The Latest - Iran
Iran Seeks Global Gain From Nuclear Talks
U.S. analysts say Iran is trying to use international debate over its nuclear program for political leverage. Alex Vatanka, a scholar at the Middle East Institute, said Iran has had plenty of opportunities to provide... more...
ECB Says No Illegtimate Iran Payments Made Via Target2
The European Central Bank said no payments that contravene European Union sanctions on Iran are cleared via its payments system, Target2, as U.S. lawmakers consider pushing for tougher controls on... more...
ECB Defends Payments System in Iran Sanctions Debate
The European Central Bank defended its payments system on Thursday, after a newspaper reported that the U.S. Congress is preparing new Iran sanctions to target the ECB's system for settling cross-border payments. more...
Risk of Military Strike Wanes as Iran Talks Resume
There’s scant hope for a breakthrough next week when negotiators from the U.S. and five other nations meet Iranians for long-awaited talks over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions, according to current... more...
ECB Faces US Pressure Over Iran
The US Congress is preparing new Iran sanctions legislation that would target the European Central Bank’s system for settling cross-border bank payments. The proposed bill is part of a package of measures... more...
Analysis: Hezbollah is Acting Just As It Always Has
Hezbollah and Iran are coordinating closely to keep Syrian President Bashar Assad in power. Hezbollah fighters continue to die in the Syrian civil war as the Syrian opposition claimed on Monday that 43 were killed... more...
Unsanctioned Investments
Millions of Americans may have unwittingly invested in a Turkish bank that has illegally helped Iran circumvent international economic sanctions meant to weaken its disputed nuclear program, according to investment... more...
Filibuster Hagel
The charges arose from a grand jury subpoena concerning Alavi's relationship to Iran's Bank Melli, which is under U.S., U.K. and EU sanctions. Mark Dubowitz of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies describes Bank Melli as "one of Iran's most critical access points to the global financial system, enabling Tehran's world-wide network of money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation-related transactions." more...
Cutting the Iran-China Connection
Just what will it take to bring Iran’s nuclear ambitions to heel? The past year has seen a dramatic expansion of economic pressure against the Iranian regime by the United States and Europe, all with a single-minded... more...
What About Iran?
A meeting of the P 5+1 and Iran is scheduled for Feb. 26. It is not clear what if anything will change since the meetings last year in which Iran rejected the West’s demands for nuclear enrichment to cease at 20 percent... more...
Short-Circuiting Sanctions
European Union courts have quietly rolled back economic sanctions on several Iranian banks that have long been suspected of transferring funds to terrorist groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and... more...
Iran Could Begin Feeling a Further Squeeze on Its Oil Income Soon
Ever since European seaports closed their gates to Iranian oil tankers last summer, Iran has looked to the East to keep its economy afloat. Countries such as China, India and South Korea — some of them... more...
UN Nuclear Watchdog Eyes Iran Deal, Parchin Visit
The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Tuesday it hoped to gain access to the Parchin military site during a visit to Iran this week aimed at unblocking an investigation into suspected atom bomb research in the Islamic state. more...
Iran Could Reach Key Point for Nuclear Bomb by Mid-2014: US Experts
Iran could produce enough weapon-grade uranium for one or more nuclear bombs by mid-2014, and the United States and its allies should intensify sanctions on Tehran before that point is reached, a... more...
Experts Warn Iran Will Be Capable of Nuclear Weapons in 2014
A group of non-proliferation experts on Monday warned Iran will be able to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for a nuclear bomb by mid-2014, and recommended that the United States enforce an... more...
US Warns Foreign Exchange Houses Are Helping Iran to Skirt Sanctions
The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday warned financial institutions to be on the lookout for money transfers sent by foreign exchange houses and trading companies that are actually an attempt to... more...
New Iran Sanctions Target Industry in Bid for Deal Curbing Nuclear Program
New U.S. sanctions have broadened the front in the West’s escalating economic conflict with Iran, targeting large swaths of the country’s industrial infrastructure even as Iranian leaders are indicating a willingness... more...
In Iran’s Factories and Shops, Tighter Sanctions Exact Toll
A manager of Bam Shargh Isogam, an Iranian manufacturer of insulation sheets for rooftops, saw trouble ahead when a government official offered advice for surviving the crippling international sanctions... more...
Inside the West’s Economic War with Iran
In his first week as U.S. president, Barack Obama told Iran's leaders he would extend a hand if they would "unclench their fist" and persuade the West they weren't trying to build a nuclear bomb. more...
Leading from the Rehab Center
Since suffering a near-fatal stroke last January, two tasks have obsessed Senator Mark Kirk from his encampment at a Chicago rehabilitation center: relearning how to walk, and expanding the economic... more...
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