Iran's Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh speaks to journalists as he arrives for talks with the IAEA, at the permanent mission of Iran in Vienna, Austria, May 15, 2012

Iran's tough nuke stance masks struggles at top

The negotiating stance from Iranian officials never varies: The Islamic Republic will not give up its capabilities to make nuclear fuel. But embedded in the messages are meanings that reach beyond Tehran's talks with world powers.

It points to the struggles within Iran's ruling system as it readies for the next round of talks scheduled to begin next week in Baghdad.

Iran's Islamic leadership which crushed an opposition groundswell nearly three years ago and later swatted back a power grab by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has now staked its political credibility on its ability to resist Western sanctions and hold firm to its rights under U.N. treaties to enrich uranium.

Any concession either too great or too fast could risk internal rifts within Iran's power structure. And that could draw powerful forces into the mix, including the Revolutionary Guard that acts as defender of the theocracy and overseer of the nuclear program. As talks deepen, so do the political considerations for an Islamic establishment that cannot afford to appear to come away empty handed.

"Insisting on a halt to enrichment is a deal breaker," said Tehran-based political analyst Behrooz Shojaei. "It is Iran's red line."
This means smaller targets are likely necessary to keep dialogue alive after the Baghdad session next Wednesday between Iran and the six-nation group comprising the permanent U.N. Security Council members plus Germany.

A possible steppingstone goal for the U.S. and allies is to seek to halt Iran's production of uranium enriched to 20 percent levels, the highest-grade material acknowledged by Tehran. The enrichment level is far above what's needed for Iran's lone energy-producing reactor, but it is appropriate for use in medical research. It also could be boosted to weapons-grade strength in a matter of months.

Iran insists it has no interest in developing atomic weapons, but it sees its uranium labs as a mainstay of its technological ... Read More

A general view shows the Western Wall in the old city of Jerusalem

Israeli intelligence head 'visited US for Iran talks'

Israeli military intelligence chief Aviv Kochavi made a "secret visit" to Washington earlier this month to discuss the upcoming talks between world powers and Iran, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

An Israeli security official confirmed the visit, which was reported in Haaretz newspaper, but could not provide further details.

As well as discussing Tehran's nuclear programme, the major general also held talks with senior White House and intelligence officials in New York and Washington on "the Syria crisis and Hezbollah's increasing power in Lebanon," the paper said.

Citing a senior Israeli official, Haaretz said Iran was the main topic, with talks focused on next week's talks between Tehran and the P5+1 powers -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.

Israel and most of the West believe Iran's nuclear energy programme masks a drive to develop atomic weapons but the two allies disagree on how imminent the threat is. Tehran denies such intentions.

US officials have warned against any pre-emptive military strike, with analysts predicting Iran could hit back at US and Israeli targets, with its Lebanese Shiite ally Hezbollah expected to launch rocket attacks on Israel.

According to the paper, Kochavi warned over Hezbollah's "increasing strength" and said internal tensions in Lebanon, combined with the instability in Syria, "increases the risk of escalation."

In recent weeks, Israel has spared no effort to ensure its concerns are well understood ahead of the May 23 P5+1 talks in Baghdad.

Earlier this month, National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror toured European capitals meeting officials directly engaged in the Iran talks.

And last week, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton made a surprise visit to Jerusalem to discuss the talks with top Israeli officials.

On Tuesday, Defence Minister Ehud Barak flew to Washington for the third time in recent months for talks with his ... Read More

Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Akbar Salehi (R) smiles during a meeting with his Tunisian counterpart Rafik Abdessalem in Tunis

U.S. nuclear expert: Iran official linked to past program

By Tabassum Zakaria

Communications from the 1990s suggest Iran's current foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, had knowledge of a program to procure goods for an alleged clandestine nuclear program when he was head of a university, a U.S. nuclear expert said on Tuesday.

David Albright, founder of the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), said among 1,600 telexes and other material he has obtained and is studying was a letter signed by Salehi as head of Sharif University in 1991.

The letter served as an end-user guarantee to a European supplier of materials that could have a dual purpose for use in a nuclear program. Tehran-based Sharif University, however, was acting essentially as a front for Iran's military procurement network, Albright said.

