INTER PRESS SERVICE

Iran offered in 2003 to accept peace with Israel and to cut off material assistance to Palestinian armed groups and pressure them to halt terrorist attacks within Israel's 1967 borders, according to the secret Iranian proposal to the United States.

POLITICS: Iran Target of Apparent Disinformation Ploy

A story authored by a prominent U.S. neo-conservative regarding new legislation in Iran allegedly requiring Jews and other religious minorities to wear distinctive colour badges circulated around the world this weekend before it was exposed as false.

POLITICS: Reversing Policy, U.S. “Froze” Iran Talks in March

In yet another apparent episode of the inability of the White House to steer a consistent diplomatic course in the Middle East, a new report says that the George W. Bush administration ordered U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad in March to postpone indefinitely the talks with Iran on Iraq for which Khalilzad had previously gotten White House approval.

POLITICS: Iran’s Snub Calls for New EU Offer

Iran's rebuff to a European "package of incentives", including a light-water nuclear power reactor, in return for halting uranium enrichment, marks a serious escalation of tensions with the West. But it does not close the doors to solving the Iran nuclear crisis through diplomacy.

POLITICS: Muslim Nations Want Nuclear Energy, Wary of Iran

As the West debates the perceived Iranian nuclear threat, leaders of the world's eight largest Muslim countries, collectively known as the D8, met on this resort island over the weekend where they asserted the right of Islamic countries to peaceful nuclear energy.

POLITICS: Iran Nuclear Conflict Is About U.S. Dominance

As the George W. Bush administration pushes for a showdown over Iran's nuclear programme in the U.N. Security Council, it has presented the issue as a matter of global security - an Iranian nuclear threat in defiance of the international community.

NORTH KOREA: Focus Shifts From N-Bombs to Human Rights

By Suvendrini Kakuchi

For all the enormous attention that is being paid to the abductions of Japanese and South Korean nationals by North Korea, decades ago, it would seem that the nuclear threat over East Asia has vanished.

POLITICS-US: Jewish Community Worried About Iran Backlash

Amid growing tensions between the United States and Iran, leaders of the U.S. Jewish community are expressing concern over Pres. George W. Bush's recent statements that his main concern in any possible military action would be protecting Israel.

IRAN: Activists Fear U.S. “Help” Could Spur Crackdown

By Omid Memarian

The United States is struggling with Iran's fundamentalist government on two fronts - while U.S. diplomats are negotiating with other members of the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions on Tehran, Washington has allocated 75 million dollars to inspire "regime change".

POLITICS-US: Hawks Looking for New and Bigger Enemies?

As if rallying fading public support for keeping more than 100,000 U.S. troops in a disintegrating Iraq and preparing the ground for a possible military attack on Iran were not enough, some influential hawks are now promoting a more confrontational stance against Russia and China, as well.

IRAN: Sabre-rattling Won’t Work

With Russia and China signalling opposition, the draft resolution circulated in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) by Britain, France and Germany, asking Iran to halt uranium enrichment, is unlikely to enjoy smooth passage.

POLITICS: Iran Pushes for Talks With U.S. on Nukes, Security

Iranian leaders have been signaling to Washington since late 2005 that Iran wanted direct negotiations with the United States on Tehran's nuclear programme and other outstanding issues between the two countries.

MIGRATION: Many Iranians Embrace Asylum as a Way Out

By Omid Memarian

Increasingly, Iranians hoping for a brighter future and disappointed with the conservative direction of their homeland are seeking asylum abroad. They're crossing the border into Turkey and some are even employing human smugglers in their rough journey to Europe and even the United States.

IRAN: Defiant but Ready to Deal

As the deadline set by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to halt uranium enrichment descends upon Iran, the already narrow window of opportunity to resolve the crisis over Tehran's nuclear programme diplomatically may soon slam shut.

POLITICS: Pakistan Stressed by US Designs on Iran

As the crisis around Iran over its alleged nuclear ambitions assumes an ugly shape, Pakistan finds itself once again, under enormous political pressure because of aggressive United States policy towards a Muslim country in its immediate neighbourhood.

POLITICS: Role of U.N. Nuke Agency Called “Schizophrenic”

By Haider Rizvi

Concerned about the enormous risks that nuclear technology poses to the environment and the questionable role it has played in heightening political conflicts, some leading European politicians are suggesting that the time has come for the United Nations to stop promoting nuclear technology as an effective tool to meet the world's growing energy demands.

POLITICS-US: Amid Threats, Some Republicans Seek Talks on Iran

Amid a new escalation in threats between the United States and Iran over Tehran's nuclear programme, some prominent Republicans are calling for the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush to engage Tehran in direct talks.

POLITICS-US: Iran Crisis, Deja Vu All Over Again?

The drumbeat in some Washington foreign policy circles for "regime change" in Iran has striking similarities to the run-up to the Iraq invasion, and is being led by some of the usual suspects - like the American Enterprise Institute's Michael Ledeen.

POLITICS-US: To Battle Stations! To Battle Stations!