Bahrain (AP) — The top U.S. military commander for the Middle East is pressing Arab allies to form a more united front against Iran, seen by Washington as the region’s long-term threat. At military compounds and royal reception halls across the Persian Gulf, Adm. William Fallon is delivering personal appeals to Arab leaders to counter Iran’s ambitions to expand its regional influence and move ahead with its nuclear program. Fallon
TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Acting Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday told visiting French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner that neither military force nor unilateral sanctions were acceptable in dealing with Iran’s nuclear program. Kouchner, a prominent member of the European left and the co-founder of Doctors Without Borders, was received warmly by human rights groups, which praised his strong interest in the situation in the North Caucasus and Chechnya in
By Paul Craig Roberts 09/18/07 “ICH” — — Naive Americans who think they live in a free society should watch this video filmed by students at a John Kerry speech September 17, Constitution Day, at the University of Florida in Gainesville. At the conclusion of Kerry’s speech, Andrew Meyer, a 21-year old journalism student was selected by Senator Kerry to ask a question. Meyer held up a copy of BBC
David Blair America is waging a financial war on Iran designed to isolate its economy from the world banking system and compel Teheran to abandon its nuclear programme. Step by step, the US Treasury is tightening the noose by persuading European and Japanese banks to join their American counterparts and stop conducting any transactions for Iranian clients. Deutsche Bank was the latest to begin closing all accounts held by any
The following is a partial transcript of an interview with former IRGC Commander (now advisor for military affairs to the Supreme Leader of Iran) which which aired on Channel 2, Iranian TV on November 12, 2006: General Yahya Rahim Safavi: The Shahab 3 missiles, which were fired with a cluster warhead, deviated a few meters [from the target]. Considering the extent of the explosion, a few meters is… Interviewer: Is
MOSCOW — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday warned against the use of force in Iran and against unilateral sanctions to pressure Tehran for its peaceful nuclear program. “We are convinced that no modern problem has a military solution, and that applies to the Iranian nuclear program as well,” Lavrov said after talks with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. “We are seriously concerned about increasingly frequent reports that military
By MIKE WHITNEY By now, you’ve probably seen the photos of the angry customers queued up outside of Northern Rock Bank waiting to withdraw their money. This is the first big run on a British bank in over a century. It’s lost an eighth of its deposits in three days. The pictures are headline news in the U.K. but have been stuck on the back pages of U.S. newspapers. The
TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- The Foreign Ministry will pursue the case with the Iranian national who has been beaten in the United States, the ministry spokesman said here on Tuesday. Seyed Mohammad Ali Hosseini further expressed concern and regret about the beating of the Iranian National, Zohreh Asemi, in New York, a statement released by the Foreign Ministry’s Information and Press Bureau said. Stressing that Iranian Foreign Ministry is handling
Wired news reports that France is preparing war plans in case an international coalition decides to force Iran to give up its alleged nuclear weapons program, according to Reuters “We must prepare for the worst,” [Foreign Minister Bernard] Kouchner said in an interview, adding: “The worst, sir, is war.” Our Frankish friends across the sea aren’t the only Western leaders focused on Iran, The Middle East Times reports: The [U.S.]
By James G. Neuger for Bloomberg Europeans are overwhelmingly against a potential U.S. military attack to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions and are tiring of the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, a survey showed. Americans are more willing to contemplate the use of force against Iran and remain in favor of the Afghan war, according to a poll released today by the German Marshall Fund of the United States and
The Jerusalem Post and AP report that Italy’s foreign minister said Monday that talk about going to war over Iran’s nuclear program served no purpose and the international community should instead give sanctions and diplomacy more time to work. Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema said a new war in the region “wouldn’t resolve the problem and would only create new tragedies and new dangers.” D’Alema was responding to journalists’ questions about
The People’s Daily Online reports that China said on Tuesday negotiation is the best way to resolve the Iran’s nuclear issue and it conformed to the common interest of the international community. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu made the remarks when commenting on the recent report of the IRNA news agency on French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner’s warning that the world should brace for a possible war over the
by Michel Chossudovsky Quoting official sources, the Western media is now confirming, rather belatedly, that the Bush Administration’s war plans directed against Iran are “for real” and should be taken seriously. “Punitive bombings” directed against Tehran could be launched within the next few months. The diplomatic mode has been switched off: The Pentagon is said to be “taking steps to ensure military confrontation with Iran” because diplomatic initiatives have allegedly
According to the Press Association, the chief UN nuclear inspector criticised talk of attacking Iran as “hype”, saying the use of force should only be considered as a last resort and only if authorised by the UN Security Council. “I would not talk about any use of force,” said Mohamed El-Baradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in an indirect response to French warnings that the world had
MOSCOW — Russian deputy foreign minister Alexander Losyukov has warned that any US military intervention in Iran would be a “political error” that would have “catastrophic” consequences. Losyukov’s comments in an interview published Tuesday came after French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner warned that the world should prepare for a possible conflict over Iran’s nuclear program. “Generally speaking, bombings of Iran would be a bad move that would end with catastrophic
A special investigative report from inside Iraq By Greg Palast Monday, September 17, 2007- Did you see George all choked up? In his surreal TV talk on Thursday, he got all emotional over the killing by Al Qaeda of Sheik Abu Risha, the leader of the new Sunni alliance with the US against the insurgents in Anbar Province, Iraq. Bush shook Abu Risha’s hand two weeks ago for the cameras.
By George Bisharat Two hundred thousand Palestinian children began school in the Gaza Strip this month without a full complement of textbooks. Why? Because Israel, which maintains a stranglehold over this small strip of land along the Mediterranean even after withdrawing its settlers from there in 2005, considers paper, ink and binding materials not to be “fundamental humanitarian needs.” Israel, attempting to throttle the democratically elected Hamas government, generally permits
by Tony Karon As I wrote on TIME.com last week, Bush is in no position to bring the Iraq war to a satisfactory conclusion; the U.S. is treading water in Iraq lacking both any reason to believe the current balance of forces there will allow the attainment of U.S. goals, and any leverage capable of altering that balance of power. The Democrats, for their part, are posturing, demanding an immediate
TEHRAN — Iranian media launched a blistering attack on France Monday after its foreign minister warned the world to brace for war. Kouchner said Sunday his country must prepare for the possibility of war against Iran over its nuclear program. The French minister also told RTL radio and LCI television that the world’s major powers should use further sanctions against Iran. Kouchner said France had asked French firms not to
By Francois Murphy PARIS (Reuters) – French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Sunday his country must prepare for the possibility of war against Iran over its nuclear programme, but he did not believe any such action was imminent. Seeking to ratchet up the pressure on Iran, Kouchner also told RTL radio and LCI television that the world’s major powers should use further sanctions to show they were serious about
