Iran

06/26/2007 -- SANTA FE, NM -- Governor Bill Richardson will be in Washington, DC on Wednesday to deliver a major foreign policy speech regarding Iran. The Governor will be speaking to the Center for National Policy.

The speech will focus on US relations with Iran going forward, specifically how the US can and must lead the world in preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Here is an excerpt from the prepared text of the speech:    » read more »

26 June 2007 -- In another step aimed at increasing the economic cost to Iran of its controversial nuclear enrichment program, a key congressional panel has approved legislation to impose sanctions on Iran's energy sector. VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill.

The House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee approved the legislation, called the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act of 2007, by a vote of 37 to 1, recommending that it be moved for consideration by the full House.    » read more »

26 June 2007 -- Angry Iranians have attacked fuel stations in Tehran, as the government introduced a plan Wednesday to ration gasoline use by motorists.

Witnesses say flames rose from one fuel station as cars burned. Protesters threw stones and shouted angry slogans denouncing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Riot police gathered in the area and tried to disperse the demonstrators.

The rationing plan took affect at midnight Tuesday.    » read more »

Investigate Abuses at Three Detention Centers

(London, June 19, 2007) – Iran should immediately halt the mass deportations of Afghan nationals and investigate allegations that its authorities have abused numerous deportees, Human Rights Watch said today. Iran should also ensure that Afghans faced with deportation are given the individual opportunity to seek protection based on conditions in Afghanistan that would threaten their lives or freedom, Human Rights Watch said.    » read more »

Defense Expert Charles Pena to Present Findings at a June 21st Policy Forum in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., June 19—The U.S. should reduce it’s nuclear arsenal, normalize relations with Iran and North Korea, and accept that these countries may become nuclear-weapons powers, says defense expert Charles Pena in a new policy report published by the Independent Institute, “Nuclear Nonproliferation in the Post-9/11 World.” Mr. Pena will discuss his findings at an Independent Institute policy forum on June 21st in Washington, D.C.    » read more »

07 June 2007 -- The U.S. says its proposal to base ballistic missile defense systems in eastern Europe is designed to deter what U.S. officials label as "rogue states," particularly Iran. As VOA correspondent Gary Thomas reports, Western analysts believe Iran's missile program is still far from posing any threat to Europe or the United States.

Iranian National Security Council Chairman Ali Larijani labeled the U.S. assertion that the proposed missile shield is aimed at Iran as a "joke" because, he said, Iranian missiles cannot reach Europe.    » read more »

06 June 2007 -- The House of Representatives has approved resolutions on Iran and the situation in Darfur. One calls on the government in Tehran to release dual Iranian-American citizens it is holding, the other urges China to do more to pressure the government of Sudan to end violence in Darfur. VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill.

The resolutions have been making their way through Congress in recent weeks, and finally made it to the House floor Tuesday for a vote.    » read more »

Human Rights Groups Protest Detentions and Travel Bans

(New York, May 31, 2007) – The Iranian government should immediately release two Iranian-Americans from detention and clarify the case of a third who may have “disappeared,” a group of leading human rights organizations said today. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Federation for Human Rights, Reporters Without Borders and the Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi also urged Iran to lift travel bans on two journalists with dual nationality whom Iran has barred from traveling back to their home countries.    » read more »

May 31, 2007 -- JERUSALEM – Florida Governor Charlie Crist today announced his intent to encourage other United States governors to follow Florida’s lead in Iran and Sudan divestiture. Governor Crist announced the effort in a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.    » read more »

30 May 2007 -- A new study has ranked Norway as the most peaceful country in the world, while placing the United States near the bottom.

A division of the group that publishes the Economist news magazine issued the Global Peace Index Wednesday ranking the U.S. at 96 out of 121 countries - one spot ahead of Iran. Iraq was ranked lowest.    » read more »

28 May 2007 -- Rare talks between Iran and the United States have concluded in Baghdad, where U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker said officials on both sides affirmed they share common policies aimed at a future stable and democratic Iraq, but he also insisted Iran stop supporting insurgent militias. VOA's Barry Newhouse reports from Irbil that as the talks concluded, a bomb blast in Baghdad killed at least 19 people and wounded some 46 others.    » read more »

May 22, 2007 -- Washington, DC - Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) called for the immediate release today of Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Dr. Esfandiari is a dual Iranian-American national who traveled to Iran on December 12, 2006 to visit her ailing mother.    » read more »

May 16, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) and U.S. Representatives Barney Frank (D-MA) and Tom Lantos (D-CA) today introduced the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act of 2007, which empowers Americans to apply economic pressure on the Iranian regime by establishing a federal list of entities that invest in Iran and allowing for divestment.    » read more »

May 15, 2007 -- Washington, DC - Senators Gordon H. Smith (R-OR) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) today introduced a resolution calling for the immediate and unconditional release of renowned scholar Dr. Haleh Esfandiari by the Iranian government. After returning to Iran last year to visit her 93-year old mother, Dr. Esfandiari has faced months of harassment and multiple interrogations over her work with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and was unjustly imprisoned last week.    » read more »

Meeting grows out of exchanges at Iraq Neighbors' Conference

14 May 2007 -- Washington –- Following on a brief exchange between U.S. and Iranian officials at the Iraq Neighbors’ Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Washington and Tehran have agreed to engage in ambassadorial-level discussions about the situation in Iraq.

State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said the agreement was a “logical follow-up” to the discussions in Sharm el-Sheikh May 3-4.    » read more »