U.S./IRAQ: Bush Holds Iranian Officials as Bargaining Chips

When the George W. Bush administration announced in January that it was targeting Iranian officials in Iraq, it justified the policy as necessary to protect U.S. troops because of their alleged involvement in attacks on U.S. forces.

LABOUR-IRAN: May Day Rally Reveals Deep Discontent

Deep discontent with unemployment, low wages, shortcomings in labour laws and suppression of workers' unions were all too visible at the well-attended May Day rally at Tehran's Shiroudi Stadium.

IRAN: Dress Code Row – Another Ahmadinejad Failure

This year's uncharacteristically harsh crackdown on 'bad hijab' (improper dressing), that has pitted the moral police against the public, is being seen as one more election promise that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been unable to keep.

IRAN: Nobel Peace Laureate Calls for Nuclear Referendum

Shirin Ebadi, 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is urging the Iranian government to hold a national referendum on the country's controversial nuclear programme, because it "has a direct impact" on the lives of millions of Iranian citizens.

IRAN: Ready for Dialogue with U.S. Says Khatami

Iran is ready for dialogue with the United States despite the belligerent rhetoric of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, according to his predecessor in office, Mohammed Khatami.

EDUCATION-IRAN: Ahmadinejad Flunks on Teachers&#39 Strike

An attempt to suppress a prolonged teachers' agitation against low wages, through intimidation and mass arrests, may result in the impeachment of education minister Mahmoud Farshidi, a key member of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's cabinet.

IRAN: In Catch-22 Over Release of British Mariners

A week after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered the release of 15 British mariners, detained on charges of trespassing into Iranian waters, it is still unclear if he got any mileage out of an incident that may well have sparked off a new war in the Middle East.

RIGHTS-IRAN: Journalist Gets the Kafka Treatment

In a continued effort to suppress reform-minded critics, the Iranian government has sentenced yet another prominent journalist, Ali Farahbakhsh, to three years in jail and slapped him with a huge fine, partly due to a typo in the court documents.

POLITICS-IRAN: Lessons in Capture, Release of Britons

The drama surrounding the release of 15 British sailors and marines after 12 days in Iranian captivity was designed to convey two key messages that the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush would do well to heed, say experts here.

US/IRAN: Duel for Leverage Fuels Conflict, Not Diplomacy

As the dispute over Iran's seizure of British sailors continues to twist and turn, what may have been an isolated incident at the outset is quickly developing into yet another move in the geopolitical chess game between the West and Iran.

POLITICS-US/IRAQ: Fate of Five Detained Iranians Unknown

As the Western media turns its attention to the fate of 15 Britons detained for allegedly trespassing into Iranian waters over the weekend, the status of five Iranian officials captured in a U.S. military raid on a liaison office in northern Iraq on Jan. 11 remains a mystery.

POLITICS-MIDEAST: Arabs See Both US and Iran as Harming Iraq

Large majorities of Arabs believe the United States' role in Iraq is negative and want U.S. troops to leave that country sooner rather than later, according to recent surveys in five Arab nations released here, Wednesday, by the Arab American Institute (AAI) and Zogby International, a polling firm.

IRAN: Image Opportunity in British Marines&#39 Arrest

Whether or not the 15 British Royal Marines in Iranian custody actually trespassed into the country's territorial waters, the incident has provided Tehran with an opportunity to build up an image of a peaceful, non-aggressive nation set upon by Western predators.

POLITICS: Iran Faces Politically Diluted Sanctions on Nukes

When the 15-member U.N. Security Council decides to penalise Iran for its nuclear enrichment programme sometime next week, it is expected to adopt a draft resolution that has been politically diluted to meet the demands of two veto-wielding permanent members - Russia and China - and protect their strong economic and military interests.

IRAN/SOUTH ASIA: US Frown Turns Gas Pipeline Into Pipe Dream

A grandiose project to construct a pipeline to transport natural gas from Iran to India through Pakistan at a cost of seven billion US dollars is in jeopardy on account of stiff opposition from Washington and wrangling among the three regional partners.

POLITICS: U.S. City Takes Stand Against War With Iran

As thousands of Iranians in northern California celebrated the Persian tradition of "Chaharshanbeh Souri" on Tuesday, the Berkeley City Council adopted a resolution opposing the use of military force against Iran and urging that Congress attach an amendment barring such action to the Pentagon's 93-billion-dollar supplemental funding request.

Q&A: "U.S. Funding Armed Groups to Overthrow Iranian Govt"

Author of the upcoming book "The Iran Agenda: the Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Middle East Crisis", due for release in September from Polipoint Press, Reese Erlich recently spent three weeks investigating Kurdish resistance organisations in Iran and Iraq's Kurdish region. He tells IPS that "the United States is officially funding armed groups to overthrow the Islamic government" in Tehran.

RIGHTS-IRAN: Anti-Stoning Women Activists Held Indefinitely

The indefinite detentions of the prominent lawyer Shadi Sadr and Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh, a leading campaigner against the award of stoning sentences for adultery, are being seen here as part of increasing pressure on women’s rights activists by the Islamic republic.

POLITICS: U.N. Arms Embargo on Iran Hits Roadblock

When the U.N. Security Council decides to punish a member state - be it Somalia, Sierra Leone, Liberia or Iraq - one of its cherished prerogatives is the power to impose mandatory military sanctions crippling a country's armed services.

RIGHTS-IRAN: Int&#39l Women&#39s Day Rally Forcibly Dispersed

A valiant attempt by several hundred women to commemorate International Women's Day by demonstrating in front of the Iranian parliament ended in violence when police and plainclothesmen used force to disperse them.

IRAN: Blaming the West for Sunni Unrest

As a Shia majority country with several large ethnic groups like the Kurds, Arabs and Baluchis that follow the Sunni faith, Iran has for years been vulnerable to unrest, riots and terrorist attacks that officials routinely attribute to foreign powers.