"Salehi knew about or was involved in efforts to create an alleged parallel military nuclear program that is of great interest to the IAEA now," Albright told Reuters, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog.

"And the intention of that program was probably to make nuclear weapons, including producing highly enriched uranium," Albright said.

While senior IAEA officials have in the past told Reuters they suspected Salehi and Sharif University played a role in such procurement activities, the telexes appear to be the first public evidence supporting those suspicions.

ISIS planned to publish its findings and some of the documents about procurement activities of Iran's Physics Research Center in the late 1980s and early 1990s on its website this week.

A spokesman for Iran's U.N. mission said Salehi had never been involved in any illicit or illegal activity. "We believe that publishing these type of fabricated stories are an attempt to foil the upcoming negotiation," the spokesman said.

The findings come as Iran and the IAEA ended two days of talks and were to meet again next week, just days before ... Read More

Google traffic report on Iran showing major, but short-lived constriction of Internet traffic

Iran's Coming "Halal" Intranet

By Doug Bernard

For years, the Iranian government has been threatening to pull the plug on the world wide web, sealing the nation and its people off from the rest of the Internet. Officially, Tehran says it wants to create a "halal" Internet, or one free from outside "impurities" or temptations. Unofficially, it's believed the ruling clerics are uncomfortable with the free flow of news and opinions coming from outside Iran, and how democracy advocates inside the nation have used the web to organize. Periodic cyber-attacks, like the Stuxnet virus, only compound the worries.

Very often these threats would rise and fall in close relation to national events, such as upcoming elections or rumors of national protests. For example, earlier this February, with elections nearing, there were renewed rumblings about pulling the country offline. Additionally, the official Iranian office of cyber-police issued new rules requiring online cafes to install video cameras and ask for identification before letting anyone on the net. The government also stepped up efforts to block social network sites like Facebook and Twitter, and slowed Internet traffic to a trickle. Then once the elections passed, the pressure and rhetoric subsided. Just as in years past.
Now, those threats appear to be ramping up once more. Last week, the government announced a prohibition on all banks, telephone companies and other commercial enterprises from using foreign-based email service for its communications. According to the rule, those firms may now only use email services with the .ir top-level domain, effectively banning Gmail, Hotmail and many others. Then on Monday, the semi-official Mehr news service announced that Iran's main oil terminal on Kharg Island was being taken offline for an unknown period of time due to a cyber-attack.

A source at the National Iranian Oil Company told Reuters that a virus had been detected inside the terminal's command and control systems, but ... Read More

Azim Aghajani, an Iranian citizen charged with orchestrating an illegal arms shipment into Nigeria, sits in the witness box at the Federal High Court in Lagos, Nigeria

U.N Expands Sanctions On Iran For Arms Smuggling

The U.N. Security Council has imposed legally binding sanctions on Iran, including a conventional arms ban. The Iranian government has repeatedly defied these prohibitions, as it has other measures imposed by the Security Council.

The U.N. Security Council's 1737 Committee monitors implementation of UN sanctions, examines and takes appropriate action on information regarding sanctions violations, and has the authority to designate additional individuals and entities to an asset freeze and/or a travel ban. The 1737 Committee recently designated two individuals and one entity involved in the smuggling of a shipment of Iranian arms seized by the Nigerian government fall of 2010. The shipment included rocket launchers, grenades, and other explosives hidden in containers marked "building materials."

The 1737 Committee imposed the travel ban and asset freeze on two Iranians - Azim Aghajani and Ali Akbar Tabatabaei, both members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Qods Force, and an asset freeze on the Behineh Trading Company, which the Committee said "acted on behalf of the IRGC Qods Force as the shipper of the weapons consignment."

Susan Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, welcomed the measures, noting that both the designated individuals and Behineh Trading Company are tied to the Qods Force, which she described as "the group that directs Iranian support for terrorism and extremism worldwide."

Ms. Rice said the designations "reflect the Security Council's unified commitment to using and enforcing the sanctions adopted by the Council, in conjunction with a constructive process of engagement, to compel Iran to meet its international obligations."

