. Iran defiantly vowed to continue its nuclear program, which it insists is aimed only at generating power.

Asked why Russia and China were opposed, one of the diplomats said Moscow decided to withdraw its support "on principle" and Beijing, which often takes a cue from Russia on the Iran nuclear dispute, followed suit.

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GRADE ME

China and Russia as major powers claim that the UN was too rough on Iran but they still believe that Iran is up to no good.

Iran being Contained

Nobody on any side of the Iran nuclear dispute believes that yesterday's U.N. sanctions vote is going to break the deadlock. Faced with continuing Iranian defiance of the demand that it suspend uranium enrichment until concerns over the intent of its nuclear program can be resolved, the Security Council passed a package that incrementally tightens existing sanctions. It banned travel by certain officials of Iran's nuclear program, freezing the assets of certain companies and barring Iran from importing certain dual-use technologies. But Iran has made quite clear that it has no intention of complying with the U.N.'s demand, which it deems "illegal," and it is more than capable of absorbing the very limited pain inflicted by the new measures.

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GRADE ME

Iran has been contained by the UN in many ways. With restricting Iran, hopefully the nuclear program will hault. Iran still wants to continue the program and insists that the nuclear program is peaceful.

Iran: Appointment A ‘Surprise’

Daei, Iran’s record goal-scorer, was famously axed after Team Melli were eliminated from the World Cup in 2006. But when the Iranian Football Federation [IFF] offered him the job, it was an honour the striker simply could not refuse.

“I love my reputation more than anything,” Daei told Iran’s ISNA news agency.
“You all know how I left the Team Melli and now I have returned this way. [The IFF] choosing me for the post of Team Melli coach was a surprise.”

With the appointment of Daei as Iran coach on Sunday, the IFF have finally put an end to a long-running saga over a new manager to take charge of the national side. Several foreign names and homegrown coaches were mentioned.

But, the IFF failed to settle on a particular candidate despite former Spain boss Javier Clemente and Iranian-American Afshin Qotbi being linked to the job.

Daei, though, appealed for the fans to overlook the confusion over Iran’s search for a new national football coach. Instead, he promised Iran will deliver an improved performance when they take on Kuwait in their next World Cup qualifier.

And, he plans to instill discipline to his squad in order to rescue Iran’s flagging fortunes. Daei also revealed he will be employing two foreign and two Iranian coaches to assist him.

Iran dismisses 'worthless' UN resolution

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran on Tuesday dismissed the latest UN Security Council sanctions over its nuclear programme as "worthless", vowing to press on with the contested drive which the West fears could be used to make weapons.

The Security Council on Monday imposed its third set of sanctions against Iran in the space of 15 months to punish Tehran's repeated refusal to suspend the process of uranium enrichment.
The resolution "is worthless and unacceptable and it is condemned", foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said in a statement quoted by Iranian news agencies.

"The continuation of this trend (of issuing resolutions) will have no effect on the Iranian people and the government's determination in seeking its legitimate and lawful right for peaceful nuclear activities," he added.

Iran had been hoping its ongoing cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog to answer questions about past areas of ambiguity in its atomic programme would mean the nuclear case would be taken away from the Security Council.

Officials have also repeatedly hailed the UN watchdog's latest report as a success for Tehran that "closed" its nuclear case, even though the body was unable to confirm the atomic drive was peaceful.

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This is significant because it is about the nuclear program.

Iran calls on US to quit Iraq

The Iranian president, on a landmark visit to neighbouring Iraq, has called for US troops' withdrawal from the war-torn nation, saying that the country will "live in peace" without them.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made the call on Monday while signing seven pacts with Iraq in the areas of trade, industry and transport.

"Without the presence of the foreign troops the region will live in peace and brotherhood," said Ahmadinejad.

"We believe that the forces that travelled thousands of kilometres to reach here must leave the region, and must hand over responsibility to the people of the region."

He avoided directly naming the United States, which has 158,000 troops in Iraq.

US commanders have accused Iran of training and arming Shia fighters.

Iraqi government figures revealed at the weekend that for the first time in six months the Iraqi death toll from unrest rose in February. At least 23 people were killed in fresh attacks on Monday.

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This is relevant because Ahmadinejad believes that if the United States troop leave Iran that we can all "live in peace".

