SCOOver the past three years, Russia has pushed for Iran to be accorded full membership in the SCO. China has quietly resisted this push. In public, Chinese officials say only that the issue needs to be studied, as a formal mechanism through which the SCO can bring in new members does not currently exist. In private, Chinese officials say that including Iran would change the character and function of the SCO in important ways. In particular, Iranian membership would make it harder for Beijing to insist, as it regularly does, that the SCO is not an alliance directed against any specific country—e.g., the United States. ››read more

Netanyahu & MerkelGermany can continue sanctioning itself through Iran, the US can pretend to be concerned about the security of the world and democracy in Iran, France can share a desire to destroy Iran's economy and independence, the UK is free to try to sabotage another nationalized Iranian project, and they all can enjoy a ride on the Israeli bandwagon. At the end of the day, however, they all have to be wary of what they are going to lose along the way, just economic interests at best, and moral values at worst. ››read more

Days after announcing that Iran was willing to send its low-enriched uranium for further processing abroad, President Mahmud Ahmadinejad told the country's Atomic Energy Agency to begin the enrichment process in the country. However, Ahmadinejad emphasized that Iran was still open to a "fuel-for-fuel" option. ››read more

Natanz Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has ordered uranium enrichment to a 20 per cent level without giving up Tehran’s readiness to swap domestically produced low-enriched uranium with atomic fuel produced abroad. ››read more

MottakiIranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Saturday he had held a "very good meeting" with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over a nuclear fuel swap proposal. ››read more

Islamophobe Daniel Pipes makes what has to be considered the strongest case ever (and in a manner entirely consistent with his and other hard-line neo-cons notoriously cavalier attitude toward violence and war) for bombing nuclear facilities in Iran in his op-ed on National Review Online Tuesday. Obama should do it for political expediency. ››read more

The U.S. State Department said senior officials from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia held a conference call on the issue.
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Indications of fraud in the June 12 Iranian presidential election, together with large-scale street demonstrations, have led to claims that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did not actually win the election, and that the majority of Iranians perceive their government as illegitimate and favor regime change. ››read more

Seumas MilneThe US military buildup in the Gulf and Blair's promotion of war against Tehran are a warning of yet another catastrophe ››read more

AfrasiabiOn the same day Iran launched a rocket named Simorgh (Phoenix) into space, Tehran pulled its diplomatic engagement with the West back from the brink, saying it was prepared to accept a nuclear "fuel-for-fuel" proposal and exchange three Americans held in Iran with Iranians imprisoned in the United States.
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Bushehr Nuclear ReactorYesterday Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad surprised everyone when he declared publicly that the terms of the draft third party enrichment deal Western nations have been demanding that Iran sign are perfectly acceptable. ››read more

Speaking today on Iranian television, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran had “no problem” with the third party enrichment deal’s terms, and that the nation was willing to send its uranium abroad for further enrichment. ››read more

Ali LarijaniTEHRAN — Parliament speaker Ali Larijani Tuesday slammed plans by the US to beef up defences in the Gulf against potential Iranian missile attacks, insisting the Islamic republic is no threat to its neighbours.
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Sir Richard DaltonSince its misfired election last June, Iran increasingly resembles a curled-up hedgehog: preoccupied with its own difficulties, while projecting general hostility to the outside world. I only hope the impression of introversion is true, because Tehran has been the target of some deeply misguided words, and perhaps also deeds, in recent days. Just now, it would be better if Iran were not listening. ››read more

MehmanparastTEHRAN, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Iran dismissed on Tuesday a U.S. expansion of missile defence systems in the Gulf to counter what Washington sees as the Islamic Republic's growing missile threat, saying it had good relations with neighbouring states. On Sunday, U.S. officials said the United States had expanded land- and sea-based missile defence systems in and around the Gulf. ››read more

Patriot missileObama Administration rhetoric against Iran is increasing fears of war in the region, and leading US allies near Iran to purchase growing numbers of US-made missile defense systems. The sales to states in the region total several billion dollars. ››read more

Tony Blair has been accused of warmongering spin for claiming that western powers might be forced to invade Iran because it poses as serious a threat as Saddam Hussein. ››read more

MottakiTEHRAN — Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has said "new ideas" on the supply of nuclear fuel to Iran were raised in talks with French and Brazilian officials in Davos, reports said on Saturday. ››read more

The New York Times‘ Editorial Board fell into lock-step with the Obama administration yesterday, calling for the United States to impose additional sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran. ››read more

In a State of the Union address that devoted less time or attention to foreign policy than any recent counterpart, President Obama provided disturbing evidence as to the ongoing strategic regression of his administration’s Iran policy. ››read more