FBI Releases Details of 2004 Talks with Saddam Hussein
U.S. security records reveal that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein told U.S. federal agents in 2004 that he allowed the world to believe he had weapons of mass destruction because he did not want to appear weak to Iran. - 7/3/09
Israel's Navy Arrest Human Right Activists On Spirit Of Humanity Boat
Call your Congressperson and your Senators today. Ask them to call the Israeli Embassy and to call the U.S. State Department demanding that the boat and its occupants be released, together with their humanitarian cargo, and that they be allowed to dock in Gaza. - 7/1/09
US forces to free Iranian diplomats
As part of its security accord with the Baghdad government, the US military will release the Iranian diplomats it took hostage in Iraq two years ago. - 6/30/09
Envoy: US has no plans for Iraq talks with Iran
The United States has no imminent plans to resume talks with Iran about Iraq, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq said Monday, taking a hard line against Tehran amid tension over its postelection turmoil. -AP - 6/30/09
Subsidies for Israel, Sanctions for Iran
President Barack Obama’s fiscal year 2010 budget request for $2.775 billion in military aid to Israel is proceeding smoothly through the Congress. -Antiwar.com - 6/29/09
Dennis Ross Moves to the White House
Now again we have the leadership of both political parties with much of the journalistic establishment in tow promoting what will likely be exposed in the near term as another slough of lies, this time about Iran. At the center of them is this: Iran has a nuclear weapons program threatening Israel with nuclear holocaust. -Gary Leupp, Counterpunch - 6/24/09
Dennis Ross to be ousted as Obama's envoy to Iran
Dennis Ross, who most recently served as a special State Department envoy to Iran, will abruptly be relieved of his duties, sources in Washington told Haaretz. An official announcement is expected in the coming days. -Haaretz, Israel - 6/15/09
US Welcomes 'March 14' Coalition Victory in Lebanon
A senior official who spoke here on terms of anonymity went further, welcoming what he said was an "unambiguous" victory by the March 14 movement and expressing hope that Hezbollah will accept the results and operate within the political system. - 6/9/09
Lebanese ruling coalition claims poll victory
The leader of Lebanon's governing pro-Western coalition has claimed victory over a Hezbollah-led bloc in the country's parliamentary election. - 6/8/09
New nuclear report on Iran angers Israel
Israel's Foreign Ministry says the UN nuclear watchdog cannot be trusted to monitor the Iranian program and the international community should act independently to stop Iran. - 6/7/09
Israel, the Settlements, and Iran
For decades Israel played the part of the victim and for the last thirty, Iran has been set up as the threat so that Israel could expand into Palestinian and Arab land. While the world is battling Iran, Zionists will continue to consume everything around them. -Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich - 6/7/09
Iraq's President Jalal Talabani meets SIIC's Hakim in Tehran
Talabani met the Head of Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) Abdul Aziz Hakim in Tehran Sunday. Talabani stepped into Tehran on Saturday in order to meet Hakim who is in Iran to receive medical treatment for lung cancer. - 6/7/09
Polls Open in Lebanon for Critical Election
The election pits the current U.S.-backed majority in Lebanon's parliament against a coalition led by the Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran and Syria. - 6/7/09
Obama reneges on change
The first 100 days over, Obama is looking more and more like Bush, writes Hamid Dabashi - 6/6/09
Obama: 'Moment is Now' to Press for Mideast Peace
One day after delivering a speech to the Muslim world, U.S. President Barack Obama pushed for progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, and in negotiations on Iran's nuclear ambitions. The president spoke after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Dresden. -VOA - 6/5/09
Remarks of President Barack Obama: A New Beginning (Cairo, Egypt)
U.S. President Barack Obama says it is time for a new beginning in relations between America and the world's Muslims. The president said they should unite to confront violent extremism and promote the cause of peace. - 6/4/09
Iran 'receives' invite to Obama's address in Cairo
Amid talks of an extended hand from Washington to Tehran, Egypt moves to bring the two countries together in Cairo where US President Barack Obama is set to make a speech. - 6/4/09
Report Ties Dubious Iran Nuclear Docs to Israel
A report on Iran’s nuclear program issued by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last month generated news stories publicizing an incendiary charge that U.S. intelligence is underestimating Iran’s progress in designing a "nuclear warhead" before the halt in nuclear weapons-related research in 2003. -Gareth Porter, IPS - 6/4/09
Coming Down to the Wire in Lebanon
Beirut's airport is jammed with thousands of Lebanese, often given free tickets, arriving to vote from all over the World, but most heavily from the US, Canada, and Europe. -Franklin Lamb - 6/4/09
Obama Begins Mideast Tour With Saudi Visit