Assessment Complete

Time against U.S. in Iran row: Washington

The United States, France, and Britain are pushing for the UN Security Council to pass new sanctions against Iran this week for ignoring demands it suspend uranium enrichment, which can make fuel for power plants or, potentially, atomic weapons. Iran has always insisted that its nuclear activities are civilian and peaceful.

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GRADE ME

A group of countries are fearing that Iran is up to no good but Iran still claims that their nuclear prgram is peaceful.

PM to Japanese Minister: Iran, N. Korea pose a threat to all of Asia

The Japanese minister agreed with Olmert, who stressed the extreme importance of preventing North Korea from transferring technological know-how to Middle East states, and ultimately preventing the dissemination of nuclear weapons in the Middle East.

The prime minister told Ishiba that "Iran stands at the head of the axis of evil." He added that together with North Korea, Iran poses a threat to the stability of the continent of Asia, and especially the Middle East.

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Great Britain and Japan are fearing that if the North Korea and the Middle East get together and share nuclear weapon ideas, it could cause major destruction and many problems.

Iran leader hails Ahmadinejad for 'nuclear success'

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday hailed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's role in the "great success" of the nuclear programme, amid threats of new sanctions against Tehran.

"One of the examples of achievements in last 29 years (since the Islamic revolution) is the nuclear issue," Khamenei told Iran's elite clerical body the Assembly of Experts, in comments broadcast on state television.


Representatives from six world powers met in Washington on Monday on a draft resolution imposing new sanctions proposed by permanent Security Council members Britain and France, after a new report by the UN atomic watchdog.

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GRADE ME

Iran still wants to continue its nuclear program even though there are so many opposed to it. They see it as a need as other countries see it as a problem.

Iran: Women's Activist Wins Human Rights Award

Parvin Ardalan, a leading Iranian women's rights activist, has won the Palme Award for her work and commitment to human rights.

Ardalan is a founder and active member of the One Million Signatures Campaign, a movement that aims to promote equal rights for women in Iranian society.The prize is named for former Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme and is awarded annually for "outstanding achievements" by those who actively promote peace, equality, and security.

Ardalan's friends say she has dedicated her adult life to fighting for women's issues. Ardalan was one of the first members of the Women's Cultural Center, the first-ever Iranian nongovernmental organization to advocate women's rights.

The 37-year-old, Tehran-based journalist and author has previously worked for women's publications such as "Zanestan" and "The Feminist Tribune of Iran" before both of those online magazines -- as well as "Women's Cultural Center" -- were shut down by Iranian authorities in 2007.

Ardalan, who is currently an editor of "Change for Equality," contributes to many publications in Iran -- including the most influential women's magazine, "Zanan," which was suspended last month for allegedly "painting a gloomy picture" of Iran.

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This article is significant because the Palme Award is a very respectable award to receive. This is a huge accomplishment.Parvin Ardalan has done many successful things throughtout her lifetime.

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Iran: Human Rights Activists Concerned Over Prison Deaths, Torture

Zahra Bani Yaqub seemed to have everything going for her. A 27-year-old graduate of the Tehran Medical University, she was a young doctor with a bright future.

But last October, Bani Yaqub was arrested while walking in a park in the western city of Hamadan with her male companion. The next day, she was dead.

Police say she committed suicide in prison overnight, but her family says that’s impossible -- that she was happy and upbeat about her future as a urologist. They accuse prison authorities of killing Bani Yaqub, whose case is merely the latest in a series of suspicious deaths or tortures in prison to be highlighted by human rights activists.

Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian human rights attorney who won the Nobel Peace Prize, told RFE/RL’s Radio Farda that she is handling Bani Yaqub’s case as a suspicious death under detention.

The activists maintain that such abuses occur before suspects are officially charged or have had access to a lawyer.

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This article is important becauce Human Right Activists stand for peoples basic rights in a country. When someone that stands for Human Rights commits suicide obviously that person felt that she was not granted her full rights. Although this is not for sure te reason she might have committed suicide, this is reason to be suspicious.

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Iran shrugs off sanctions threat over atomic plans

Iran voiced defiance on Monday as Western powers pushed for new sanctions over its nuclear program, saying high oil prices will cushion the blow.

