100 posts
Nasrin Sotoudeh and Jafar Panahi – winners of the 2012 Sakharov Prize
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Left: Jafar PANAHI and Nasrin SATOUDEH - Sakharov Prize Winner 2012 © European Union 2012 EP and © Handout/afp/ European Union 2012 EP 26-10-2012 - Two Iranian activists, lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and film director Jafar Panahi, are this year's...
Sanctions are pushing Iran towards nuclear talks, just not US sanctions | Heidi Moore
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Sanctions against Iran are working but you won't have heard that at the presidential debate – because the US has Europe to thankThere was a moment, in the second presidential debate, when President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney circled each...
NATO Should Address the Iranian Nuclear Crisis
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In order to increase the pressure on Iran, NATO should finally acknowledge the country's nuclear and missile programs as an evolving risk to alliance security.
EU Eyes More Iran Pressure
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More sanctions for Iran are back on the EU table after nuclear talks go nowhere.
War in Iran may turn Caspian Sea region into arena of military operations
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By Arzu Naghiyev If the U.S. and Israel begin massive air attacks on Iran, Tehran can clearly respond to&...
IAEA establishes special working group on Iranian nuclear issue
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The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced the establishment of an ’Iran Task Force’ which will implement the agreements reached in negotiations on the Iranian nuclear issue, the Associated Press reported. ...
Daily Digest: Ashton joins condemnation of Iranian anti-Israel remarks
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On Saturday the EU High Representative of Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton condemned anti-Israel remarks made by Iranian leaders last week. On Friday the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Israel a “cancerous tumour”, and on Wed...
Clampdown on Iranian workers
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From the (Iranian) Coordinating Committee to Help Form Workers’ Organizations, via LabourStart: « URGENT ACTION: Reza Shahabi given 6 years sentence. Massive clampdown on Iranian labour activists » Mahmoud Saleh and 59 activists arrested On...
Ease the sanctions on Iran
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The recent Iran nuclear talks in Moscow were disappointing. The EU’s offer of ‘peanuts for diamonds’ was disingenuous. Iran wants recognition of its right to enrich uranium and an easing of sanctions in exchange for suspension of 20 per cen...
The Realists in Tehran
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By Sergey Markedonov The Iranian problem stands out on the international agenda. But it is much broader and more di...
Iraq makes sanctions against Iran ineffective | Nima Khorrami Assl
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The long border with Iraq undermines US and EU efforts to stop Iran's nuclear programme with trade sanctionsThe US and EU have announced new sanctions in the hope of persuading Iran to abandon its alleged nuclear weapons programme, though how effect...
EU formally adopts Iran oil embargo
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By DON MELVIN BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union formally adopted an oil embargo Monday against Iran and a freeze of the assets of the country’s central bank, part of sanctions meant to pressure the country to resume talks on its nuclear prog...
End Game Approaches on Nuclear Iran
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From the start of 2012 the spotlight on Iran and for good reason. Today the entire region is now on tenterhooks for the next move, with US, Iranian and Gulf armies on the highest war alert. Earlier the main scenario was that Israel would make an prev...
EU pursuing Iran sanctions
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European leaders have agreed to go forward with a new round of unilateral sanctions, in which the EU would ban oil imports from Iran. Instead of actually imposing these sanctions however, the EU should threaten to impose them, using them as a "stick"...
Paddy Ashdown Is Frightened
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The London Liberal Democrats’ fundraising dinner at the National Liberal Club this evening of course featured Brian Paddick and Caroline Pidgeon (hot-foot from the Evening Standard’s 1000 most influential Londoners awards), who both spok...
Iran, Long Seen As An Economic Basket Case, Wins Praise From IMF
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If you were seeking endorsement of Iran's economic policies, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) hardly seems like the ideal reference point. READ MORE...
Turkish-Iranian Economic Ties Flourish
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Turkish President, Abdullah Gul, paid a four-day state visit to Iran starting on February 13, to discuss ways to further bilateral cooperation. The sheer frequency of such high level mutual visits between the two countries in recent years indicate...
Iran: clemency call for Kurdish law student facing execution on Boxing Day
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Cross-posted from Amnesty International Urgent life-saving appeal launched Amnesty International is calling on the Iranian authorities to halt the execution of a Kurdish law student scheduled for 26 December, and for the authorities to commute his de...
Iranian trade unionist on hunger strike
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Where trade unionists start their day on the net. This is extremely urgent; please act immediately. Imprisoned trade union leader, Reza Shahabi, has been on hunger strike since 4 December in protest at his continuing detention. Amnesty International...
Morning multilateralism, Dec. 1
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IMF's Lipsky insists that fears of a Euro collapse are "wildly exaggerated." P5+1 set to meet Iranian representatives in Geneva next week. Who should control an international climate fund? Not the World Bank or IMF, say many developing...
Why Russia Is Cutting Off Major Arms Sales To Iran
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Russia, a major global arms dealer, decided Wednesday to nix a controversial arms sale that would have given Iran missiles. READ MORE...
Russia Not To Deliver S-300 Missiles To Iran - Russian Top General
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Russia will not deliver S-300 air defense missiles to Iran as planned because such transfers are prohibited under UN sanctions, the chief of the Russian general staff said Wednesday. READ MORE...
