POLITICS-MIDEAST: Air Strikes First, Questions Later

More than two months after Israeli warplanes conducted a mysterious raid in northeast Syria, there is a growing consensus among U.S. government and independent analysts that the suspicious target was a nuclear facility.

INDIA/US: Risking Survival Govt to Honour Nuke Deal

Caving in to intense pressure from Washington and from domestic business and strategic lobbies, India’s Congress party-led coalition government is planning to push through the civilian nuclear cooperation deal with the United States in the teeth of strong political opposition.

POLITICS-IRAN: Row Over Nuclear Negotiator’s Firing Worsens

Criticism has been steadily building up against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s apparent move to harden Iran’s position on its nuclear standoff with the West by removing moderate chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, and replacing him with his handpicked loyalist Saeed Jalili.

POLITICS-US: White House Wields Another Stick on Iran

The heads of the U.S. State and Treasury Departments jointly announced new sanctions aimed at the further economic isolation of Iran Thursday, citing the Islamic Republic's defiance on its continued nuclear programme and its alleged involvement with terrorist organisations.

AUSTRALIA: &#39Uranium For India Not Linked to US Nuke Deal&#39

Despite Australia’s agreement to provide uranium to India being put on ice as a consequence of the stalled nuclear deal between the United States and India, analysts say Australia is not just following the U.S. lead.

POLITICS-US: Cheney Raises the Rhetoric Against Iran

In the harshest speech against Iran given by a top George W. Bush administration official to date, Vice President Dick Cheney Sunday warned the Islamic Republic of "serious consequences" if it did not freeze its nuclear programme and accused it of "direct involvement in the killings of Americans".

POLITICS-US: Military Resistance Forced Shift on Iran Strike

The George W. Bush administration's shift from the military option of a massive strategic attack against Iran to a surgical strike against selected targets associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reported by Seymour Hersh in the New Yorker earlier this month, appears to have been prompted not by new alarm at Iran's role in Iraq but by the explicit opposition of the nation's top military leaders to an unprovoked attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

INDIA/US: Nuke Deal on Pause

Stiff opposition from coalition partners in the ruling United Progressive Alliance, as well as hesitation within its own ranks, has compelled India’s Congress party to put on hold negotiations for completing the controversial nuclear cooperation deal with the United States.

FAR EAST: Koreas in Win-Win Deal

Surpassing all expectations historic talks between the leaders of North and South Korea in Pyongyang have produced a joint declaration that seeks a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean war and bridge distrust, a vestige of the Cold War years.

POLITICS: The Man Behind the Iran Curtain

He called for more "research" into the unequivocal facts of the Holocaust, said Iranian women were among the freest in the world, and declared that homosexuality did not exist in his country.

POLITICS-US: Anti-Iran Hawks Win Partial Victory in Congress

Amid growing speculation about prospects for U.S. military action against Iran, neo-conservatives and other hawks won a significant - if somewhat incomplete - victory in rallying the Democratic-led Congress to its side.

POLITICS: Iranian President in Nuclear Theatrics

When Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad completed his three-day political theatrics in New York, drawing large crowds and angry demonstrators, he left the United Nations with a defiant warning: Iran will not be cowed by any new sanctions either by the United States or the European Union.

INDIA/US: Nuke Deal May Trigger Mid-Term Polls

As India's coalition government tries to complete the controversial nuclear cooperation deal with the United States, it finds itself caught between domestic opposition to the agreement from its Left-wing allies and pressure from Washington to seal the deal.

MIDEAST: Neocons Tie N. Korea to Israeli Strike on Syria

Nearly two weeks have passed since Israeli warplanes conducted a mysterious raid against an as yet unidentified target in northeast Syria. Details of the incident have been slow to come, as officials from both countries have remained tight-lipped.

Q&A: &#39War on Terror Served Iran&#39s Interests Best&#39

Eminent writer, historian and filmmaker Tariq Ali was born in Lahore in 1943. While a student at Oxford University, he became involved in the movement against the war in Vietnam. That was the beginning of a long career in the literary arts and in peace activism that has earned him iconic status.

POLITICS: U.S. Denies Visas to Iranian Religious Leaders

A religious delegation from Iran has cancelled a scheduled visit to the United States this week after members of the group were denied visas by the State Department.

POLITICS-US: Ahmadinejad as Goldfinger

On the same day General David H. Petraeus delivered to Congress his much anticipated progress report on the U.S. military's "surge strategy" in Iraq, neoconservative ideologues associated with the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) took aim at another one of the reputed foes of "freedom" - the Islamic Republic of Iran.

ASIA PACIFIC: War Games Muddy APEC Summit

China’s display of economic clout and diplomatic assertiveness at the Asia Pacific leaders’ forum in Sydney this week has been overshadowed by a concurrent show of power in the Bay of Bengal where the United States is leading four Asia-Pacific countries in the largest war games ever held in the region.

POLITICS: Five-Nation Naval Drill Presages &#39Asian NATO&#39?

India’s hosting of large-scale military exercises involving four countries led by the United States has triggered spirited protests by left-wing parties that prop up the country's ruling coalition.

POLITICS: Iran Nuke Moves Hint at Interest in Deal

Iran's unexpected agreement with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Mohamed Elbaradei to resolve old issues surrounding its nuclear programme in less than two months, and the fact that it has installed only two-thirds of the centrifuges previously announced, indicate that Tehran may be positioning itself for another bid for a diplomatic solution.

POLITICS: Bush Indictment of Iran Tops Usual Rhetoric

The George W. Bush administration has seemingly taken advantage of the Congressional recess to escalate tensions with Iran.