WASHINGTON - Iran has welcomed the U.S. Navy’s rescue of 13 Iranians who were held hostage by pirates in the Arabian Sea.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast called the rescue a “humanitarian” act, in comments to Iran’s state-run broadcaster Al-Alam.
But Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency dismissed the rescue as a “Hollywood” dramatization of a routine incident.
The […]

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is brushing off Iran’s warning to keep a U.S. aircraft carrier out of the Persian Gulf, saying it shows the Iranian government’s “weakness.” White House officials say international sanctions against Tehran are having an effect.
President Barack Obama’s press secretary, Jay Carney, said Tuesday the warning shows that the Iranian government […]

WASHINGTON - Reports from Iran say the nation’s currency has slumped to a record low against the U.S. dollar, two days after U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law new sanctions that could affect Iran’s central bank and financial system.
Traders said Monday the exchange rate dipped to around 17,000 rials to the dollar, which is […]

TEHRAN - Iran says it has successfully tested and produced fuel rods for use in nuclear power plants. It also says it has test-fired a medium-range surface-to-air missile near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian television said the rods, which contain natural uranium, were made in Iran and inserted into the core of a research nuclear […]

TEHRAN - Iran’s National Security Adviser Saeed Jalili is calling for a new round of negotiations with the West over its nuclear program, amid heightened tensions in the Persian Gulf over threats by Tehran to close the vital Strait of Hormuz.  About 40 percent of the world’s oil purchases transit through that waterway.
Iran’s Al-Alam TV […]

WASHINGTON - Iran said Sunday it has test fired a medium-range surface-to-air missile near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.  State media reports said the missile was equipped with technology to combat radar-evading targets. 
The test was part of Iran’s 10-day naval exercises, scheduled to end Monday.
On Saturday, Iran proposed a new round of talks with the […]

WASHINGTON - For the second time in two days, Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz.  Iranian officials warned they would shut down the world’s strategic oil passageway if the West imposes sanctions on Iran’s oil shipments.  Now the U.S. has responded that it would answer any blockade forcefully.  The controversy revolves around […]

WASHINGTON - Iran has rejected a U.S. request to return a drone that Tehran says it brought down near the Afghan border earlier this month.
Iranian Defense Minister, Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi, said Tuesday that the aircraft is Iran’s property.
Also, state-run media quote Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast as saying the surveillance aircraft is a security […]

LONDON - Britain has ordered the immediate closure of the Iranian embassy in London and has closed its embassy in Tehran, following a mob attack Tuesday on British embassy compounds in the Iranian capital.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague announced the decision in parliament Wednesday. He said Iran’s diplomatic staff has been ordered to leave the […]

LONDON - Britain says it is withdrawing some of its embassy staff from Iran following Tuesday’s mob assaults on British diplomatic compounds in the capital, Tehran.
In a statement Wednesday, the British foreign office says the safety of British embassy personnel and their families is London’s immediate priority. It did not say how many staff are […]

TEHRAN - Iranian protesters have stormed the British Embassy in Tehran in response to Britain’s new economic sanctions against Iran for its suspected program to develop nuclear weapons.
Iranians scattered embassy documents, threw stones, broke windows and replaced the British flag with an Iranian one Tuesday.  The rioters also looted a portrait of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth.
Outside […]

MOSCOW - Iran and its powerful ally Russia have denounced new Western sanctions on Tehran’s financial, petrochemical and energy sectors, calling them illegal and futile.
The U.S., Canada, and Britain each announced new steps Monday to increase economic pressure against Iran in response to international concerns that Tehran is developing nuclear weapons.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin […]

WASHINGTON - The United States, in concert with key allies, sharply tightened economic sanctions on Iran Monday to press Tehran to end a suspected drive for nuclear weapons.  Britain and Canada joined the U.S. sanctions move, while other European countries are also planning punitive steps. 
The combined actions were a show of resolve in the face […]

WASHINGTON - The United States is getting ready to hit Iran with new, tougher sanctions, with one top official saying Tehran now faces an “unprecedented” degree of isolation.
U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity late Friday, said the sanctions could be unveiled as early as Monday and would target Iran’s petrochemical industry.  They said […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama says Washington will make sure Iran “pays a price” for a plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador to the United States.
Obama said during a news conference in Washington Thursday with visiting South Korean President Lee Myung-bak it was clear that individuals within the Iranian government were aware of the […]

TEHRAN - Iranian officials have strongly denounced U.S. allegations of a Tehran-linked plot to kill a Saudi diplomat in the United States. Some in Iran are arguing that the case has been fabricated to provoke a military confrontation with the Islamic Republic.
The reaction from Tehran has been swift and categorical. A foreign ministry statement drove […]

CAIRO - Iran has released two American men convicted of espionage, ending a case that had worsened U.S.-Iranian relations for more than two years. 
The two Americans, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, were first handed over to Swiss authorities Wednesday afternoon under arrangements that are said to include a combined one million dollars in bail.
 
The men […]

TEHRAN - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says he thinks that two American men convicted of spying on his country will be released “in a couple of days.” 
Ahmadinejad told a U.S. television interviewer that Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal will be freed on humanitarian grounds.
 
He made the comment during an interview conducted in Iran by NBC […]

TEHRAN - Iran has sentenced two Americans, arrested more than two years ago while hiking along the Iraq-Iran border, to eight years in prison for illegal entry and spying.
Iranian TV on Saturday quoted judicial sources as saying that Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal each were given five-year prison sentences for spying and three additional years […]

BRUSSELS - The European Union has expanded sanctions against Iran due to concerns about the Iranian nuclear program, which Western nations fear is a cover for developing nuclear weapons.
EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels agreed Monday to impose asset freezes and travel bans on several people and more than 100 entities suspected of involvement in […]

TEHRAN - Iranian security forces have fired tear gas to disperse thousands of Iranians rallying in support of the popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.
Witnesses say riot police, many of them on motorbikes, fanned out across central Tehran Monday as opposition groups vowed to rally despite the government’s rejection of their request for a permit.
Opposition […]

WASHINGTON - A published report says a joint U.S.-Israeli project designed to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program has apparently shut down a fifth of that country’s nuclear centrifuges.
The report in The New York Times quotes unidentified intelligence and military experts as saying the project has helped delay, though not destroy, Iran’s ability to make nuclear weapons.
According […]

WASHINGTON - The United States has hit Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and its state-owned shipping lines with new sanctions.
The U.S. Treasury Department announced Tuesday it was barring five entities from dealing with the United States for their connections with the Guard and the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines.
Those targeted include two banks, Ansar Bank and […]

WASHINGTON - Iran has deployed security forces around sensitive locations, including fuel stations Sunday, as cutbacks on subsidies began to take effect, meaning hefty price increases for fuel.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad justified subsidy cuts in an interview on state TV Saturday night, explaining that they were necessary for the country’s well-being. Subsidies, he said, are draining […]