The United States, Britain and France are pushing for a United Nations Security Council vote on a third round of sanctions this week because they fear Iran seeks an atomic bomb.

But an Iranian minister was quoted as saying the economy of the world's fourth-largest oil producer would not be hurt.

"New sanctions will not harm Iran's economy ... High oil prices will help Iran to compensate," Economy and Finance Minister Davoud Danesh-Jafari was quoted by the students' news agency ISNA as saying.

Danesh-Jafari was speaking hours before senior diplomats from Britain, France, Germany, the United States, China and Russia were due to meet in Washington to discuss their next moves on Iran's nuclear program.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose country denies wanting nuclear weapons, said on Saturday world powers could pass sanctions resolutions for 100 years without deterring Tehran from its nuclear work.

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This article is important because Iran does not want to have sanctions. It also talks about Iran's nuclear program, which is always important!

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Assessment Complete

First phase of Iran oil bourse inaugurated on Kish island

The first phase of Iran's oil stock market started its work on Kish island in the Persian Gulf, southern Iran, on Sunday presenting oil and petrochemical products.

Based on the approval, products of Iran's Oil Ministry should be traded through stock market in two forms which are the crude oil stock market and the oil and petrochemical products stock market.

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GRADE ME

Oil is a major resource in Iran and this expansion could help the economy. This new project will help the stock market and the oil industry.

Iran allows reformist candidates

The Iranian body that vets election candidates has reinstated another 251 people who had been banned from running in next month's parliamentary vote.

Correspondents say it is not clear how much impact the reinstatements will have on the chances of opposition parties in the election.

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GRADE ME

The new elections could be a new chapter in Iran history. A problem is that the final canidates will be announced March fifth, yet the election is on the fourteenth.

Iranians spar with Israel at UN

Iran is urging the UN Security Council to stop Israel threatening military action against its nuclear programme.

srael's UN envoy called the letter "disgusting dangerous... hypocrisy" in the light of what Iranian leaders have said about Israel.

Mr Khazaee stressed that Iran's nuclear programme was for peaceful purposes only, and said the UN should respond to Israeli threats of force by unambiguously condemning them.

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GRADE ME

This shows the possibility of war starting between Iran and Israel. They have had some tensions in the past and they are starting again. The nuclear program in Iran has caused more harm then help in the world.

Israel faces 'certain death': Iran leader adviser

TEHRAN (AFP) — The assassination of a top commander of the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah has hastened the "certain death" of Israel, the top military adviser to Iran's supreme leader said on Thursday.

General Yahya Rahim Safavi, in the latest of a spate of anti-Israel verbal attacks by Iran, said the murder of Imad Mughnieh in a Damascus car bombing last week had enraged thousands of young members of Hezbollah.

"With this anger, the certain death of the Zionist regime had been brought forward," he said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

Safavi, who was for a decade top commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, again accused Israel of carrying out the attack that killed Mughnieh but also said that "security terrorists" from the United States and "one Arab nation" had cooperated.

He did not name the Arab country.

Iran has stepped up its rhetoric against Israel in the last days after the murder of Mughnieh, which it blamed on the Jewish state. Israel has denied any involvement.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday called Israel a "dirty microbe" and "savage animal".

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This is important because the Israeli's are really upset about the death of Mughnieh. This article also shows Israel's response to Ahmadinejad's comment about Israel.

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Ahmadinejad: Israel filthy bacteria

In yet another verbal attack against Israel, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the Jewish state a "filthy bacteria" whose sole purpose was to oppress the other nations of the region.

"The world powers established this filthy bacteria, the Zionist regime, which is lashing out at the nations in the region like a wild beast," the Iranian president told supporters at a rally in southern Iran.

"[Israel] won support [from the other nations] which created it as a scarecrow, so as to keep the people of this area under control," Ahmadinejad said.

Referring to the assassination of Hizbullah terror chief Imad Mughniyeh, the Iranian leader said that Israel "uses terror as a threat every day, and afterwards is happy and joyful."

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This is important because Ahmadinejad made a verbal attack against Israel. It is always important when a President speaks badly of another country.

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Iran opposition: Teheran making nukes

Teheran has accelerated its nuclear weapons program, including the production of atomic warheads, an exiled Iranian opposition group claimed in Belgium on Wednesday.

