"The European Union may approve fresh sanctions against Iran within weeks, after a U.N. agency said Tehran had worked to design nuclear bombs, EU diplomats said on Thursday." (11/10/11)
http://reut.rs/sGGxXc"An Israeli official said Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to persuade his Cabinet to authorize a military strike against Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program -- a discussion that comes as Israel successfully tests a missile believed capable of carrying a nuclear warhead to Iran. It remained unclear whether Israel was genuinely poised to strike or if it was saber-rattling to prod the international community into taking a tougher line on Iran." (11/02/11)
http://tinyurl.com/433euzn"Iran's parliament is set to summon President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for questioning over an economic scandal and his polices. He would be the first president to be hauled before the Iranian parliament, a serious blow to his standing in a drawn out conflict involving the president, the parliament and Iran's powerful clerics." (10/30/11)
"Iran's supreme leader warned the United States on Sunday that any measures taken against Tehran over an alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington would elicit a 'resolute' response. Two men, including a member of the Iranian special foreign actions unit known as the Quds Force, have been charged in New York federal court with conspiring to kill the Saudi diplomat, Adel Al-Jubeir." (10/16/11)
http://tinyurl.com/4426cvs"Iran has expressed outrage at charges by the US that it was behind a plot to assassinate the top Saudi Arabian diplomat in Washington and bomb Israeli and Saudi embassies on US soil. US court documents unsealed on Tuesday allege that Iranian agents from the Qods Force, a specialist branch of the Revolutionary Guard, sought to hire hit men from a Mexican drug cartel. But Iran is quickly countering with its own narrative that Washington is desperate to distract attention from severe economic problems, and what Iran calls the spreading 'awakening' of American citizens manifested in the Occupy Wall Street protests." &91;editor's note: As the folks at Antiwar.com already pointed out, this is likely just another "dog wagging" to keep us a-skeered! - SAT%#93; (10/12/11)
http://tinyurl.com/67nwcbs"The US Department of Justice has charged two men -- one a US citizen of Iranian origin, the other allegedly an operator for Iran’s special operations 'Qods Force' -- with plotting to kill Saudi Arabia’s envoy to the United States, Adel Al-Jubeir. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast and INRA, the Iranian regime’s state news agency, denies US claims of Iranian state involvement." (10/11/11)
http://wire.news-digests.com/archives/46"Human rights and faith groups are urgently calling for more action on behalf of Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, who faces execution in Iran. The Christian minister was on trial in Rasht last week, and refused to deny his faith during the court hearing. He has now re-appeared in court three times, and each time has refused to renounce Christianity when asked to do so by the court. If he continues to refuse, he faces execution." (10/03/11)
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/15483"Turkey's prime minister on Sunday signaled a joint military offensive with Iran against their common enemy: Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq. Turkey and Iran were working together and 'determined,' Recep Tayyip Erdogan said." (09/25/11)
http://tinyurl.com/3uan9tv"Two Americans jailed in Iran as spies were released from Tehran's prison on Wednesday after more than two years in custody. ... The two men were arrested along the Iran-Iraq border in July 2009 and sentenced last month to eight years each in prison. A third American arrested with them, Sarah Shourd, was freed last year on bail." (09/21/11)
http://abcn.ws/nj074F"Six independent filmmakers have been detained in Iran, the BBC said yesterday, describing it as an attempt to pressure the international broadcast network over its coverage of the country’s clerical regime. The BBC said those arrested were Iranian documentary filmmakers, adding that while the BBC’s Farsi-language service had bought the rights to their films in the past, it had not commissioned their work." (09/20/11)
"Two U.S. hikers jailed in Iran will have to stay behind bars for a little while longer as the judge who could set them free is on vacation. The release of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, who have been in prison in the Islamic Republic since 2009 and were sentenced to 8 years in jail in June, has hit several speed bumps in the past week." (09/18/11)
http://tinyurl.com/3e2u7ob"Two American hikers detained in Iran for more than two years on espionage charges will be freed in two days, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has told US media. ... Last month, an Iranian court sentenced Bauer and Fattal, both aged 29, to eight-year imprisonment -- three years for entering Iran illegally and five years for spying. 'I think these two persons will be free in a couple of days,' Ahmadinejad said in an interview with NBC's Today show on Tuesday." (09/13/11)
http://www.rttnews.com/Content/GeneralNews.aspx?Id=1712558&SM=1"Three Iranian men have been executed after being found guilty of charges related to homosexuality, according to a semi-official news agency. The men, only identified by their initials, were hanged on Sunday in the south-western city of Ahvaz, the capital of Iran's Khuzestan province." (09/07/11)