State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland noted that as a result of the designations by the 1737 Committee, the assets of the entity and individuals will be frozen, and the individuals will also be subject to a travel ban. "These designations," she said in a ... Read More

Majid Jamali Fashi, 24, was labelled a Mossad agent by Iran and sentenced to death for the murder of Masoud Ali-Mohammadi

Iran hangs man accused of killing nuclear scientist

Iran has hanged a man accused of being an Israeli agent who was convicted of killing a nuclear scientist in 2010, state media has reported.

Twenty-four-year-old Majid Jamali Fashi was hanged at Tehran's Evin prison on Tuesday after being sentenced to death in August last year for the murder of Masoud Ali-Mohammadi, Iran's state news agency quoted the central prosecutor's office as saying.

Mohammadi was killed in January 2010 when a remote-controlled bomb attached to a motorcycle exploded outside his home in Tehran.

In a televised appearance last year, Fashi confessed to the crime and said he had travelled abroad on several occasions to receive training from the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad.

But western analysts said Mohammadi, a 50-year-old Tehran University professor, had little, if any, role in Iran's sensitive nuclear programme. A spokesman for Iran's atomic energy organisation said at the time he was not involved in its activities.

The most recent attack on an Iranian scientist occurred in January. Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, a deputy director of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, was killed when a magnetic bomb planted on his vehicle detonated.

Tehran has accused Israel and the US of assassinating four Iranian scientists in order to sabotage its controversial nuclear programme. Washington has denied any US role, while Israel has declined to comment.

Last month, Iranian intelligence officials said they had arrested 15 people they called a "major terror and sabotage network with links to the Zionist regime". The group had plotted to assassinate an Iranian scientist in February, the authorities said.

Iran denies western accusations it is seeking to develop a nuclear weapons capability, but major powers are pushing Tehran to become more transparent and co-operative ahead of talks later this month.

The foreign secretary, William Hague, warned on Monday that the European Union would impose tougher ... Read More

Iran's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh arrives at the Iranian Anbassy for a meeting with IAEA officials in Vienna May 14, 2012

Iran talks to continue, both sides see progress

By GEORGE JAHN

U.N. nuclear negotiators seeking to probe Tehran's nuclear program for signs of secret work on atomic-weapons technology spoke of a good exchange of views Tuesday after talks with Iranian officials, who described the meeting as having made progress.

Neither side elaborated on the substance of their talks. But in another indication that some common ground had been found after more than four years of stalled discussions, both said the talks would resume Monday.

International Atomic Energy Agency officials had entered the talks seeking more cooperation from Iran in their attempts to investigate what the agency sees as strong indications that Tehran has conducted research and development on components of a nuclear weapons program — something Iran strenuously denies.

In particular, they were pressing for access to a site at Iran's Parchin military facility that they suspect was used to test multipoint rapid explosives of the kind needed to set off a nuclear charge. Iran has denied such tests have taken place but has fended off repeated IAEA requests over the past three months for quick access.

Those requests have taken on added urgency after agency officials suggested that Tehran was cleaning up the site. Diplomats say the IAEA has seen satellite imagery showing what appear to be streams of water coming out of the building in question and of removal of bags from inside into waiting trucks.

Tehran last month said a visit was possible but only after "modalities" were worked out, and diplomats accredited to the IAEA and critical of Iran's nuclear program have expressed concern that could turn into a drawn-out process that would allow Iran to "sanitize" the site of any signs of the explosives tests.

Chief Iranian delegate Ali Asghar Soltanieh indicated Iran is continuing to insist on a comprehensive plan on what could be visited when. He told reporters the talks resulted in "progress ... regarding the ... Read More

U.S. special envoy Carlos Pascual

India tells U.S. Iranian oil import cuts to continue-source

By Ross Colvin

India pledged to continue cutting oil imports from Iran over time but gave no specific target or time-frame for such reductions in talks with U.S. special envoy Carlos Pascual on Tuesday, a source familiar with the discussions said.

Pascual, who has been pressing Iran's clients to cut their imports to avoid tighter sanctions, met foreign ministry officials and discussed a waiver from the new measures, which are due to come into effect at the end of June.

"We will continue to keep discussing it (the waiver)," the source said, on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.

The United States wants allies to reduce oil imports from Iran substantially as it tries to pressure Tehran over its nuclear programme which the West thinks aims to build atomic weapons. Tehran denies this.

