Iran News
Iran doubts Obama can bring change
Iran says US President-elect Barack Obama has yet to prove that he can live up to world expectations when he moves into the White House. "We have yet to see whether Obama's campaign promise to bring change was plausible or mere tactics to win the presidential race," said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi on Wednesday. "Like the rest of the world, we are awaiting the 'historic change' Obama has promised to bring to Washington," he continued. Qashqavi added that the situation between Tehran and Washington is extremely sensitive and will thus take time to resolve.
Nov 20, 2008, 18:21

Iran News
Iran's World Peace Carpet
A World Peace Carpet is being woven at the Saad Abad Negarestan palace/museum in Tehran, using ancient Persian art to promote good will. The weaving of the carpet is a cultural step toward the endorsement of global peace and friendship, the need for which is strongly shared by people around the globe. At the opening ceremony, the director of the museum, Eshrat Shayegh, said Iranians have chosen to convey their message of peace through the long-lasting designs of the Persian carpet, which can be appreciated by all those who call for world peace.
Nov 20, 2008, 18:20

Iran News
US not against peaceful nuclear Iran
The US has declared that it does not object to Iran's use of peaceful nuclear energy but has advised Tehran to accept the P5+1 offer. "We don't object to Iran possessing peaceful nuclear energy. We do have objections, of course, along with the Security Council and the P5+1, to their possessing the full fuel cycle," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said at a press briefing. When asked about Turkey's offer to mediate between the US and Iran over the nuclear issue, McCormack said there was already a potential process for Tehran
Nov 20, 2008, 18:17

Iran News
U.S. cold to Turkish mediation with Iran
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s suggestion last week that Turkey play a mediator role between Tehran and Washington over Iran’s nuclear program was met with apprehension by the U.S. State Department, which instead pushed for its own Security Council backed proposal The U.S. State Department made it clear Wednesday it was not warm to a Turkish proposal for mediation between Washington and Tehran about the latter's controversial nuclear program
Nov 20, 2008, 18:15

Iran News
IAEA: Iran continues uranium enrichment
Iran continues carrying out industrial uranium enrichment, said an investigation report circulated by IAEA Director General Mohammed ElBaradei to the agency's Board of Governors in Vienna on Wednesday evening. The investigation report on Iran's nuclear issues said that the nuclear center at Iran's Natanz has already established 6,000 centrifuges for enriching uranium, in which 3,800 are in operation.
Nov 20, 2008, 18:13

Iran News
Mullahs blocked 5 million websites from Iranians view
Iranian authorities have blocked access to more than five million websites from the country’s population. The Internet "inflicts social, political, economic and moral damage, which is worrying", a judiciary official commented on the decision, according to business and finance portal zawya.com. "The enemies seek to assault our religious identity by exploiting the Internet," said an advisor to Iran's Prosecutor General Abdolsamad Khoram Abadi. Social networking site Facebook and video sharing website YouTube, as well as news sites, are reported to be among those banned.
Nov 19, 2008, 18:02

Iran News
IAEA asks Iran for more transparency
The UN nuclear watchdog has asked Iran in its latest report to assist the agency with respect to the 'alleged studies of' weaponization. Unless Iran extends its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in connection with the alleged studies, "the agency will not be able to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran," the agency said on Wednesday.
Nov 19, 2008, 17:27

Iran News
Iran-US direct flight?
No answer has been given to an Iranian request to reinstate direct US-Iran flights, according to the Iranian civil aviation authority. In 2006, the Civil Aviation Organization of Iran (CAOI) wrote to the US aviation authority and proposed that direct flights between Tehran and New York or Los Angeles be established. Reza Jafarzadeh, Public Relations Manager of the CAOI, said yesterday that the decision had been made by Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in response to demand from the US-based Iranian community. He added that US authorities have not replied to the request.
Nov 19, 2008, 17:24

Iran News
Iran President Theocratic Nationalism Continues With More "Rants"
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the Iranian nation will 'cut the hands and legs” of those who want to invade the country. “If ill-wishers violate the right of the Iranian nation, the nation will cut their hands and legs of them with Zanjan knives,” the Iranian President told a gathering of people in the northwestern province of Zanjan, in which knife making is a handicraft. He reiterated that the nation should preserve its unity, because unity was the factor which brought victory to the country.
Nov 19, 2008, 17:10

Iran News
Iran wouldn't officially comment on US-Iraq pact
Iran refrains from declaring its official stance on the amended Iraq-US security pact, saying it would comment if the deal is finalized. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said Wednesday that Tehran will announce its stance on the US-Iraq security pact after it is officially ratified by the Iraqi parliament. The governments of Iraq and the United States signed a divisive accord on Monday, which requires Washington to withdraw its forces from the war-torn country by the end of 2011.
Nov 19, 2008, 17:03

Iran News
Pirates hijack Iranian ship
Somali pirates hijacked their seventh ship in 12 days yesterday, as the US Navy reported that pirates had seized an Iranian cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden. US Navy Commander Jane Campbell of the Fifth Fleet said the bulk cargo carrier was flying a Hong Kong flag but was operated by Iran Shipping Lines. The status of the crew or the cargo was not known, she said. Elsewhere, pirates anchored a hijacked Saudi supertanker yesterday, causing residents in fishing villages to gawk in amazement at the size of the 329-metre tanker.
Nov 18, 2008, 19:38

Region
Iranian commando arrested at Baghdad airport: US
Iraqi security forces have arrested an alleged "senior" Iranian commando from the elite Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force at Baghdad International Airport, the US military said Wednesday. The military said they suspected the man of "involvement in facilitating Iranian weapons shipments into Iraq" under the cover of working for an organisation involved in the restoration of Iraqi religious sites. The man is alleged to have used the organisation as a front in order to bring weapons into Iraq concealed in shipments of building materials, the military said in a statement released late Tuesday.
Nov 18, 2008, 19:35

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