http://tinyurl.com/3jkjmyn"Tehran's chief prosecutor confirms that two American men arrested more than two years ago while hiking along the Iraq-Iran border have been sentenced to 8 years in prison on charges that include espionage. ... Iranian state TV has reported that the two were sentenced to three years for illegal entry into Iran and five years for spying for the United States. They deny the charges, saying they were only hiking near the ill-defined border." (08/21/11)
http://onforb.es/qg5Y4W"Iran's Revolutionary Court announced today that a verdict will be issued within one week regarding the arrest of Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer, Americans who were captured hiking near the Iran-Iraq border with their friend Sarah Shourd two years ago. Today marks the second anniversary of their arrest. The Muslim tradition of pardoning prisoners for the holy month of Ramadan, which starts next week, is thought by some to be a good omen for their release." (07/31/11)
http://tinyurl.com/3cs68gs"Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari demanded on Wednesday that Iran stop shelling positions of Kurdish rebels inside Iraq, saying it damages ties between the neighbouring countries. ... On July 16, Iranian troops launched a major offensive against PJAK bases, losing at least eight Revolutionary Guards, including a senior officer, in clashes on the border." (07/27/11)
http://tinyurl.com/3zkgkbd"Iran's Revolutionary Guard shot down an unmanned U.S. spy plane that was trying to gather information on an underground uranium enrichment site, a state-owned news site said Wednesday. Lawmaker Ali Aghazadeh Dafsari said the drone was flying over the Fordo uranium enrichment site near the holy city of Qom in central Iran, the state TV-run Youth Journalists Club said. The report did not say when the plane was shot down." (07/20/11)
http://tinyurl.com/3v3mcd5"An Iraqi politician yesterday called on the prime minister Nouri Al Maliki's government to condemn a raid and occupation by Iran in Kurdish rebel bases in northern Iraq, saying that a failure to do so is a 'sign of weakness.' Iranian Revolutionary Guard commanders announced on Monday that they had seized control of three militant camps, a claim that was immediately disputed as 'incorrect' by Iraqi security officials. However, local residents and security officers say the Iranian reports are true." (07/20/11)
http://tinyurl.com/3kaxvm3"Cyprus'[s] foreign minister has formally resigned over the explosion of dozens of gunpowder-filled containers at a naval base that killed 13 people, shaking public confidence in the government. ... The explosion of the containers — which were seized from an Iranian ship in 2009 — also knocked out a key power station and prompted nightly protests in the capital claiming official negligence." (07/19/11)
"Security forces attacked and arrested pro-reform demonstrators gathering in Tehran on Sunday to mark the anniversary of the country's 2009 disputed election, Iran opposition websites reported. 'Security forces attacked the crowd with electric batons ... in the Vali-e Asr street to disperse the demonstrators,' Sahamnews.org said. Another opposition website, Kaleme.com, said 'hundreds of demonstrators' were arrested by the security forces." (06/12/11)
http://tinyurl.com/3etkejr"The U.S. government announced Thursday that it has imposed a new round of sanctions against Iran's regime, which has come under intense criticism for its recent crackdown against pro-reform protesters. Sanctions have been imposed against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Basij Resistance Force, and Iran's Law Enforcement Forces, according to a statement released by the State Department." (06/09/11)
http://tinyurl.com/3qyfele"The United States for the first time Tuesday implemented sanctions to strangle Iran's importation of gasoline in a major tightening of measures that's aimed at cutting off funds for Tehran's nuclear program but could hurt ordinary Iranians. The sanctions were imposed on Venezuela's state-owned oil company, an Israeli shipping firm and five other foreign companies that the State Department said have been doing business with Iran's energy sector." [editor's note: DC seems to be getting desperate to provoke war with Iran. Maybe this is the bait that country's government will finally rise to - TLK] (05/24/11)
"Press freedom advocates Reporters Without Borders expressed concern Monday about the fate of an Al Jazeera reporter arrested in Syria and reportedly deported to Iran, after Iran said it was unaware of her whereabouts. Dorothy Parvaz disappeared after landing in the Syrian capital of Damascus on April 29 to cover that country's anti-government protests." (05/16/11)
http://tinyurl.com/5rgdm6d"The trial for the two U.S. hikers still being detained in Iran on charges of espionage was postponed today. Masoud Shafiei, the lawyer in Tehran for Americans Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer, said the two men had not been brought to the court from prison so the hearing could not convene. He also said he had not been allowed to see Bauer and Fattal since the trial's opening in February." (05/11/11)
http://tinyurl.com/3zr2qbf
Ron Paul is right about Iran
by Kenn Jacobine
"The exchange highlighted the irreconcilable differences that exist between those who believe there is a bad guy under every rock and those who actually know history and understand international relations. Santorum and his neoconservative brethren are the former while Ron Paul represents the latter. Its only common sense that if you corner an animal it will act aggressively in order to defend itself and escape. Countries are no different." (08/21/11)
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