"The Iran regime entered a new phase in its nuclear project," said Muhammad Mohaddessin, a representative of the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran, while speaking at a news conference in Brussels.

He said that Teheran had established a command and control center to work on a nuclear bomb for the first time, and that southeast of the capital a center was being set up to produce warheads.Iran has steadfastly denied it was working to obtain a nuclear bomb, arguing that its nuclear program was purely civilian.

In December, the US National Intelligence Estimate said that Iran halted a nuclear weapons development program in 2003 because of international pressure.

Mohaddessin said Iran had closed down one center only to open another later with the same purpose. He called the US report "not accurate."

He said he had provided the latest information to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency on Tuesday and urged them to investigate more sites in Iran and to interview more scientists.

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This article is very important because it shows that Teheran is advancing their nuclear programs and even developing atomic substances.

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Assessment Complete

Ahmadinejad to become first Iranian president to visit Iraq

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraq's government said on Thursday that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is due in Baghdad on March 2 for the first visit ever by an Iranian president to the neighbouring country.
The announcement came shortly after Iraqi and US officials said that Tehran had asked for a delay in talks expected this week in Baghdad between the United States and Iran on the future of Iraq.

"The Iranian president will be visiting for two days from March 2. He will be meeting with President Jalal Talabani and with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told AFP, adding that discussions would revolve around "bilateral issues."
"He will be accompanied by a number of ministers," Dabbagh said, refusing to be drawn on what else was on the itinerary "for security reasons."

Ahmadinejad's visit would be the first by an Iranian president to Iraq since the creation of the Islamic republic after the 1979 revolution which ousted the shah.
Iran and Iraq fought a devastating war between 1980 and 1988 in which around one million people died.

But the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime in 2003 led to a marked improvement in relations with the new Shiite-dominated government in Iraq.

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Anytime a leader from a country visits another country it is important.

US Intel Links Iran With Nuke Bomb Bid

VIENNA, Austria (AP) — The U.S. has recently shared new intelligence with the International Atomic Energy Agency on key aspects of Iran's nuclear program that Washington says shows Tehran was directly engaged in trying to make a bomb, diplomats said Thursday.
One of the diplomats said Washington also gave the IAEA permission to confront Iran with at least some of the evidence in an attempt to pry details out of the Islamic republic, as part of the U.N. nuclear watchdog's attempts to investigate Iran's suspicious nuclear past.

The diplomats suggested that such moves by the U.S. administration would be a reflection of Washington's' drive to pressure Iran into acknowledging that it had focused part of its nuclear efforts toward developing a weapons program.

The U.S. is leading the push for a third set of U.N. sanctions against Iran. Tehran insists its program is intended only to produce energy and has refused U.N. demands that it suspend its uranium enrichment program — technology that can produce both fuel for nuclear reactors and the fissile material for a bomb.

A recent U.S. intelligence assessment that Iran had a clandestine weapons program but stopped working on it four years ago has hurt Washington's attempts to have the U.N. Security Council impose a third set of sanctions.

While the Americans have previously declassified and then forwarded intelligence to the IAEA to help its investigations, they do so on a selective basis.

Following Israel's bombing of a Syrian site late last year, and media reports citing unidentified U.S. officials as saying the target was a nuclear installation, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei turned in vain to the U.S. in asking for details on what was struck, said a diplomat who — like others — spoke on condition of anonymity in exchange for divulging confidential information.

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This is important cause the U.S. is really interested in Iran and their nuclear program that they a launching and that Tehran is trying to make a bomb.

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Iranian and U.S. officials will meet within days in Baghdad for a new round of talks as part of efforts to build on recent progress in stemming sectarian violence, Iraq's foreign minister said on Tuesday.

Washington, at odds with Tehran over its nuclear programme, wants Shi'ite Muslim Iran to use its influence with militias from the same sect in Iraq to stem attacks on U.S. forces and Sunni Muslim groups, which are deepening the cycle of sectarian violence in the country.

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Iran and the United States are trying to work out the issues concerning nuclear programs. Hopefully, after all the discussions, they will be able to ressolve the conflicts that have been created.

