Tag Archives : TEHRAN

TEHRAN: Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Wednesday that Iran was still hopeful that a UN-drafted deal to supply nuclear fuel to a Tehran reactor could be finalised. “The fuel exchange proposal is still on the table and we can carry it out,” Mottaki told reporters. “We have had direct and indirect talks with all the sides of the Vienna group and discussed different aspects of a logical framework for an exchange (of fuel).” Mottaki said the deal can still be done “in a little while if they show some political will.” The International [...]

TEHRAN: A top cleric with Iran”s elite Revolutionary Guard has reiterated warnings that Tehran would strike archenemy Israel if the Jewish state and its Western allies attacked Iran. A report by the semiofficial news agency on Tuesday quoted cleric Mojtaba Zolnour as saying the “enemies know if they fire a missile toward Iran, the dust from explosions by Iranian missiles will rise in Tel Aviv”” even as “their missile is still in the air.””

BAGHDAD: Three blasts including two car bombs and a massive explosion in front of the Iranian embassy rocked Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens, officials said. The explosions occurred within minutes of each other, shattering windows in nearby buildings and sparking bursts of gunfire. Large plumes of smoke billowed across the Iraqi capital as ambulances and emergency services rushed to the scene. Two apparently coordinated car bombs hit the upscale west Baghdad neighbourhood of Mansur, with one striking close to the residence of the German ambassador, [...]

TEHRAN: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday warned Israel against launching a fresh assault on the Gaza Strip, saying such action would bring it “closer to certain death.” Ahmadinejad”s comments come a day after Israel”s Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom warned of a new offensive by the Israeli military on the Hamas-ruled coastal territory unless militant rocket attacks are halted. “They are looking for an excuse to attack Gaza. I want to tell the Zionists and their backers that enough crime has been committed already,” Ahmadinejad said in a [...]

TEHRAN: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday that world pressure on Iran, including talks of imposing new sanctions, makes the Islamic republic more determined than ever to pursue its nuclear programme. Ahmadinejad also reiterated his view that his US counterpart, Barack Obama, has been ineffective in ushering “real” change despite his promises. “You (world powers) can cut your own throat, jump up or down, issue statements and declarations and pass resolutions… but don”t think you can stop the progress and building of the Iranian nation,” Ahmadinejad [...]

WASHINGTON: With India still keen to join an ambitious gas pipeline project involving Iran and Pakistan, the US has warned all countries against engaging in transactions with Tehran at a time when sensitive talks are on to consider additional sanctions on it over its nuclear issue. “Our concerns about the government of Iran are very well known. Given its current unwillingness to address its international obligations and international concerns about its nuclear programme, we don’t think that this is the time for such transactions to be taking place with Iran,” Assistant Secretary of State for [...]

TEHRAN: Iran said on Thursday the talk of sanctions by world powers against the Islamic republic over its nuclear programme is just an empty threat that has been ineffective against Tehran for the past 30 years. “The nuclear programme of the Islamic republic is fully peaceful and the talk of sanctions is a threat that has been ineffective over the past 30 years,” foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said. World powers have stepped up pressure to impose a new round of UN sanctions on Iran for doggedly pursuing its controversial nuclear programme which they suspect masks [...]

BEIJING: China said Thursday it still preferred diplomacy to sanctions in resolving the dispute over Iran”s nuclear program, a day after Britain”s U.N. ambassador said China had agreed for the first time to discuss new measures against Tehran. China, which relies on Iran for much of its energy, traditionally opposes sanctions, although it went along with three earlier U.N. sanctions resolutions. Dialogue remained “the best option, which agrees with the interests of all parties, and is also conducive to regional peace and stability,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told [...]

TEHRAN: Iran on Thursday urged the West to take action against Israel over the Jewish state”s decision to build more settlements in east Jerusalem. “The action taken by Western countries should no longer be theatrical but should be practical (and) put a stop to the Zionist regime”s state terrorism,” local news agency quoted foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast as saying. Mehmanparast also slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for saying that demands for a settlement freeze were “unreasonable,” and that “Jerusalem is not a settlement. [...]

TEHRAN: Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in his new year address to the nation on Sunday accused the US president of plotting against Iran as crowds of worshippers shouted “Death to Obama!” In his defiant outburst, the all-powerful Khamenei dismissed President Barack Obama”s frequent offers of dialogue with Iran which began with last year”s historic Nowrouz greeting marking the Persian new year. He lashed out at the Obama administration in his speech, broadcast live on state television, saying after last June”s presidential election, the United States had taken [...]