Iran pushes ahead with nuclear plant IAEA

China Daily - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

/enpproperty--> VIENNA-- Iran further expanded its nuclear enrichment capability by installing hundred advanced centrifuges in a uranium enrichment plant, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Wednesday. In a report, the UN nuclear watch dog said Iran continues to install the IR-2m centrifuges, which could promote its uranium enrichment significantly, in Natanz enrichment ...

US House panel backs stiff new Iran sanctions

Channel News Asia - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

Iran could face tightened sanctions within months after a US congressional panel Wednesday adopted a measure targeting the nation's auto and mining industries as well as its foreign currency ...

Iran crude exports to S. Korea down 44.4 in April

AME Info - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

South Korea's oil import from Iran have dropped 44.4% year-on-year in April to 4.18 million barrels, Reuters has reported. The country's crude imports from Iran last month rose 4% compared with that of March, data from the state-run Korea National Oil Corp ...

Nuclear watchdog raises Iranian plutonium concerns

The Guardian - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

Iran , the International Atomic Energy Agency has produced its latest quaterly report on the country's nuclear programme, which does so much to shape the backdrop to Iranian politics - and not in a good way.The IAEA Safeguards Report has been leaked, as tradition dictates, and is available ...

Iran’s Supreme Leader Tightens Grip After Disqualifying Two Top Presidential Candidates

General Sources - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

Mohammad Khatami was swept into the president's office in 1997, leading a wave of reformists who challenged the status quo in which Khamenei, as the unelected Supreme Leader of the Revolution, was most heavily invested. In every election cycle since, the self-appointed portion ...

UPDATE 1-U.S. Congress moves to tighten sanctions on Iran

Reuters - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

Wed May 22, 2013 6:34pm EDT (Updates with Senate vote) By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON May 22 (Reuters) - A U.S. House of Representatives committee approved legislation on Wednesday seeking to impose tighter sanctions on Iran, the latest congressional effort to slow development of the Islamic Republic's disputed nuclear program. The "Nuclear Iran Prevention Act of 2013" passed the ...

Exclusive Glencore Trafigura deals with Iran may have skirted sanctions - U.N.

Reuters - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Metals swap deals with Iran by Switzerland-based commodities giants Glencore Xstrata and Trafigura could have been a way of skirting international sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program, according to a confidential U.N. Panel of Experts report seen by Reuters on ...

Tehran ditches election headache Rafsanjani

Euro News - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

Iran’s most senior clerical authorities have ruled out the one candidate who might have been elected president who could have led reformists: Hashemi Rafsanjani. Not everyone was surprised, but some of the electorate are furious. The election is three weeks away. The powerful Guardian Council of the Constitution have shortlisted eight figures who will be allowed to run for office in the ...

Iran calls attention to aggressive plans of the U.S. and Israel

Pravda - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

"Some Persian Gulf countries are supporting U.S. plans in the region and it harms the countries of the region", the Chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy of the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran, the national parliament, Alaedin Boruyerdi said on Saturday (27th). Crimes and discord are the buzzwords of the ...

IAEA Iran Expanding Nuclear-Enrichment Technology

Radio Free Europe - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

A new report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says Iran has improved its capacity to rapidly refine uranium by installing hundreds more centrifuges. The IAEA report noted that Tehran was going ahead with the building of a new research reactor. Western experts see it as a possible second venue for producing material for a nuclear weapon. The report, however, showed ...

The Tyrant of ash-Sham and the Iranian Regime and its Hizb in Lebanon Repeat Hulagus Destruction of Baghdad in Qusair

Khilafah - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

Approximately seven centuries ago in the year 656 AH, Hulagu Khan destroyed Baghdad after a severe siege. People were massacred in large numbers, houses and mosques were demolished, books and libraries were burned, and crops and livestock were destroyed. The Tigris River, penetrating Baghdad, was witness to this destruction as its water was diluted with human blood and the ink from books. Today ...

New U.N. Atomic Watchdog Report Details Concerns On Iran’s Nuke Program

ThinkProgress - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

latest report from the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog shows that Iran continues to process nuclear fuel, it is making sure to keep its total amount low enough to not cross Israel’s so-called ';red-line.'; According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, since ...

Nuclear program to sinking economy Issues facing Iran as presidential election looms

Canada.com - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

In this picture taken on Saturday, May 11, 2013, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, right, joins hands with his close ally Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, as he flashes a victory sign, at the start of their press conference, after registering the candidacy of Mashaei for the upcoming presidential election, at the election headquarters of the interior ministry, in Tehran, Iran. By now, President ...

Global local issues for Iran in upcoming election

The Seattle Times - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

Main domestic and international issues facing Iran ahead of its June 14 presidential election: --- NUCLEAR QUESTION: Four rounds of revived talks between Iran and world powers since last year have produced no important headway in the Tehran's impasse with the West. The U.S. and allies worry Iran's uranium enrichment could lead to atomic weapons, which could shift the balance of power ...

Irans Ahmadinejad looks to outsider options

San Diego Union-Tribune - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

In this picture taken on Saturday, May 11, 2013, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, left, and his close ally Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei wave to journalists as they arrive at the election headquarters of the interior ministry for registering Masheaei's candidacy for the upcoming presidential election, in Tehran, Iran. By now, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is well accustomed to enduring ...

Iran ups nuke capacity but below Israel red line

Jerusalem Post - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

VIENNA - Iran has increased its capacity to refine uranium by installing hundreds more centrifuges, a UN nuclear agency report said on Wednesday, underlining Tehran's defiance of Western demands to curb the activity.But, in a development that could help buy time for diplomacy between Iran and world powers, the report showed limited growth of Iran's most sensitive nuclear stockpile and ...

Rafsanjani Shut Out of Iran’s Presidential Race

IPS - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

- With the disqualification of former president and current chair of the Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani by a vetting body, the Guardian Council, Iran’s presidential campaign is opening with many in the country in a state of ...

Iran - Irans election candidates asked to support respect freedom of information

IFEX - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

Reporters Without Borders has written an open letter to the eight approved candidates in the Islamic Republic of Iran's 11th presidential election, requesting that they publicly commit themselves to support freedom of information.The list of eight approved candidates published yesterday by the Guardian Council - whose members are directly chosen and appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ...

Iran bars past leader from running

The China Post - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

Rafsanjani and a controversial aide of incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had been ruled unsuitable, the interior ministry said. The Guardians Council, a conservative-dominated vetting body, omitted Rafsanjani, who served as president from 1989 to 1997, from its list of eight approved candidates. It also excluded Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, a confidant of Ahmadinejad and his former chief of staff. The ...

Israeli Minister Iran Most Critical Issue

CBN News - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Despite the current tensions along the Israeli-Syrian border on the Golan Heights, Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Yuval Steinitz warned Tuesday that a nuclear-armed Iran remains the Jewish state's biggest challenge. "Events and the situation in Syria, Sinai and the Gaza Strip must not displace -- even for a moment -- the most critical issue, which is a ...

Christian Pastor in Iran Arrested During Prayer Meeting Church Threatened With Closure

Christian Post - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

A Christian pastor at the Central Assemblies of God Church in Tehran was arrested during a prayer meeting at the church, which may be forced to close down in June due to pressure from Iranian ...

International Watchdog Iran Expands Nuclear Activities

VOA - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

The International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran has made a significant step toward building a reactor that Western experts say could provide a second path to possibly producing material for a nuclear ...