Middle East
Publisher: Reuters
31 Dec 2014
U.S. calls for release of Americans in Iran, denies swap deal
The United States called on Tuesday for the release of U.S. citizens held in Iran, but denied a report that Washington had proposed a prisoner exchange for a former U.S. Marine. A lawyer for Amir Hekmati, an Iranian-American former Marine jailed in Tehran, was quoted in a report on Tuesday on Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency as saying that the United States had sought his release through a prisoner swap.
Publisher: Reuters
6 Oct 2014
Iranian banking newcomer struggles as fear of sanctions hits humanitarian deals
International banks are shying away from processing humanitarian deals with Iran for fear being fined for breaking Western sanctions, despite moves intended to facilitate the trade, a senior Iranian banker said. The sanctions regime, imposed by the United States and European Union over Tehran's nuclear program, allows trade in humanitarian goods such as food and medicine.
Publisher: Reuters
24 Sep 2014
Israel says Iran used Parchin military site for testing nuclear detonation technology
Israel said on Wednesday that Iran has used its Parchin military base as the site for secret tests of technology that could be used only for detonating a nuclear weapon. The Jewish state has been a severe critic of six big powers' negotiations with Iran on curbing its nuclear energy programme, suspecting Tehran is only trying to buy time to master sensitive nuclear know-how and would evade the terms of any final deal.
Publisher: Reuters
23 Jul 2014
Iran’s supreme leader calls for end to ‘murderous’ Israeli regime
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday called for a referendum canvassing the Arabs and Jews that live in Israel in order to end the "Zionist state", but said until such a vote could be held, armed resistance was necessary. Khamenei and his predecessor the Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini have called repeatedly over the years for an end to the Jewish state, including through a referendum in the region, where Palestinians are in the majority.
Publisher: Reuters
15 Apr 2014
Israel Says Kerry Remarks on Iran Nuclear Threshold ‘Not Acceptable’
Israel described as "unacceptable" on Monday remarks by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry suggesting cautious openness to negotiating a nuclear deal that would keep Iran six to 12 months away from bomb-making capability. "In the past, and also recently, what we heard from the Americans, including publicly, and from the Europeans and even from the Russians, was that Iran must be distanced years - not months but years - from nuclear weaponry," said Yuval Steinitz, the Israeli cabinet minister in charge of nuclear affairs.
Publisher: Reuters
5 Apr 2014
Spike in Iran executions seen politically motivated
Since president Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate in Iran, took office last August, there has been a surge in executions: at least 537 people have been executed in the past eight months, nearly 200 of them since the beginning of this year, according to figures compiled by the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. That compares with a total for 2013 of 624, according to data gathered by the United Nations. Some human rights activists and others fear that those who oppose Rouhani and his negotiations with Western powers over the country s nuclear programme are pushing the executions to weaken him.
Publisher: Reuters
19 Mar 2014
Top Ahmadinejad aide indicted amid Iran graft case
Publisher: Reuters
31 Jan 2014
Arrest of Billionaire Highlights Political Divisions in Iran
Under the conservative presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the 39-year-old Zanjani was good enough at his work to amass a fortune of $10 billion - along with debts of a similar scale, he told Aseman - until he was arrested late last month. He is being held in Tehran's notorious Evin prison, accused of owing the government, under moderate new President Hassan Rouhani since August, more than $2.7 billion for oil sold on behalf of the oil ministry.