U.S. President Barack Obama has arrived in Saudi Arabia for the first leg of his maiden tour of the Middle East, a visit aimed at improving relations between the United States and the Islamic world. - 6/3/09
Israel 'does not intend to bomb Iran': Lieberman
Israel "does not intend to bomb" Iran, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Wednesday, after repeated warnings from the Jewish state that Tehran is courting danger over its nuclear drive. -AFP - 6/3/09
Dems Tell Obama to Back Off Israel Criticism
Congressional Democrats are reportedly irked by the Obama Administration’s persistent criticism of Israel’s settlement growth. The Congressmen said it was inappropriate to pressure an ally about "domestic policies” and that instead the administration should spend more time “pressuring the Iranians to eliminate the potential of a nuclear threat from Iran." -Antiwar.com - 6/3/09
Hezbollah No. 2 wants Lebanon unity government
Hezbollah's No. 2 leader, confident of victory in Lebanese weekend elections, said Tuesday the Iranian-backed group would invite its pro-Western opponents to join a national unity government if it wins. -AP - 6/3/09
Israeli diplomats told to take offensive in PR war against Iran
Organizing demonstrations in front of Iranian consulates worldwide, staging mock stonings and hangings in public, and launching a massive media campaign against Iran - these are just some of the steps Israeli diplomats have been told to take in the coming weeks. -Haaretz. Israel - 6/2/09
Iran's Non-Oil Exports To Iraq To Exceed 3 Billion Dollars
The value of Iran's non-oil exports to Iraq will exceed three billion dollars by the end of current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2010), an Iranian diplomat said on Tuesday. - 6/2/09
Iraqi premier in Tehran on unofficial visit
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki arrived here on Saturday to visit top Iraqi political leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim who is hospitalized in Tehran. Al-Hakim is under treatment for his lung cancer after he gave up a 30-year smoking habit in 2008. - 5/30/09
Obama Speech Puts Egypt On Center Stage
U.S. President Barack Obama travels to Egypt early June for what the White House is billing as a major address to Muslims around the world. Cairo is the Egyptian metropolis of about 16 million people, spread along the Nile River - Egypt's lifeline throughout history. Home to the Pharaohs and a cradle of civilization. And to this day, heart of the Arab world. - 5/30/09
Obama in Netanyahu’s Web
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, won the first round over President Barack Obama. That’s not good for American interests or for Israel’s long-term security. All the overblown reciprocal compliments could not hide evident tensions — over Iran and Israel-Palestine and how the two are linked. In the end, Obama blinked. -Roger Cohen, New York Times - 5/29/09
Apply Now: World Affairs Journalism Fellowship
There is still time to apply for this year's World Affairs Journalism Fellowship Program. The fellowship provides resources so that editors, senior reporters, commentary writers, freelancers and other journalists from U.S. media can go overseas to report on a global story of local importance. - 5/29/09
President Obama Addresses World's Muslims
Barack Obama has been making overtures towards Arabs and Muslims in general even before he was sworn in as president. In March he recorded a video message for the Persian Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, and his first television interview as president was given not to a U.S. broadcaster, but to the Arab-language network al-Arabiya. - 5/29/09
Clinton Promises New US Proposals for Mideast Peace
The Egyptian Minister, alluding to Israeli suggestions that the Iranian nuclear program is the region's major problem, said he and Clinton discussed Iran but that the Palestinian question is the core issue and that continued inaction on it would pose dangers beyond the Middle East. - 5/28/09
France Opens Its First Military Base In Persian Gulf
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has inaugurated France's first military base in the Persian Gulf region at a time of heightened political sensitivities in the volatile Middle East - and as France seeks to expand its presence in the region. - 5/27/09
Netanyahu bringing Israel closer to war with Iran
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu considers the lifting of the Iranian nuclear threat his life's mission. Before coming to power, he had mentioned that such an operation might cost thousands of lives, but the price was justified in view of the threat's severity. -Haaretz, Israel - 5/27/09
Jewish lobby attacks President Obama
Comparison of Barack Obama to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev before the November 2008 elections turned out to be true by at least one count. Although he has assumed office only four months ago, Obama already has many opponents who accuse him of weakness, pandering to the enemies, and betraying principles. -RIA Novosti, Russia - 5/26/09
Iran's Supreme Leader: Regional nations hate US for causing trouble
Khamenei said Sunday that the US has been strongly subject to hatred of regional nations as the main cause of regional problems. The Supreme Leader made the remarks in a meeting with Presidents of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai and Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari. - 5/25/09