India and China, Iran's biggest crude customers, have cut imports, but neither has publicly requested a waiver from Washington's unilateral measures. New Delhi has so far dismissed the call for cuts while privately pressing for reductions.

Indian refiners cut imports by a third in April from March to about 269,000 barrels per day (bpd), tanker discharge data available to Reuters shows. Volumes agreed in annual contracts effective April 1 are expected to be at least 15-20 percent down on the previous year's planned 362,000 bpd or so, according to industry sources.

Junior Oil Minister R. P. N. Singh said on Tuesday that India imported 17.44 million tonnes -- equivalent to 348,800 bpd -- of oil from Iran in 2011/12, according to provisional figures. In March, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said imports for the year were likely to be under 340,000 bpd.

Singh added that India aimed to import about 310,000 bpd from Iran in 2012/13, which would be a reduction of about 11 percent from last year's provisional figures.

The United States has already granted a waiver to the impending sanctions for 10 European ... Read More

A member of Iranian exile group People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran leave Camp Ashraf in Khalis, north of Baghdad, Iraq.

US poised to take Iranian exile group off terrorism list

The Obama administration is poised to remove an Iranian opposition group from the United States' list of terrorist groups, officials briefed on the talk told the Wall Street Journal, in a move sure to upset Tehran as nuclear talks between the countries intensify.

The exile organization, the Mujahedin-e Khalq, or MeK, was named a terrorist group 15 years ago for allegedly being involved in assassinating U.S. citizens before the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, but the group had pursued an aggressive lobbying effort in Washington to clear up its status.

Being on the list means MeK's assets inside the U.S. are frozen and it is blocked from fundraising.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has yet to make a final decision, senior U.S. officials told the Wall Street Journal on Monday, but they suggested the department is looking favorably on the request to remove MeK from the terrorism list if it continues to leave a former military base in Iraq where it has been living in exile.

MeK already has renounced terrorism, though residents of the encampment, known as Camp Ashraf, have feared retribution if they leave the camp and return to Iran. There are 1,200 left at the camp, down from about 3,000.

A decision by Clinton is expected within 60 days of the last of the group leaving Camp Ashraf. The U.S. is working with the United Nations to resettle members of the group in other countries.

Warnings by Israel that it may attack Iran's nuclear facilities eased after Iran and the six powers trying to persuade Iran to make nuclear concessions met last month and agreed there was enough common will for another round in Baghdad on May 23. But with the Jewish state saying it is determined to stop Iran before it develops the capacity to build nuclear weapons, failure at the Iraq talks could turn such threats into reality.

A senior U.N. nuclear agency official urged Iran on Monday to allow access to sites, people and documents it ... Read More

House Voting to Shift U.S. Redline for War with Iran

House Voting to Shift U.S. Redline for War with Iran

By Jamal Abdi

Today the House is planning to take up H.Res.568 -- a resolution that shifts the U.S. redline for war with Iran -- on a suspension vote. There has not been a single hearing on this measure and no debate about its very serious implications.

If passed, the House will be voting to contradict the unequivocal redline established by the President just one week before the U.S. enters crucial negotiations with Iran. The President reiterated his redline most recently at this year's AIPAC conference in Washington, where he stated:
"Iran's leaders should understand that I do not have a policy of containment; I have a policy to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon."
Some cosponsors of this resolution have been mistakenly convinced that it merely restates the President's position ruling out containment of a nuclear-armed Iran. This is completely false. In reality, this resolution endorses a lower threshold for military action by stating that the United States cannot contain a nuclear weapons capable Iran.

The President and the Administration have deliberately never used the "capable" phrasing when articulating its redlines because, as it stands, this term has no definition. In theory, it would apply to any country with a civilian nuclear program, including Japan, Brazil, and the Netherlands. It is dangerous and irresponsible to stake the question of war on such uncertain footing.

Had there been a hearing on this resolution, the House could have established what is the definition of "nuclear weapons capability." But instead of committing due diligence to ensure the U.S. is speaking in unified voice and conveying clear redlines to Tehran, the House is moving to play spoiler.

