IRAN: Int’l Support Ebbs for West’s Nuclear Hard Line

Public support for stronger measures, including possible military strikes, to curb or destroy Iran's nuclear programme has declined significantly in most countries around the world compared to 18 months ago, according to a new survey of public opinion released Tuesday by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

US/IRAN: Blowback of War Likely to Be "Terrible"

Since the release of the U.S. National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran's nuclear capabilities last December, the prevailing conventional wisdom has been that the report's finding that Iran is not currently pursuing nuclear weapons had derailed the possibility of the George W. Bush administration launching a military strike before leaving office.

POLITICS-US: Fallon’s “No Iran War” Line Angered White House

A new article on CENTCOM commander Adm. William Fallon confirms that his public statements last fall ruling out war against Iran last fall were not coordinated with the White House and landed him in trouble more than once with President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

AFGHANISTAN: Unable To Cope With Returning Refugees

The rate of return of refugees to Afghanistan from neighbouring countries is causing tremendous stress to the Afghan government and society, government officials here say.

POLITICS: Security Council Passes New Sanctions on Iran

After several weeks of closed door negotiations, the 15-member U.N. Security Council decided Monday to impose a third set of sanctions on Iran to pressure Tehran to halt its ongoing nuclear power programme.

POLITICS: Iran Nuke Laptop Data Came from Terror Group

The George W. Bush administration has long pushed the "laptop documents" - 1,000 pages of technical documents supposedly from a stolen Iranian laptop - as hard evidence of Iranian intentions to build a nuclear weapon. Now charges based on those documents pose the only remaining obstacles to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) declaring that Iran has resolved all unanswered questions about its nuclear programme.

AFGHANISTAN: Ousted By Iran, Afghan Refugees Languish At Home

Thousands of Afghan refugees, forcibly repatriated by Iran, have been living in makeshift camps across Afghanistan.

POLITICS-US: Neo-cons Fine-Tune Iran Angle

A new report published by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) think-tank purports to show the reach and scope of Iranian influence across the Middle East, but stops short of drawing conclusions about Tehran's intentions or grand strategy.

IRAN/UAE: US Efforts to Scuttle Economic Ties Fail

Iran and the United Arab Emirates have begun top level talks to boost economic relations despite efforts by the United States to disrupt trade ties and an unresolved territorial dispute over the three strategic islands of Abu Mousa, the Lesser and the Greater Tunb in the Strait of Hormuz.

RIGHTS-IRAN: Intolerance Marks Sunni Student’s Death Sentence

The death sentence passed in Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province, on civil rights activist and journalist Yaghub Mehrnahad, 28, has highlighted repression on Iran’s ethnic and religious minorities.

EGYPT: In spite of U.S., Cairo Welcomes Iranian Overtures

In recent months, Washington has tried hard to convince Arab leaders of the threat to the Middle East posed by Iranian regional ambitions. Nevertheless, several recent visits to Egypt by top-level Iranian officials suggest that Cairo, despite U.S. objections, may be close to restoring diplomatic ties - severed for almost 30 years - with Tehran.

IRAN: Candidate Purge Smacks of a “Vendetta”, Critics Say

The mass disqualification of reformist parliamentary candidates by Iran's Guardian Council, which oversees the electoral rolls, has diminished the possibility of fair elections on Mar. 14, observers say.

U.S./IRAN: A History of Violence

By his own admission, U.S. Ambassador John W. Limbert's ordeal as a captive during the Iranian hostage crisis began with a monumental failure of negotiation.

IRAN: Fishing In Troubled Caspian Waters

The unresolved issue of dividing the Caspian Sea among its five littoral states has become a sensitive one for many Iranians who allege a concession to Russia may be in the making by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government, in return for supporting Iran’s nuclear policies.

POLITICS-US: Iranian-Americans Seek Least-Hawkish Candidate

Jaded toward their government back home and cynical of the current U.S. administration and the Republicans they historically supported, a new generation of Iranian-Americans appears to be looking to Barack Obama to bring about change, especially with regards to U.S. foreign policy toward Iran.

POLITICS-INDIA: Paying a Price For Launching Israeli Spy Satellite

India's traditionally friendly relations with Iran have come under unprecedented strain because of the launching of an Israeli spy satellite by an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) rocket a fortnight ago.

POLITICS: Accept Iran’s Regional Role, Says French Envoy

In a sharp departure from U.S. policy, a leading French diplomat has called on the international coalition sponsoring U.N. sanctions against Iran to support a larger Iranian role in the Middle East.

POLITICS: Security Council Loses Credibility Over Iran, Israel

The 15-member U.N. Security Council (UNSC) is set to lose its credibility once again as it prepares to impose a third set of sanctions on Iran while failing to pass any strictures on Israel for its continued heavy-handed repression of Palestinians in Gaza.

IRAN: Ahmadinejad Caught Between Reformists and Hardliners

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has garnered headlines around the world for his defiance of Washington, as well as his rhetorical grandstanding on Palestinian issues, the existence of Israel, and his government's alleged support of Shiite militias in Iraq.

POLITICS: U.S. Officials Rejected Key Source on ’94 Bombing

The Iranian defector who was the source of Argentina's allegation that Iranian officials began planning the Jul. 18, 1994 terror bombing of a Jewish community centre at a meeting nearly a year earlier had been dismissed as unreliable by U.S. officials, according to the FBI agent who led the U.S. team assisting the investigation in 1997-98.

CHALLENGES 2007-2008: Internal Problems Worry Iranians More

While Iranians have legitimate worries that their country may suffer a military attack by the United States or become a victim of more sanctions for its nuclear policies, analysts say that the real dangers in 2008 are internally generated ones.