POLITICS-US: No Traction in the Middle East

More than five years after invading Iraq as a first step towards "transforming" the Middle East, the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush seems to have lost its footing - let alone its unquestioned domination - throughout the region.

Q&A: "Longing for the Past Yet Belonging to the Present"

Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, thousands of intellectuals, activists and poets have left Iran, many fleeing to Europe and the United States. A new book brings together the work of 18 Iranian poets from this diaspora to share their experiences with a wider audience.

POLITICS-US: Air Force Think Tank Advises Against Iran Attack

Amid rising speculation about the possibility of an Israeli or U.S. bombing attack on Iranian nuclear facilities earlier this month, a major study produced for the U.S. Air Force by a top defence think tank concluded that U.S. military action against Iran was "likely to have negative effects for the United States".

Q&A: Iran’s Islamic Revolution Had Western Blessing

In his new book on the covert history of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, award-winning journalist Roozbeh Mirebrahimi says that Western powers, including the United States, accelerated events by recognising and supporting religious revolutionary forces, forcing the shah to leave the country and averting a coup by Iran's army.

POLITICS-US: Iran in the Spotlight at Christian Zionist Confab

The controversial Christian Zionist pastor John Hagee and thousands of supporters filled a convention centre in downtown Washington this week for his Christians United for Israel (CUFI) organisation's Washington-Israel Summit, where the "Iranian threat" was a recurrent theme.

UAE: US-Iran Detente Viewed With Caution

The turnaround in Washington-Tehran ties is being viewed with relief on the one hand and anxiety and anger on the other by various quarters within the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) bloc.

US/IRAN: Scowcroft, Brzezinski Urge Bush to Drop Precondition

Two of Washington's most prominent foreign policy greybeards praised Saturday's direct participation in multinational talks with Iran by a senior U.S. diplomat but called on the administration of President George W. Bush to drop his demands that Tehran freeze its uranium enrichment programme as a precondition for broader negotiations.

POLITICS: Seismic Shift or Non-Decision by Bush on Iran?

The U.S. decision to send the State Department's third-ranking official to sit in on the meeting between European Union foreign affairs chief Javier Solana and Iran's nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili Saturday has been hailed as a major diplomatic breakthrough, but it is too soon to pop the champagne cork.

POLITICS-US: Realists Rack Up Another Win

In the seemingly never-ending internal battle between hawks and realists in the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush for control of foreign policy, the realists appear to have chalked up another win over their once-dominant foes.

POLITICS-US: Doves Outnumber Hawks in Jewish Community

A new poll suggests that U.S. Jews hold views about the Middle East that are considerably more dovish than frequently acknowledged, with large majorities favouring diplomacy with Iran, supporting a two-state solution in Israel/Palestine, and advocating U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.

Q&A: "Iran Won't Wait for Obama to Talk to U.S."

Despite opposition from some hardline factions in Iran, the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has responded positively to a proposal by the United States that it open a U.S. Interests Section in Tehran - its first formal diplomatic presence since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

POLITICS-US: Pull-out Demand Signals Final Bush Defeat in Iraq

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's demand for a timetable for complete U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq, confirmed Tuesday by his national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie, has signaled the almost certain defeat of the George W. Bush administration's aim of establishing a long-term military presence in the country.

Q&A: "There Are No Negotiations Between Syria and Israel"

"There are no negotiations between Syria and Israel in Istanbul - what is happening is an indirect exchange of messages via Turkey, to explore ways towards a possible negotiation," Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal told IPS.

US/IRAN: Despite Fireworks, War Clouds Recede

While Wednesday's test-firing by Iran of nine medium- and long-range missiles was strongly denounced by Israel and the United States, there appears to be a growing consensus here that the chances for war, at least between now and the U.S. elections in November, have actually receded in recent days.

IRAN: Did IAEA Revive Uranium Paper Issue Under Pressure?

A 15-page paper on the process requirements for casting and machining of uranium metal into hemispherical forms - said to be useful only for making the core of a nuclear weapon - has been raised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in recent months as evidence of an alleged Iranian intention to built nuclear weapons.

POLITICS: Reading Solana in Tehran

Conciliatory noises from Tehran over the nuclear issue have left Washington and Brussels baffled, and unconvinced of Iran's intentions. Having grown accustomed to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's uncompromising language, Tehran's new tone has raised more suspicion than hope among cynics in Western capitals.

POLITICS: Iranian Envoy Calls New Offer “Constructive”

Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Wednesday that Tehran is finalising its response to the European Union's latest offer to suspend uranium enrichment, as European officials called for more pressure by the U.N. Security Council if Iran rejects the incentives package.

POLITICS: Official Says Iran Accepts P5+1 Talks Proposal

A senior Iranian official reportedly told members of the Iranian parliament Monday that Iran has agreed to freeze its enrichment programme for six weeks and begin negotiations with the P5+1 group of states as early as next week, according to reports of that decision by the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) and by a Farsi-language website in Iran.

POLITICS: Does Iran Have Bush Over a Barrel?

If U.S. President George W. Bush wants to boost Republican chances of holding on to the White House and keeping Democratic gains in Congress to a minimum in the November elections, he might consider taking an attack on Iran before the end of his administration "off the table".

POLITICS-US: Hawks Belie Iran's "Existential Threat" to Israel

New arguments by analysts close to Israeli thinking in favour of U.S. strikes against Iran cite evidence of Iranian military weakness in relation to the U.S. and Israel and even raise doubts that Iran is rushing to obtain such weapons at all.

POLITICS: U.S. and China Go Bump in the Middle East

For China these days it seems that nothing - not rising energy prices; not sanctions aimed at its more unsavoury business partners, Burma and Sudan; not even the prospect of a nuclear Iran - can curb its thirst for oil.