This measure comes at an incredibly inopportune and sensitive time considering U.S. diplomatic efforts. The U.S. and Iran are scheduled to hold negotiations on May 23, along with the rest of the P5+1 (Permanent 5 Security Council members plus ... Read More

Iran eyes new phase for Iraqi pipeline

Iran eyes new phase for Iraqi pipeline

Negotiations are under way to choose contractors for the construction of a natural gas pipeline from Iran to Iraq, Iranian officials said.

The managing director of Iran's Gas Engineering and Development Co., Ali Reza Qaribi, said a 48-inch pipeline to Iraq would carry around 880 cubic feet of natural gas per day once completed.

Both sides have entered into a new round of negotiations over contractors for the natural gas pipeline. The semiofficial Fars News Agency said Iran's natural gas could be redistributed from Iraq to Europe through Syrian soil.

Tehran said both sides already have construction agreements in place and negotiations were centered on finding the proper contractors, the Fars report adds.

The project would cross the Iranian border in Ilam province near central Iraq.

Natural gas from Iran would be used by Iraq to fuel its power stations. Parts of Iraq still struggle with electricity generation more than nine years after the U.S.-led invasion.

Qaribi last week offered few specifics about the pipeline other than to say that the required steel for the pipeline was purchased.

Shahin Najafi accused of denigrating imams as clerics call him an 'apostate' and religious website puts bounty on his head

Iranian rapper faces death threats and fatwa for 'blasphemous' song

An Iranian rapper has become "the Salman Rushdie of music" after clerics in the Islamic republic issued fatwas calling him an apostate, which is considered punishable by death under the country's sharia law.

Shahin Najafi, a Germany-based Iranian singer, recently released a song with references to Ali al-Hadi al-Naqi, the tenth of the 12 Shia Muslim Imams, a religious figure highly respected by millions in Iran.

The controversial clip posted on Youtube, watched by hundreds of thousands online, has divided opinions in the country with many finding it offensive and insulting to their beliefs and others defending the song, saying it broke taboos especially in regards to expressing views about religious personalities.

When asked for a religious ruling on the fate of Najafi and his "blasphemous music", clerics unanimously declared that such a person must be considered an apostate.

According to the semi-official Mehr news agency, Ayatollah Naser Makareme Shirazi, a pro-Iranian regime cleric based in the holy city of Qom with a great deal of influence among Muslims in the country, was the latest person to issue a fatwa in regards to Najafi.

"Any outrage against the infallible imams ... and obvious insult against them would make a Muslim an apostate," he said. Makareme Shirazi has in the past issued other controversial rulings, including those against women attending football matches, keeping pets and the Holocaust.

Najafi's song, called Naqi, is a chronology of events in the past year. Najafi, 31, has rejected claims that he meant to insult people's religious beliefs, though the song criticises Iranian society.

"I thought there would be some ramifications. But I didn't think I would upset the regime that much. Now they are taking advantage of the situation and making it look like I was trying to criticise religion and put down believers," he told the Germany broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

"For me it is more of an excuse ... Read More

Iran's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh arrives at the Iranian Anbassy for a meeting with IAEA officials in Vienna May 14, 2012

U.N. nuclear agency to push Iran on military site access

By Fredrik Dahl

The United Nations nuclear watchdog signaled on Monday it would press Iran for access to a military installation where it suspects Iran has built a chamber for high-explosive tests that could serve to develop atomic bombs.

The Vienna talks will test Iran's readiness to address U.N. inspectors' suspicions of military dimensions to its nuclear program, ahead of broader-ranging talks on the program's future in Baghdad next week between Tehran and six world powers.

Iran, which rejects Western accusations it seeks nuclear arms, has so far resisted requests by the International Atomic Energy Agency to visit the extensive Parchin complex southeast of Tehran. The issue was expected to be raised during a high-level May 14-15 meeting in Vienna between Iran and the IAEA.

"It is important now ... that Iran let us have access to people, documents, information and sites," IAEA Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts told reporters as he arrived for the talks at an Iranian diplomatic mission in Austria's capital.

His team of senior IAEA officials and experts left the building after about five hours, declining any comment to media waiting outside. The meeting will resume on Tuesday.

Iranian state television said: "The first round of talks has been evaluated as positive." It did not elaborate.