Iranian Satellite for Research Only

Iran’s satellite pursues scientific, commercial and research purposes, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said on Tuesday. “The research rocket, Explorer 1, is gathering information in preparation for sending a satellite into space,“ IRNA quoted Hosseini as saying.

The spokesman made the remark while commenting on the nature of the Iranian satellite ’Omid’.President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the massive gathering at Azadi Square on Monday that Explorer 1 has been successful and Iran will launch two more explorers ahead of sending the indigenous satellite into space.

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Iran is really trying to spread the message of their nuclear program just being for educational purposes. Yet, very few believe that they will not use the space program for education, but for destruction.

Iran defiant on anniversary of revolution

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad struck a defiant tone Monday on the 29th anniversary of the Islamic revolution, vowing not to slow Iran's nuclear program and announcing plans to launch more rockets into space as part of its drive to orbit a domestic satellite.

Like Iran's nuclear activities, the country's space program has provoked unease abroad because the same technology needed to send satellites into space can be used to deliver warheads.
Iranian officials insist both the space and nuclear programs are intended for peaceful purposes, and Ahmadinejad rallied Iranians against U.N. Security Council demands that Iran stop enriching uranium.

Hundreds of thousands marched in Tehran shouting "Death to America" and burning effigies of President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

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This article shows the opinions of the citizens of Iran as well as their future plans. They say that they are using the space program and nuclear missiles for their advantage and not for harm, but other countries do not believe that.

Bush hails 'headway' on highlighting Iranian threat

President George W. Bush said in an interview aired Sunday the United States had made headway convincing Middle East states that Tehran is a threat, and that sanctions are having an impact on Iran's economy.

"In my trip in the Middle East, I made it abundantly clear to nervous nations that Iran is a threat," Bush told Fox News Sunday.

"I think I made pretty good headway in the Middle East that Iran is a threat," he said.

Bush expressed confidence in stepping up pressure on Tehran with a third sanctions resolution from the UN Security Council, aimed at forcing Iran to halt uranium enrichment, which the US and European allies believe is geared toward developing nuclear weapons.

The proposed new measures include an outright travel ban on Iranian officials involved in the country's nuclear and missile programs, and inspections of shipments to and from Iran if there are suspicions of prohibited goods.

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This story is significant because President Bush announced numerous times before, how big of a threat Iran is to all other nations. He also said that Tehran is another threat to the Middle East.

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South Africa: Concern Over UNSC's New Resolution On Iran

South Africa has raised concern on new punitive measures against Iran, in a resolution currently before the United Nations Security Council's (UNSC), regarding the suspected use of nuclear weapons.

"We [as South Africa] said in our preliminary comments that we are concerned about the potential impact of new punitive resolutions on Iran at a time when Iran is actively cooperating with the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency]," Foreign Affairs Chief Director for United Nations Political Affairs Xolisa Mabhongo told reporters in Pretoria Tuesday.

"There is optimism both in Iran and the IAEA that there will be more effort put into resolving the outstanding issues."

Explaining South Africa's position on the elements within the resolution, Mr Mabongo said: "We are currently finalising our considerations of the actual resolution, but in the meantime we have submitted our comments on what we have seen in the resolution."

South Africa is entering its second year as a non permanent member of the UNSC, and as such, is at liberty to comment on the proposed resolution.

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This article is important because once again it shows another country's, Africa, concern about Iran getting nuclear weapons and plans. Most all countries are seriously concerned.

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Iran Does Not Listen to US

Iranian officials have dismissed U.S. concerns regarding the country's space program after launching a new rocket capable of carrying the first domestically-built satellite into orbit.

Washington and European officials have expressed concern about Iran's missile program and accused Tehran of trying to master technology to build nuclear weapons. Iran denies the charges and says both programs are peaceful.

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This article shows the worry that Washington and other major areas of power are showing with Iran having the capability of sending rockets and what not into space. Iran sees this as a peaceful new chapter in their history, but the new success has caused a lot of controversy.

French envoy condemns Iran statements

PARIS (AP) — A French ambassador summoned by Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned recent comments by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad implying Israel would be destroyed, a French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Monday.