BBC excludes Maryam, promotes Tehran propaganda
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While the BBC continues to spend licence-payers money on promoting religion, the least we have a right to expect is that it will do so in a reasonably balanced manner, giving a fair crack of the whip to civilised values and secular opinions. It is...
Help Save Sakineh Ashianti’s Life!
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Help Save Sakineh Ashianti’s Life! Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, Iranian Mother, could be put to death at any moment August 5: Sakineh’s lawyer arrested; fate of Sakineh to be handed down next week – hanging likely; President Lula’s...
Negotiation with Iran
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I have blogged before both on negotation and Iran. A fascinating book by John W Limbert (‘Negotiating with Iran’, 2009) brings the two aspects together. The author spent 33 years in the US Foreign Service, is a fluent Farsi speaker and has...
Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani is at imminent risk of execution
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This is a press release from Iran Solidarity and the International Committee Against Stoning The victim in the Iran stoning case, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani is at imminent risk of execution in Tabriz prison. Moreover, her well known human rights l...
The EU Sanctions on Iran – the Legal Background
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We all know that the EU has imposed stricter sanctions on Iran than provided for in the United Nations Security Council resolution 1929 (2010). It is interesting, though, to consider the legal background of this measure. The new sanctions are …...
Morning Brief (26-7)
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EU foreign ministers to give green light for tough Iran sanctions. AFP reports: The European Union will hit Iran with tough sanctions against its vital oil and gas industry on Monday in a bid to lure Tehran back to the negotiating table over its disp...
Iran favours talks with EU after Ramadan -Turkey
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Iran has expressed willingness to have talks with the European Union on its nuclear programme after the month of Ramadan ends in early September, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Sunday. READ MORE...
Ashton Seeks to Revive EU Role in Iran Nuclear Talks
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The European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, and Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, are currently involved in a diplomatic dance over resuming talks on Tehran's nuclear program. If the talks do indeed come to fruition, As...
Morning Brief (2-7)
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Obama signs into law new US sanctions on Iran, the New York Times reports: President Obama on Thursday signed into law new unilateral American sanctions on Iran that go beyond the penalties imposed by the United Nations last month as he tries to esca...
Kazakhstan Gets Jump on Caspian Naval Race
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It may not approach the scale of the great battleship race between Britain and Germany that preceded World War I, but a naval build-up is currently and quietly taking place on the Caspian Sea. Kazakhstan appears to be setting the pace, with plans to...
Aliyev: Azerbaijan’s defense spending tops Armenia budget
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President Ilham Aliyev has said Azerbaijan is committed to increasing its military power that now surpasses the budget of Armenia, a neighboring country that occupies part of Azerbaijani territory, ignoring international law. READ MORE...
EU approves harsh new sanctions against Iran
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The European Union and the United States apparently find it easier to take on the Iranian nuclear problem than the global financial crisis. On June 17, EU government chiefs agreed to new sanctions against Iran at a Brussels summit. U.S. President...
Morning Brief (18-6)
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EU leaders approve fresh sanctions against Iran. The BBC reports: European Union leaders have approved a new set of sanctions against Iran that go further than the latest United Nations measures. The fresh EU sanctions include a ban on investments, t...
The myth of Iran's 'isolation'
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In announcing the passage of a U.N. Security Council resolution imposing sanctions on Iran, President Obama stressed not once but twice Iran's increasing "isolation" from the world. This claim is not surprising considering that after 16...
Morning Brief (15-6)
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EU plans new sanctions on Iran. The FT reports from yesterday’s EU Foreign Ministers meeting in Luxembourg: European Union governments are expected to impose new sanctions against Iran that would go further than those approved by the United Nat...
Iran's tortured Green movement is down but not out. We can still help | Timothy Garton Ash
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One harrowing year since the stolen election, the people of Iran need the world's attention to go beyond the nuclear issueDo not forget Iran. Remember Neda. If there are green-clad protests in Tehran this weekend, to mark the first anniversary of the...
Morning Brief (8-6)
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UN Iran sanctions vote on Wednesday. Politico’s Laura Rozen reports: “The goal is Wednesday,” one European diplomat said of the anticipated vote date. “Vote is likely Wednesday,” another diplomatic source in New York said. The text of t...
Morning Brief (3-6)
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UN vote on Iran delayed because of Israeli raid. Politico’s Laura Rozen reports: A vote on a new UN Iran sanctions resolution will likely be pushed back due to diplomatic fallout from the Israeli raid on the Gaza aid flotilla, among other reaso...
Iran’s foreign minister Mottaki flunks the courage test
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How time flies when you’re having fun. I spent the best part of Wednesday trailing Manouchehr Mottaki, Iran’s foreign minister, around Brussels. After about four hours it dawned on me that, no matter how strange and disturbing som...
Turkey, Brazil, and Iran: A Glimpse of the Future
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WASHINGTON–It has been quite a week for diplomacy on Iran. On the eve of agreement on a new round of sanctions among the permanent members of the UN Security Council, the leaders of Turkey and Brazil concluded a dramatic visit to Tehran, bringi...
A diplomatic game of chicken with Iran
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Let's be generous and call the frantic diplomatic maneuvers that have been taking place this week over Iran's nuclear program a "negotiation," Tehran-style. READ MORE...