An IAEA report last November found that Iran had built a large containment vessel in 2000 at the Parchin site in which to conduct tests that the U.N. agency said were "strong indicators of possible (nuclear) weapon development".

It said a building was constructed "around a large cylindrical object". An earth berm between the building containing the cylinder and a neighboring building indicated the probable use of high explosives in the chamber.

The IAEA said it had obtained satellite images that were consistent with this information. The vessel was designed to contain the detonation of up to 70 kg of high ... Read More

Artist Mahmoud Shokraye's sentence of 25 lashes for insulting MP is likely to be quashed

Iranian MP withdraws complaint against cartoonist after outcry

By Saeed Kamali Dehghan

An Iranian MP who brought a case against a cartoonist that resulted in a sentence of 25 lashes has withdrawn his complaint after widespread condemnation of the artist's conviction.

Mahmoud Shokraye was found guilty of insulting Ahmad Lotfi Ashtiani, MP for Arak, the capital of Iran's central province of Markazi, in a cartoon he drew of the parliamentarian in Nameye Amir, a city newspaper.

In an unprecedented punishment for an Iranian cartoonist, a media law court in Arak handed down a sentence of 25 lashes, triggering domestic and international outcry among Shokraye's colleagues and human rights organisations.

Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported on Monday that Ashtiani had withdrawn his complaint. Experts familiar with Iranian law said it would mean the cartoonist's conviction would be quashed.

In a statement, Ashtiani attempted to exonerate himself by blaming the court for the sentence of lashing, saying he merely sued the publication for defamation but the court, instead, condemned the cartoonist.

"Following my complaint against [Nameye] Amir for a series of unjust allegations, the court sentenced the paper's cartoonist to 25 lashes," he said in quotes carried by Fars. "I did so in protest at using unethical ways to make unjust allegations, therefore I hereby withdraw my complaint against this artist."

Shokraye's cartoon depicted Ashtiani in a football stadium, dressed as a footballer, with a congratulatory letter in one hand and his foot resting on the ball. In the cartoon, the MP's forehead – as in reality – had a dark mark, said to be the sign of a pious Shia Muslim, supposedly caused by frequent prostration during prayer.

It is believed that Shokraye drew the MP in order to highlight recent criticism of Ashtiani's perceived interference in Iranian sport.

In response to the artist's sentence, cartoonists launched a campaign of drawing new caricatures of the ... Read More

A chamber of the type needed for nuclear arms-related tests that U.N. inspectors suspect Tehran has conducted at the site. The official demanded that he and his country remain anonymous in exchange for sharing secret intelligence information

Drawing focuses on Iran's nuke work

By GEORGE JAHN

A drawing based on information from inside an Iranian military site shows an explosives containment chamber of the type needed for nuclear arms-related tests that U.N. inspectors suspect Tehran has conducted there. Iran denies such testing and has neither confirmed nor denied the existence of such a chamber.

The computer-generated drawing was provided to The Associated Press by an official of a country tracking Iran's nuclear program who said it proves the structure exists, despite Tehran's refusal to acknowledge it.

That official said the image is based on information from a person who had seen the chamber at the Parchin military site, adding that going into detail would endanger the life of that informant. The official comes from an IAEA member country that is severely critical of Iran's assertions that its nuclear activities are peaceful and asserts they are a springboard for making atomic arms.

A former senior IAEA official said he believes the drawing is accurate. Olli Heinonen, until last year the U.N. nuclear agency's deputy director general in charge of the Iran file, said it was "very similar" to a photo he recently saw that he believes to be the pressure chamber the IAEA suspects is at Parchin.

He said even the colors of the computer-generated drawing matched that of the photo he had but declined to go into the origins of the photo to protect his source.

Beyond IAEA hopes of progress, that two-day meeting is being closely watched by six powers trying to persuade Iran to make nuclear concessions aimed at reducing fears that it may want to develop atomic arms as a mood-setter for May 23 talks between the six and Tehran in Baghdad.

Warnings by Israel that it may attack Iran's nuclear facilities eased after Iran and the six - the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - met last month and agreed there was enough common will for the Baghdad round. But with the Jewish state ... Read More

While seeming to tone down the rhetoric, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad nonetheless spoke of "crimes" of the "Zionist regimes."

