Iran

Senate Unanimously Passes Kaufman Resolution Supporting a Free Press and Free Speech in Iran

June 19, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC - Today, the Senate passed a resolution introduced by Senator Ted Kaufman (D-DE) and co-sponsored by Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) that reinforces the universal values of freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and supports the Iranian people as they take steps to peacefully express their voices, opinions, and aspirations in the aftermath of the June 12th election.

The resolution also condemns censorship and intimidation of the press in Iran, and pledges support to the Iranian people seeking access to news and other forms of information.    » read more »

17 June 2009 -- Demonstrations against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed election victory have spread to all corners of the country. New reports suggest that around 15 protesters have been killed and hundreds more injured or arrested by security forces.

Up to two million people, including supporters of opposition leader Hossein Mousavi, took to the streets in Tehran on Monday to protest the outcome of the election. Large numbers massed again on Tuesday afternoon despite government threats that they would clamp down on "illegal protests".    » read more »

12 May 2009 -- US-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi was released from jail in Iran on Monday following international and domestic protests at her detention. A court heard an appeal against her conviction on Sunday and commuted her eight-year sentence to a suspended two-year term on the charge of "collecting classified information".

The court imposed a five-year ban on her working as a journalist in Iran. Amnesty International, which had campaigned for her release, welcomed the news.    » read more »

President Obama Should Reverse Bush Policy on European Deployment

March 4, 2009 -- President Obama is reconsidering the Bush administration's decision to deploy an untested missile defense system in Europe, indicating that he is taking a more realistic, technically grounded approach to missile defense. Given Russia's strong negative reaction to the planned deployment, experts at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) say it makes sense to reconsider this policy on strategic as well as technical grounds. They say U.S. security would be undermined by deploying an ineffective missile defense system that impedes U.S.-Russian nuclear weapons reductions and collaboration on key security issues.    » read more »

Feb. 27, 2009 - Iran's dramatic launch of a satellite into orbit earlier this month, coinciding with the advent of a new American administration, should help spur greater cooperation with Russia on missile defense, according to a leading U.S. missile defense expert.

In discussions over the years, the Russians have said that a demonstration of this level of capability by Iran would be one of the "key triggers . . . as to when they themselves would begin to get worried about the Iranians," retired Lieutenant General Henry A. Obering, former director of the Missile Defense Agency, told reporters at a February 12 briefing.

But he added that, based on his years of trying to engage the Russians on this issue, he has no illusions that this kind of U.S.-Russian détente will come easily.    » read more »

January 26, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Hassan Saied Keshari and his corporation, Kesh Air International, pleaded guilty this morning in the Southern District of Florida to charges of conspiring to illegally export military and commercial aircraft parts to Iran.

The guilty pleas were announced by Matt Olsen, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security; R. Alexander Acosta, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Michael Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Commerce; Office of Export Enforcement; Anthony V. Mangione, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Investigations; and Sharon Woods, Director, U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Criminal Investigative Service.    » read more »

June 12, 2008 -- According to reports, one of John McCain's top economic surrogates-- Republican National Committee Victory Fund Chair Carly Fiorina--was head of Hewlett-Packard at a time when the company was actively working to circumvent export controls established as part of a trade boycott of Iran. This report makes Fiorina the second senior McCain advisor in as many weeks to be linked to companies doing business in Iran.    » read more »

09 June 2008 .-- Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has told Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that the presence of the U.S. military is Iraq's main problem.

Iranian state media report the two leaders met Monday in Tehran as part of Mr. Maliki's visit to Iran, his third since he became prime minister.

The Iranian reports quote the ayatollah as saying he is certain the Iraqi people will get through these difficult times and that the American dreams for Iraq will not materialize.

U.S. and Iraqi officials are negotiating a security deal that would allow American forces to remain in Iraq beyond December 31, when their U.N. mandate expires.    » read more »

29 May 2008 -- Iran's foreign minister has blamed the United States and its allies for the grave security situation in Iraq, which he says has "cast a shadow" on the lives of Iraqis.

Manouchehr Mottaki told a United Nations conference in Stockholm that Iraq's security problems are a result of what he called the "mistaken policies" of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.

He stressed Iran's commitment to rebuilding its war-torn neighbor. U.S officials have accused Iran of arming and training Shi'ite insurgents in Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki opened the conference Thursday by urging the international community to cancel his country's debt.

Mr. Maliki also called for an end to compensation that Iraq is required to pay due to Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.    » read more »

May 20, 2008 - Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) today questioned Secretary of Defense Robert Gates at the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense hearing on the Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2009 budget request. Senator Specter used the opportunity to question Secretary Gates on the issue of talks with Iran.

During his opening remarks, Senator Specter also spoke in regards to the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen that killed 17 U.S. sailors. Many of the terrorists convicted in the attack have since escaped from prison or been freed by Yemeni officials. “I’d like to explore the reasons for that and whether we couldn’t have some leverage to see to it that those terrorists are brought to justice,” said Senator Specter.    » read more »

20 May 2008 -- U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates faced tough questions from lawmakers Tuesday about the Bush administration's refusal to hold talks with Iran unless Tehran first halts its uranium enrichment program. Gates told a Senate panel that it is an open question whether such talks would succeed while President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad is in power.

At a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on next year's Pentagon budget request, two lawmakers suggested the time has come for the United States to open wide-ranging talks with Iran - without preconditions.    » read more »

5 May 2008 -- Iran says it will not hold a fourth round of talks with the U.S. on security in Iraq, as long as U.S. forces continue what it called "open bombings" in Iraq.

Speaking in Tehran today Monday Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ali Hosseini said under the current circumstances, any new talks would be meaningless.

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Kevin Reese and his military working dog Grek: U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Kevin Reese and his military working dog Grek wait at a safe house before conducting an assault against insurgents in Buhriz, Iraq, April 10, 2007. U.S.Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Stacy L. Pearsall    » read more »

28 March 2008 -- Iran's Foreign Ministry says European governments should move to stop the showing of a film by a far-right Dutch lawmaker that says the Koran incites violence.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mohammed Ali Hosseini, called the film anti-Islamic and anti-cultural.

The filmmaker, Geert Wilders, posted the film on his political party's Internet site on Thursday after Dutch television refused to broadcast it.

The film, called "Fitna," alternates pictures of terrorist attacks - including the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001 - with quotations from the Muslim holy book.

Wilders says one of his main points in making the film was a belief that rising Muslim immigration threatens democratic values in the Netherlands and the rest of Europe.    » read more »

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Coast Guard alerted the maritime community today that Iran has been placed on the port security advisory list.

The Coast Guard determined that Iran has not maintained effective anti-terrorism measures. The determination was made in accordance with the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002, which authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to take into account several factors, including whether a foreign port poses a high risk of introducing terrorism to international maritime commerce.    » read more »

Chicago, IL | March 04, 2008 -- "I welcome the UN Security Council's decision to increase international pressure on Iran because of its continued defiance of the international community and its illicit nuclear program. However, like its two predecessors, this resolution represents a lowest common denominator because Russia and China did not agree to tougher sanctions.    » read more »