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Middle East News: Breaking news from Middle East - Iran
Iranian dissident cleric Montazeri dies
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's most senior dissident cleric, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, who emerged as the spiritual father of its reform movement, died on Sunday. He was 87.
Thousands of his followers quickly set out for the holy city south of the capital where he is to be buried, according to an opposition Web site, presenting authorities with a challenge in trying to prevent Monday's funeral from turning into another display of power by the government's resilient critics.
For years, Montazeri had accused the country's ruling Islamic establishment of imposing dictatorship in the name of Islam, and he persisted with his criticism after June's disputed presidential election.
His stance made him a hero to the opposition, and his criticisms were even more stinging because of his status. Police increased their presence in the city of Qom, where he is to be buried, according to the pro-reform Web site Rah-e Sabz.
Iran tests long-range missile, raises ire of West
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran on Wednesday test-fired an upgraded version of its most advanced missile, which is capable of hitting Israel and parts of Europe, in a new show of strength aimed at preventing any military strike against it amid the nuclear standoff with the West.
The test stoked tensions between Iran and the West, which is pressing Tehran to rein in its nuclear program. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said it showed the need for tougher U.N. sanctions on Iran.
Wednesday's test was for the latest version of Iran's longest-range missile, the Sajjil-2, with a range of about 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers). That range places Israel, Iran's sworn enemy, well within reach, as well as U.S. bases in the Gulf region and parts of southeastern Europe.
The two-stage Sajjil-2 and is powered entirely by solid-fuel while the older, medium-range Shahab-3 missile uses a combination of solid and liquid fuel in its most advanced form.
Iran agrees to nuclear fuel swap, with caveats
By BARBARA SURK, Associated Press Witer
MANAMA, Bahrain - Iran is ready to exchange the bulk of its stockpile of enriched uranium for nuclear fuel rods - as proposed by the U.N. - but according to its own mechanisms and timetable, the foreign minister said Saturday.
The minister's remarks come just days before an expected meeting between the U.S. and allies to discuss new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. The offer, however, falls far short of the conditions set by the international community.
Speaking to reporters at a regional security conference in Bahrain, Manochehr Mottaki said Iran agreed with a U.N. deal proposed in October in which up to 2,600 pounds (1,200 kilograms) of its uranium would be exchanged for fuel rods to power its research reactor.
"We accepted the proposal in principle," he said through a translator. "We suggested in the first phase we give you 400 kilograms of 3.5 percent enriched uranium and you give us the equivalent in 20 percent uranium."
Egypt working on Gaza border to stem smuggling
By SARAH EL DEEB, Associated Press Witer
CAIRO - Egypt has been digging trenches and installing metal sheets underground along its border with Gaza in an apparent attempt to curb smuggling into the Palestinian territory through tunnels, Gaza border guards and area residents said Thursday.
The project appears to be one of a series of measures Egypt has taken, some of them in cooperation with the U.S., to crack down on smuggling since the end of Israel's war on Hamas-ruled Gaza last winter. The tunnels are a key route for funneling weapons and explosives to the Palestinian militant group Hamas and were a main target of Israel's offensive.
Residents along the border said they have seen Egyptian construction crews clearing a corridor along the frontier, then drilling holes about 20 meters (yards) deep for the past weeks. They said the workers then filled the trenches with sand. The residents spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
Iran warns it could prosecute British yachtsmen
By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Witer
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran warned on Tuesday that it will prosecute five British sailors if it is proven they had "bad intentions" when their 60-foot racing yacht entered its waters, in what Britain says was an innocent case of a vessel accidentally going astray in the Gulf.
London was trying to keep the incident from getting tangled up in politics - not only in the rancor between Tehran and the West over Iran's nuclear issue but also the country's own internal postelection turmoil, which has pumped up the leadership's fears of foreign plots.
Such tensions have already snarled attempts to free three Americans arrested by Iran this summer after they strayed across the border from Iraq. Washington and their families say the three unintentionally crossed into Iran while hiking, but Tehran - after investigating them for months - recently accused them of espionage.
Israeli, Jordanian archeologists discuss risks to historical sites in Acre workshop
By Jpost
From risk mapping in Petra to preservation of historic buildings in China, archeologists from around the world have something to discuss this week in Acre.
More than 80 international experts from 16 countries gathered on Sunday for UNESCO's second annual World Heritage Workshop on "Disaster Risk Reduction to Cultural Heritage Sites."
Abdel Sami Abu Dayyeh of the Jordanian Department of Antiquities and Anna Paolini of UNESCO Jordan described the risks to the area, primarily earthquakes and flooding.
Iran bombing kills 5 Revolutionary Guard leaders
TEHRAN, Iran - A suicide bomber killed five senior commanders of the powerful Revolutionary Guard and at least 37 others Sunday near the Pakistani border in the heartland of a potentially escalating Sunni insurgency.
The attack - which also left dozens wounded - was the most high-profile strike against security forces in an outlaw region of armed tribal groups, drug smugglers and Sunni rebels known as Jundallah, or Soldiers of God.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promised sharp retaliation. But a sweeping offensive by authorities is unlikely.
Iranian officials have been reluctant to open full-scale military operations in the southeastern border zone, fearing it could become a hotspot for sectarian violence with the potential to draw in al-Qaida and Sunni militants from nearby Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The region's top prosecutor, Mohammad Marzieh, was quoted by the semi-official ISNA news agency as saying Jundallah claimed responsibility for the blast in the Pishin district near the Pakistani border.
Palestinians say hopes in Obama 'evaporated'
JERUSALEM - The Palestinian president's political party says all hopes in the Obama administration have "evaporated," accusing the White House of caving in to pressure from the pro-Israel lobby and backing off a demand to freeze Jewish settlement.
Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party also accused the U.S. of failing to set a clear agenda for a new round of Mideast peace talks, according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday.
"All hopes placed in the new U.S. administration and President Obama have evaporated," the document said. Obama "couldn't withstand the pressure of the Zionist lobby, which led to a retreat from his previous positions on halting settlement construction and defining an agenda for the negotiations and peace."
The Palestinians initially greeted Obama's election with enthusiasm, welcoming his outreach to the Muslim world and hoping he would depart from what they viewed as the pro-Israel bias of his predecessor, George W. Bush.
US envoy holds Mideast talks as Obama wins Prize Nobel
JERUSALEM - When President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, his Mideast envoy was hard at work in Jerusalem trying to revive a faltering peace process on which Obama has staked his credibility and that of the United States.
Israel's refusal to freeze settlement construction, a Palestinian refusal to resume peace talks without that freeze and widespread predictions of failure overshadowed George Mitchell's meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders - underscoring the tough road ahead for the Obama administration's Mideast peace ambitions.
George Mitchell talked with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for two hours Friday about peace efforts, and the two men agreed to meet again in the next few days, said a statement released by Netanyahu's office after the closed-door meeting.
Iran's president says Obama made a big mistake
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's president said Saturday that President Barack Obama made a big mistake when he accused the country of having hidden a newly revealed nuclear site, arguing that Iran reported the facility to the U.N. even earlier than required.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's comments came hours before the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, arrived in Iran to arrange an inspection of the uranium enrichment facility near the holy city of Qom.
Iran agreed to allow U.N. inspectors into the facility at a landmark meeting with six world powers near Geneva on Thursday that put nuclear talks back on track and included the highest-level bilateral contact with the U.S. in three decades.
But the new site has raised concerns among the U.S. and many of its allies who suspect Iran of using its nuclear program as a way to develop weapons capability - an allegation rejected by Tehran.