Pascale Andreani confirmed that France's ambassador to Iran had been summoned over the weekend as part of a continuing dispute between the two countries — largely over Iran's nuclear program. Iranian news reports Sunday said the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the ambassador, Bernard Poletti, to protest France's policy toward Iran's nuclear activities.France has been a vocal supporter of new sanctions against Iran because of the country's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for a nuclear reactor or fissile material for a bomb.Andreani said Poletti took advantage of the summons to protest "unacceptable" comments Ahmadinejad made last week during a speech in the southern port of Bushehr implying that Israel would be destroyed.Poletti reiterated the French position that "the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Israeli-Lebanese relations cannot serve as a pretext to question Israel's right to exist," Andreani said in an online briefing Monday.She said the ambassador also emphasized the "very negative impact of these comments on the international community's perception of Iran."

Last week, France's Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador to Paris, Ali Ahani, to protest Ahmadinejad's comments.

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This is important because once again it shows that another country, France, is also concerned and arguing with Iran mostly about the nuclear program in Iran.

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Iran claims to have Nuclear Weapons

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that Iran is approaching the "summit" of nuclear development after Russia finished delivering all the nuclear fuel.

In his speech, Mr Ahmadinejad said Iran had overcome the bullying of the West and changed the political climate of the world.

Mr Ahmadinejad invited the West to come forward and join Iran in building new nuclear power plants. Otherwise, he said that Iran would push ahead on its own.

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Ahmadinejad has made many threatening words towards the west. Now that Iran is ready to make nuclear weapons, the US and other countries believe they have more to worry about. Soon, they could have weapons and maybe become a leading power of the world.

Iran Fires Rocket

Iran fired a rocket from its newly inaugurated space center Monday, laying the groundwork for what it says will be the future launch of its first domestically produced satellite, the semi-official FARS news agency reported.The report said the rocket was launched "into space." But similar previous technological achievements announced by the Islamic republic have been greeted with doubt by analysts.

Amid fears in the West that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, some experts believe Iran's space program is possibly a cover to improve its military ballistic missiles.

In February 2007, Iran announced the launch of "its first satellite into space," the state-run Iranian Students News Agency reported at the time. But the satellite did not reach orbit.

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This could cause some controversy with Iran's missiles that they claim not to have. Some may fear that they will be able to send out a nuclear bomb towards the United States and others will believe that they are just going out into space like everyone else does all the time. This is a big step for Iran when the space center was inaugurated.

Iran discovers new gas field

TEHRAN, Feb 2: Iran has discovered a gas field in the Gulf with estimated reserves of some 11 trillion cubic feet, Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said on Saturday.There is a low possibility that it is a joint field (with a neighbouring country), Nozari told a news conference.Despite sitting on the world’s second-largest gas reserves after, analysts say Iran has been slow to develop the sector due to sanctions, politics and construction delays.

Iran’s daily gasoline imports have fallen about 57 per cent since the country introduced fuel rationing last June, a senior oil official was quoted on Saturday as saying.The world’s fourth-largest oil producer lacks refining capacity and must therefore import large amounts of fuel, which it then sells at heavily subsidised prices. It introduced rationing to curb soaring consumption.

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This article is significant because Iran's gasoline import has dropped because of various reasons and now the country will be picking up more oil and producing more gas which will help the country become more productive and prosperous.

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Ahmadinejad sees nuclear energy in Iran by 2009

TEHRAN — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran said Wednesday that his country would produce nuclear energy by next year and condemned Israel as a “filthy entity” that would soon collapse.He spoke as the United Nations Security Council considered imposing new sanctions on Iran because of its refusal to halt uranium enrichment activities. “We have been promised that we will have nuclear power this time next year in our power grid,” the ISNA news agency quoted him as saying in a speech in Bushehr, the southern city where Iran is building its first nuclear power plant.

A senior official speaking in Tehran gave reporters more precise information and said the Bushehr plant was expected to be operational in October. The official, Ahmad Fayazbakhsh, managing director of the Production and Development of Nuclear Energy Company, said the date for the plant’s electricity to join the national power grid would be announced after the commissioning, the official IRNA news agency reported. Russia is helping Iran to build the plant and made the eighth and final delivery of its nuclear fuel this week. However, the leader of the Russian company building the plant, the state-run Atomstroyexport, has said the plant will not be operational until the end of 2008, Reuters reported.

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This story is significant because it shows how Iran's nuclear eligilibity is growing daily.