Questions grow over Iran’s influence in Iraq
As Tariq al-Hashemi’s death sentence heightens sectarian tensions in Iraq, Shiite Iran’s role there is getting more attention, including a potential clerical succession struggle in Najaf.
As Tariq al-Hashemi’s death sentence heightens sectarian tensions in Iraq, Shiite Iran’s role there is getting more attention, including a potential clerical succession struggle in Najaf.
Russia has trained hundreds of Iranian nuclear scientists and blocked international action against Tehran. But beneath the surface, there is profound distrust.
Speaking in Tehran, UN chief Ban Ki-moon criticized Iran for failing to reassure the world it is not pursuing nuclear weapons as the IAEA reported its nonmilitary nuclear work continues apace.
The government faces new pressures from the loss of territory and oil revenue to South Sudan, but the push for an Islamic constitution has much older roots.
The Syrian regime made an example of three volunteer medics by torturing and killing them. But its attempt to intimidate has only emboldened the ranks of Aleppo’s opposition.
The expected Syrian government offensive hasn’t begun in earnest, but Aleppo’s rebel-held neighborhoods are being pounded by shelling and gunfire and clinics are filling up with wounded.
Conflict and poverty stand in the way of perhaps 40,000 South Sudanese whose bags were packed a year ago but are now stranded in squatter camps of the north.
The complete set of PowerPoint slides that Iran used during a meeting with world powers are now public.
NATO and Turkey talked tough about Syria’s shooting down of a Turkish military jet at an emergency summit in Brussels today. But they sought to calm fears of a broader escalation.
In Moscow Monday, Iran and world powers began to “engage” in detail about Iran’s nuclear program for the first time.
By one count, more than 340 journalists have been killed since the US-led invasion in 2003.
The wide gap that remains between Iran and world powers over Iran’s nuclear program is being filled by a diplomatic blame game, a week before talks are due to resume in Moscow.
With top United Nations nuclear inspectors on a three-day trip to Iran, Tehran is sending mixed messages of cooperation and defiance.
By Scott Peterson
Sept. 12, 2012