Der Spiegel's tale of Hezbollah's direct involvement in the Hariri assassination irresponsible
The Der Spiegel headline was dramatic. Even provocative. Some Lebanese were surprised but others said they knew it all along. It offered bold "new information" that the strongly pro-Israel German Weekly Der Speigel claimed came from secret sources based on documents reporters and editors may have seen. -Franklin Lamb, Beirut - 5/25/09
Iran's Spending Spree in Afghanistan
Some locals jokingly call Herat the "Dubai of Afghanistan." The nickname is a stretch, but the mini-boom taking place in this commercial capital is borne out by 24-hour electricity and pothole-free streets where people wander without fear of the random violence that afflicts other urban centers in the country. Who gets the credit? -TIME - 5/25/09
Afghan, Pakistani, Iranian Presidents Meet in Tehran
The leaders of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to open their future meetings to other parties, which could include the United States. The tri-partite summit was held in Tehran. - 5/24/09
Torture & 9/11
It could be argued that of the panoply of evil of which human beings find themselves uniquely capable, nothing is as abominable as the deliberate infliction of mental or physical pain on a helpless captive person. -John S. Hatch, OpEdNews - 5/24/09
Presidents of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan to meet in Tehran
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is due in Tehran on Saturday to attend a trilateral summit meeting with presidents of Iran and Afghanistan. Zardari will also hold talks with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on bilateral relations, economic issues, border security and gas pipeline agreement. - 5/22/09
Biden does Beirut: HERESSSSSSSS JOE!
Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah: "It appears that the Biden visit is part of a US bid to supervise the electoral campaign of a Lebanese party, which feels threatened politically, in light of the expected outcome of the legislative vote." -by Franklin Lamb, Beirut - 5/22/09
Netanyahu: All of Jerusalem to Remain Israeli
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says all of Jerusalem will always remain under Israeli sovereignty. Mr. Netanyahu said united Jerusalem is the Jewish state's capital, and will never again be partitioned or divided. -VOA - 5/22/09
Pentagon Confirms Iran Missile Test, Calls It 'Consistent' with Concerns
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has confirmed that Iran has tested a medium range ballistic missile that can reach Israel, southeastern Europe and U.S. bases in the Middle East. A Pentagon spokesman says the test "is consistent" with U.S. concerns about Iran's effort to develop ballistic missiles and its nuclear program. - 5/21/09
New York Times Falsifies Obama-Netanyahu Meeting
What is more disturbing and far more consequential is that the Times made this meeting into a story about Iran. They read into Obama's careful and measured remarks exactly the hostile intention toward Iran and the explicit deadline for results from his negotiations with Iran that Obama had taken great pains to avoid stating. -David Bromwich, Global Research - 5/21/09
Iran "holding back a flood of heroin" from Afghanistan, UN drug official says
The top United Nations anti-drug official, on a visit to Tehran, today praised Iran for its efforts to stop the flow of drugs from Afghanistan to the West. Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said Iran was "holding back a flood of heroin" from Afghanistan - 5/21/09
Foreign Policy: The real reason Iran wants nukes
If the United States wants negotiations to work, there is one key prerequisite: Each side must understand the expectations of the other. What the United States wants from Iran is clear: a halt to its nuclear program. But what is on Tehran's mind? -NPR - 5/21/09
Aipac's hidden persuaders
The Israel lobby is aiming to soften up US public opinion for an attack on Iran. Americans should resist its propaganda. That bogey-nation was everywhere at the Aipac conference. Every keynote speech – if they weren't directly written by that group's staff – seemed unmistakably scripted and "on message", dedicated to the existential threat that Iran poses not just to Israel, but the entire world. -Guardian - 5/20/09
After Israeli Visit, a Diplomatic Sprint on Iran
Now that President Obama has established what he called a “clear timetable” for Iran to halt its nuclear program — progress must be made by the end of the year, he declared on Monday — both American and Israeli officials are beginning to talk about how to accomplish that goal. -NY Times - 5/20/09
As Campaigning Begins, German Politicians Struggle With Afghanistan
There has been a clear rise in activity concerning Germany's engagement in Afghanistan of late -- evidenced by German pledges to raise its troop presence, increased military action on the ground, and a spate of official visits between Kabul and Berlin. -RFE - 5/20/09
How Ahmadinezhad helped Israel
The Durban Review Conference held in Geneva in April was set to examine progress made toward the goals of the previous conference in 2001: to eliminate racism, xenophobia and related intolerance. -Rasool Nafisi - 5/19/09
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