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Middle East News: Breaking news from Middle East - Iran
Iran: Talks with 6 nations will test their respect
TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that the upcoming nuclear talks with the U.S. and five other nations will be a "test" of their respect for Iran's rights.
Iran has come under intense pressure to fully disclose its nuclear activities ahead of Thursday's meeting in Geneva with the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany. The recent revelation that Tehran has been secretly constructing a new facility to produce nuclear fuel drew international condemnation and raised suspicion that Iran is trying to make a nuclear weapon.
"This meeting is a test to measure the extent of sincerity and commitment of some countries to law and justice," Ahmadinejad said after a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, according to official IRNA news agency.
Ahmadinejad singled out the U.S., Britain and France in particular for their harsh criticism of Iran.
Iran tests most advanced missiles
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran tested its most advanced missiles Monday to cap two days of war games, raising more international concern and stronger pressure to quickly come clean on the newly revealed nuclear site Tehran was secretly constructing.
State television said the powerful Revolutionary Guard, which controls Iran's missile program, successfully tested upgraded versions of the medium-range Shahab-3 and Sajjil missiles. Both can carry warheads and reach up to 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers), putting Israel, U.S. military bases in the Middle East, and parts of Europe within striking distance.
The missile tests were meant to flex Iran's military might and show readiness for any military threat. "Iranian missiles are able to target any place that threatens Iran," said Abdollah Araqi, a top Revolutionary Guard commander, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
Iran conducted three rounds of missile tests in drills that began Sunday, two days after the U.S. and its allies disclosed the country had been secretly developing an underground uranium enrichment facility.
New enrichment site heightens Iran concerns
VIENNA - Western intelligence puts Iran's newly revealed nuclear plant in the arid mountains southwest of Tehran, not far from one of the holiest cities in Shiite Islam.
Neither Iran nor the International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed the location or size of the facility. Nor have they given details on its purpose. But diplomats with access to Western intelligence say the plant is about 160 kilometers - 100 miles - from the capital, near Qom, a center of Shiite religious teaching and the site of one of Shiism's most revered shrines.
The U.S. and Israel have not ruled out the possibility of a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities as a last resort if Iran's continues to flout U.N. Security Council demands that it cease uranium enrichment.
But any strike near Qom would likely provoke a backlash among Shiite Muslims across the Middle East.
Ahmadinejad proud of Holocaust denial
Tehran - Iran's president says his country will ask the six world powers at nuclear talks next week for imports of highly enriched uranium - material that the U.S. fears Tehran wants to use to arm nuclear warheads.
Iran vehemently denies having nuclear weapons aspirations and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told The Associated Press on Tuesday that his country was seeking to buy uranium that is highly enriched - or near that level - to fuel a small research reactor.
He also made clear that Iran is seeking uranium that is enriched only to 20 percent - the threshold for the high-enrichment level but substantially below then 90 percent- plus grade needed for nuclear warheads.
"We are interested in purchasing it, and we'd like to offer that as an issue to expand discussions on the table for the next meeting," he told the AP on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
Ahmadinejad proud of Holocaust denial
TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday he was proud his denial of the Holocaust had enraged the West, as the controversial leader geared up for a United Nations trip to stress what he said would be a message of "peace and friendship."
Ahmadinejad's latest comment about the killing of millions of Jews during World War II comes as Iran is locked in a bitter dispute with the U.S. and other Western nations over its nuclear program. Even as that fight continues, his remarks were sure to earn the Iranian president an even more frigid reception when he heads to New York on Tuesday to attend the U.N. General Assembly.
"The anger of the world's professional killers is (a source of) pride for us," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
He was responding to a question about criticism from the European Union following a speech on Friday in which he questioned whether the Holocaust was a "real event." The "killers" reference appeared to be directed primarily at Israel and the U.S.
Thousands march in Iran opposition protests
TEHRAN, Iran - Hard-liners attacked senior pro-reform leaders in the streets as tens of thousands marched in competing mass demonstrations by the opposition and government supporters. Opposition protesters, chanting "death to the dictator," hurled stones and bricks in clashes with security forces firing tear gas.
The opposition held its first major street protests since mid-July, with marchers decked out in green - the reform movement's color - waving V-for-victory signs on major boulevards in the capital.
In some cases on several blocks away, larger crowds marched in government-sponsored rallies marking an annual anti-Israel commemoration, waving pictures of Iran's supreme leader and president and placards denouncing the Jewish state.
The commemoration, known as Quds Day, is a major political occasion for the government - a day for it to show its anti-Israeli credentials and its support for the Palestinians.
Iran replaces reformist cleric for annual sermon
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran has replaced a reformist, pro-opposition cleric with a hard-liner to lead the prayer service on a key anti-Israel day this week, according to a state radio report Wednesday.
The announcement is a blow to Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the powerful former president who sided with the opposition in Iran's post-election turmoil.
It is also an apparent move to sideline Rafsanjani ahead of anti-government rallies on Quds Day, called for by opposition activists. Authorities have warned they would crack down heavily on any anti-government protests on the occasion, which usually falls on the last Friday of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.
Rafsanjani traditionally holds the sermon on Quds Day - an annual event that showcases Iran's anti-Israeli stance and is marked by government-organized rallies in support of the Palestinians and against Israel. Quds is Arabic for Jerusalem.
Iran tries 6 more activists for demonstrations
TEHRAN, Iran - Six opposition activists, including a former student leader, stood trial Monday in Tehran on charges of rioting and plotting a "velvet revolution" to topple the ruling Islamic system.
The hearing is the latest session of a mass trial that began Aug. 1 of more than 100 opposition supporters on accusations of plotting to overthrow the clerical leadership through protests over the disputed June 12 presidential election.
The trial of Abdollah Momeni and five others is part of government's efforts to choke off a persistent protest movement by Iranians who claim President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election involved massive vote fraud.
While dozens of activists and protesters were tried in previous sessions, state television said only six activists were in the dock Monday and this time around the trials were not broadcast.
Iran's Ahmadinejad pro-woman? Critics skeptical
BEIRUT - After securing one woman on his Cabinet, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is pushing for a second, defying opposition from hardline Islamic clerics who say women have no place in leadership positions.
His push for the first female Cabinet members since the 1979 Islamic Revolution may say more about Ahmadinejad's peculiar renegade position in Iran's leadership than any agenda to promote women's rights, say critics, who denounce his female nominees as reflections of his "anti-woman" policies.
The populist leader has shown a willingness to buck traditional powers - even in his own conservative camp - to get his way. In this case, opponents say, he wants to paint himself as a proponent of women after coming under heavy criticism for a heavy crackdown his government has waged against women's rights activists.
Iraq presses for tribunal for Syria bomb suspects
BAGHDAD - Iraq's prime minister pressed a U.N. envoy Sunday on the need for an international tribunal to bring Syrian-based bombing suspects to trial, as Damascus refused to hand over those it called political refugees.
The dispute, triggered by devastating suicide truck bombings on government ministries in Baghdad last month, threatens to unravel steps toward better ties between the one-time adversaries.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has bluntly accused Syria of betrayal and of harboring killers, briefed the special United Nations envoy, Ad Melkert, on the intensifying dispute, Iraqi state TV reported.
Both nations have recalled their ambassadors in a serious setback to relations that had just begun to improve after years of animosity during Saddam Hussein's rule.