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.

Full story

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.

Full Coverage

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.

Full story

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.

FULL COVERAGE

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.

Full Story

GRADE ME

Iran will be launching a satellite over the summer.

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.

Full Story

GRADE ME

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

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.

Full Story

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.

Full Story

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: 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.

For Full Article

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.

Grade Me!!

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.

For More

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

Grade Me

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.

Click here for more

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.

GRADE ME

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.

FULL STORY

GRADE ME

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.

Full Story

GRADE ME

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.

FULL STORY

GRADE ME

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.

For Full Story, Click Here

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.

GRADE ME!!

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.

For Full Coverage

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.

GRADE ME!!

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.

FULL STORY

GRADE ME

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.

For Full Story

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.

GRADE ME!!!

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.

FULL STORY

GRADE ME

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.

FULL STORY

GRADE ME

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.