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