Iranian president: Israel 'nothing more than a mosquito' to Iran

Ahead of upcoming nuclear talks, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad downplayed the threat Israel poses to Iran, comparing it to an annoying bug.

"Israel is nothing more than a mosquito which cannot see the broad horizon of the Iranian nation," he said Saturday in northeastern Iran's Khorassan province, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

Ahmadinejad said "regional states" were being duped into buying billions in arms from "arrogant and imperial powers," driven in part by all the talk surrounding a potential war involving Iran and Israel, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported. Such military purchases, he said, are unnecessary because there is no war on the horizon between those two nations.

The Iranian president alluded to "rulers" who sold "their petrol" for $60 billion worth in arms, though he did not mention by name either the purchasing or selling country. Saudi Arabia is in the midst of a 20-year, $60 billion arms deal with the United States, including nearly $30 billion for F-15 fighter jets announced late last year.

Ahmadinejad has long questioned the existence of the Holocaust and, months after taking office in October 2005, he participated in a lengthy protest called "World Without Zionism" and has repeatedly derided Israel.

"With the force of God behind it, we shall soon experience a world without the United States and Zionism," he said then, according to another IRNA report.

On Saturday, while seemingly backing away from the potential for an armed conflict, Ahmadinejad hardly signaled that Iranians should or will embrace Israel.

He predicted Israel could fall if regional powers cut ties -- particularly by refusing to sell oil to Israelis.

Tensions have ramped up in recent years over Iran's controversial nuclear program. Iran claims it is being developed for peaceful means, while Western powers and Israel say they think Iran is evading international inspections and intent ... Read More

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi (L) greets former French prime minister Michel Rocard (R) in Tehran, during his visit to the capital. Salehi hailed Francois Hollande's election as French president, voicing hope it can boost bilateral ties.

Salehi hopes Hollande win will boost Iran-France ties

Iran's foreign minister hailed Francois Hollande's election as French president, voicing hope it can boost bilateral ties, as he met visiting former French socialist premier Michel Rocard.

Ali Akbar Salehi "welcomed the victory of Francois Hollande and hopes to see a new approach taken between Tehran and Paris in all areas based on mutual respect" during their meeting in Tehran late Friday, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Socialist leader Hollande, who will be inaugurated on Tuesday having defeated Nicolas Sarkozy in a run-off for president on May 6, has distanced himself from Rocard's visit.

Rocard "is not carrying any message nor has he been vested with any mission" by the French president-elect, a member of his entourage told AFP on Saturday, adding it was a "private visit."

"The position of Francois Hollande on the Iranian nuclear programme is known," said the diplomat.

"Iran must comply with its international obligations and abide by the resolutions of the UN Security Council to cease nuclear activities without credible civilian purpose."

Rocard arrived in Tehran early Saturday on an unofficial three-day visit first planned for April but postponed after the 81-year-old was hospitalised in Stockholm in late March.

His visit comes as Iran is preparing for a new round of talks with world powers in Baghdad on May 23 that will focus on the disputed nuclear drive.

France under Sarkozy was the strong voice in the European Union to advocate harsh US-backed economic sanctions against Iran over Western suspicions it seeks a weapons capability masked by its civilian nuclear programme.

Iran wins release of Turkish journalists in Syria

Iran wins release of Turkish journalists in Syria

By Tulay Karadeniz

Two Turkish journalists who went missing while reporting on the uprising in Syria two months ago were released on Saturday with Iran's help, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.

The release of the pair demonstrated Iran's influence with its ally Syria, which lost Turkey's friendship when it cracked down on pro-democracy protests that erupted last year. Iran and Syria, both isolated by the West, have stuck by each other.

The two journalists were flown to Tehran, where they told Turkey's Anatolian news agency they were in good health and looking forward to being reunited with their families.

In remarks on his Twitter account, Davutoglu said the Turkish government was sending a plane to bring them home. His Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi had told him earlier that the journalists had been freed, he added.

"I have good news: our longstanding efforts have finally paid off. I just spoke to Iran's Foreign Minister Mr. Salehi. Hamit Coskun and Adem Ozkose, who haven't been heard of since they went to Syria, are on their way to Tehran at the moment," Davutoglu said.

