Middle East

November 03, 2009 -- Thirty years ago today, the American Embassy in Tehran was seized. The 444 days that began on November 4, 1979 deeply affected the lives of courageous Americans who were unjustly held hostage, and we owe these Americans and their families our gratitude for their extraordinary service and sacrifice.    » read more »

Washington, Nov 3 -- Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today made the following statement on the House Floor about H. Res 867, which condemns the ‘Goldstone Report’ or the Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict:

“Today we journey from Operation Cast Lead to Operation Cast Doubt. Almost as serious as committing war crimes is covering up war crimes, pretending that war crimes were never committed and did not exist.

“Because behind every such deception is the nullification of humanity, the destruction of human dignity, the annihilation of the human spirit, the triumph of Orwellian thinking, the eternal prison of the dark heart of the totalitarian.    » read more »

Oppose House Resolution on Goldstone Report

November 2, 2009 -- (Washington DC) - Members of the US House of Representatives should oppose a resolution that calls for the Obama administration to reject scrutiny of Israel and Hamas for laws-of-war violations in the recent Gaza conflict, Human Rights Watch said today.

House Resolution 867 calls on the US president and secretary of state to "oppose unequivocally any endorsement or further consideration of the ‘Report of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict' in multilateral fora." Debate on the non-binding resolution is scheduled for November 3, 2009.    » read more »

3 November 2009 -- On the eve of a United Nations General Assembly debate, Amnesty International has called on UN ambassadors in New York to grasp a unique opportunity to address accountability for war crimes in Gaza and southern Israel earlier in the year.

The General Assembly will convene on Wednesday to debate the comprehensive and authoritative report of the Fact Finding Mission led by Judge Richard Goldstone. The report found that the Israeli and Palestinian sides committed serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, including war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity.

Amnesty International sent an open letter to all permanent representatives to the General Assembly and another to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.    » read more »

03 November 2009 -- BP, and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), announced today that they have signed a technical service contract with Iraq's state-owned South Oil Company (SOC) to expand production from the Rumaila oilfield, near Basra in southern Iraq

The signing follows BP's successful bid for the contract with CNPC in Baghdad in June.

The consortium led by BP (38 per cent) with partners CNPC (37 per cent) and the Iraq government's representative State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO - 25 per cent), has agreed to nearly triple the Rumaila field's output to almost 3 million barrels of oil a day (b/d), which would make it the world's second largest producing oilfield.    » read more »

Bayh, Lieberman, and Kyl Call for Prompt Final Passage of Bill by Full Senate

October 30, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Senators Evan Bayh (D-IN), Joe Lieberman (ID-CT), and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) issued the following statement today, following the unanimous passage by the Senate Banking Committee of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act of 2009:    » read more »

October 15, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. - Congressman Howard L. Berman (CA-28), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today issued the following statement regarding the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act (H.R. 2194):

“The committee will mark up the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act on Wednesday, October 28. By then it will be nearly six full months since I introduced this legislation, now cosponsored by 327 Members.    » read more »

October 14, 2009 -- (Washington, DC) -- The United States House of Representatives today passed H.R. 1327, the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act of 2009, of which Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-Wisc.) is a cosponsor. The bill gives federal authority to state and local governments that want to divest their public pension funds from foreign companies with more than $20 million invested in Iran’s energy sector.

The bill also removes legal barriers that would prevent mutual fund and corporate pension fund managers from cutting ties with these companies.    » read more »

Overwhelmingly bipartisan bill divests from Iran's Energy Sector

10/14/09 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today Rep. Eric Massa voted to help pass the overwhelmingly bipartisan Iran Sanctions Enabling Act of 2009. This bill, which passed by a vote of 414-6, is designed to authorize State and local governments to direct divestiture from, and prevent investment in, companies with investments of $20,000,000 or more in Iran's energy sector. This is just one step in the overall effort to hold those that enable Iran accountable.    » read more »

October 14, 2009 -- Washington, DC - Today, a strong, bi-partisan majority in the House of Representatives voted to pass the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act of 2009 (HR 1327). This legislation would ease the path for state and local governments and pension plans to divest themselves of investments in Iran's oil or natural gas sectors. Congressman Charlie Gonzalez (TX‑20), a co-sponsor of the legislation, issued the following statement on the 414-6 vote.    » read more »

Washington, DC, Oct 13 - On Tuesday, Congressman Scott Murphy applauded the passage of the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act of 2009, which authorizes state and local governments to divest their pension funds from companies that invest in Iran’s energy sector.

The bill, HR 1327, targets companies that provide at least $20 million in credit or investment in Iran’s energy sector. The bill also gives approval for state and local governments to enforce similar local laws that have already been enacted before the bill takes effect.    » read more »

Washington, Oct 13 - Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), a long time advocate for peace and nuclear abolition, was today the only Member of Congress to speak out against H.R. 1327 - Iran Sanctions Enabling Act of 2009.

“In 1996, Congress passed the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act which sanctioned foreign investment in Iran’s energy sector. There are those who have said it didn’t accomplish much. There are those who are now saying, that if we move forward with sanctions it would undermine the interests of nations, like China and Russia, which the U.S. needs to work with in order to bring Iran into the international community in a way that promotes international security.    » read more »

Qatar Airways makes historic journey from London to Gatwick to Doha --- New Gas to Liquids fuel offers diversity of supply and better local air quality to busy airports.

12/10/2009 -- A Qatar Airways aircraft this evening completed the world’s first commercial passenger flight powered by a fuel made from natural gas.

The historic journey from London Gatwick to Doha took over six hours and was operated with an Airbus A340-600 aircraft using Rolls-Royce Trent 556 engines.

Shell developed and produced the 50-50 blend of synthetic Gas to Liquids (GTL) kerosene and conventional oil-based kerosene fuel. The State of Qatar is set to become the world’s leading producer of GTL kerosene when it is put into commercial production from 2012.    » read more »

October 7, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senators Arlen Specter and Bob Casey applauded Senate passage of the concurrent resolution encouraging the Government of Iran to grant consular access by the Government of Switzerland to the three American citizens that have been held in Iran since July 31, 2009 when they were detained after reportedly crossing into Iranian territory while hiking in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The resolution also encourages the Government of Iran to allow the three young people to communicate by telephone with their families in the United States.    » read more »

10/01/2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) authored the following op-ed in today’s Financial Times titled “Time for Diplomacy to End the Stand-off With Iran.”

The full text of the op-ed is below:

Time for diplomacy to end the stand-off with Iran
By John Kerry
October 1, 2009

Today the Obama administration begins the most important American diplomatic engagement with Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The public revelation of the Qom enrichment facility and Iran’s provocative ballistic missile test on Monday demonstrate what is at stake. Iran has increased its low-enriched uranium 20-fold since 2007, enough to produce, eventually, at least one nuclear weapon after further enrichment.    » read more »