Ozkose, 34, a reporter with Milat, a small Islamic-leaning startup newspaper, and freelance cameraman Coskun, 21, went missing in early March after sneaking across the border into Idlib, a northwestern province that has been the focus of an offensive by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

Speaking to Anatolian from Tehran, Ozkose thanked fellow journalists for keeping their plight in the public eye.

"We thank everybody who worked to save us, to all our colleagues we sent our best regards to everybody," Ozkose was quoted as saying.

Hopes for their release soared after officials revealed on Thursday that Iran was acting as a go-between.

It was not immediately clear who had been holding them, but Syria had expelled foreign journalists in the early days of the uprising, and those who entered later to report the ... Read More

Iranian Rapper Faces Calls For His Execution Over 'Insulting' Song

Iranian Rapper Faces Calls For His Execution Over 'Insulting' Song

By Golnaz Esfandiari

Iranian rapper Shahin Najafi's new song, "Naghi," contains the perfect ingredients for controversy.

The lyrics include joking references to Naghi, the 10th imam of the Shi'ites; a penis; Viagra; and the breasts of an Iranian actress.

The image that accompanies the song on YouTube depicts the dome of what appears to be a religious shrine as a female breast, with a rainbow flag -- the symbol of the gay community -- flying over it:


Naghi, I swear on your sense of humor
On this exile that is far from [you]
On the great organ of life
That sits behind us in a threatening mode
Naghi, I invoke you on the length and width of sanctions
On the rising value of the dollar and the feeling of humiliation
Naghi, I swear on the cardboard imam
On the baby who was saying "Ali" while stuck in his mother's womb

The song has been condemned by some inside Iran as disrespectful and insulting to Imam Naghi, while others have praised it for breaking religious taboos.
Najafi, who moved to Germany in 2005, told RFE/RL that his aim was not to insult religious sanctities.

"I had done something similar in the past. I have another song titled 'Mahdi' [and] there hasn't been any such reaction to it," Najafi says. "Also, I thought many would like the song. It's satirical. When I [create] something, I never think about its consequences."

The consequences this time include a $100,000 bounty on his head and calls for his execution. The hard-line website Shia-online is offering the reward and says the sum will be paid by an unnamed Arab country in the Persian Gulf.

Call To Violence

The hard-line semi-official Fars news agency, which is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), claimed earlier this week that senior Ayatollah Safi Golpayegani had issued a fatwa against Najafi and declared him an apostate. The punishment for apostasy in Iran is death.

The ... Read More

The United States is urging India to reduce its dependence on oil imports from Iran.

U.S. Encourages India On Iran Oil

During her recent visit to Kolkata, India, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton noted that India and the United States share what she called "bedrock beliefs: beliefs about freedom, democracy, pluralism and opportunity."

At an interactive meeting at a school for girls, she answered questions on a variety of topics, including the reason why the United States is urging India to reduce its dependence on oil imports from Iran.

Secretary Clinton explained that pressure is required to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, a goal that the United States, India and other U.S. partners share. Iran with a nuclear weapon, she said, would be extremely destabilizing to the region. It would spur a nuclear arms race; it would exacerbate existing enmity between Iran and other nations in the region; and it would present a grave threat to Israel.

She noted that after President Barack Obama took office in 2009, the U.S put together an international coalition that imposed the strongest economic sanctions to date on Iran. The pressure from those sanctions, said Secretary Clinton, brought Iran back to the negotiating table -- last month for the first time in Istanbul; and a second meeting is scheduled to take place in Baghdad on May 23.

The reason for asking countries like India, who are primary purchasers of Iran oil, to reduce their supplies of Iranian crude is to keep pressure on Iran, Secretary of State Clinton said. "We think India, as a country that understands the importance of trying to use diplomacy to resolve these difficult threats, is certainly working toward lowering their purchases of Iranian oil. And we commend the steps that they have taken thus far."

Secretary Clinton noted that Saudi Arabia, Iraq and other suppliers are now putting more oil into the market, making oil available for India and others countries that require it.

'We're encouraged by what we've seen the Indian Government being able to do," said Secretary of ... Read More