Iran

Iran says appeals for 'jihad' in Syria fuel radicalism

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KUWAIT - Calls by Sunni Muslim clerics for a holy war against the Syrian government and its Shi'ite allies are fuelling radicalism in the region, a senior Iranian official said on Wednesday. | Video

The new Iranian president's restrained power: Bremmer

- This past weekend, centrist candidate Hassan Rohani won the Iranian presidential election by a landslide. Rohani beat the two perceived front-runners who were hand-selected conservative loyalists to supreme leader Ali Khamenei, and he did it with an outright majority, bypassing an expected run-off. According to the interior ministry, turnout topped 72 percent, a level that the United States hasn't attained in a century.

5:43pm EDT

UK top court ruling threatens Western sanctions against Iran

LONDON - Western government sanctions against Iran suffered a big setback on Wednesday when Britain's top court ruled that the government was wrong to have imposed sanctions on the biggest Iranian private bank over alleged links to Tehran's nuclear program.

12:42pm EDT

Iraqi Shi'ites flock to Assad's side as sectarian split widens

BAGHDAD - Among the Iranian pilgrims, foreign executives and tourists in the departure lounge at Baghdad airport, a group of young Iraqis prepare to wage religious war in Syria - not for the rebels trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad but against them.

World, Syria, Iraq 12:03pm EDT

Hamas says its Iran ties worsen over Syrian civil war

GAZA - Hamas said on Wednesday its relations with financial backer Iran have suffered as a result of the Islamist group's support of rebels battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a long-time Iranian ally.

World, Syria 10:01am EDT

Rohani once approved of hiding Iran atomic work

UNITED NATIONS - Years before he became Iran's president-elect, Hassan Rohani spoke approvingly about concealing his nation's nuclear program and said that when Pakistan got atomic bombs and Brazil began enriching uranium, "the world started to work with them."

UK's Supreme Court quashes British sanctions on Iranian bank

LONDON - The UK's highest court has ruled that the British government was wrong to have imposed sanctions on an Iranian bank in 2009 over alleged links to Iran's nuclear program.

7:25am EDT

France's Hollande open to Iranian presence at Syria talks

ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland - French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday opened the door to Iran attending a Syria peace conference, but reiterated that there was no future for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

World, Syria 18 Jun 2013

Analysis: Saudi role in Syria driven by fear of Shi'ite 'full moon'

RIYADH - Saudi Arabia's former intelligence chief, Prince Muqrin, once told American diplomats the Middle East's so-called Shi'ite Crescent where the Muslim sect holds sway was "becoming a full moon" as Iranian influence spread.

World, Saudi Arabia 18 Jun 2013

Russia: Chance for progress on Iran nuclear issue must be seized

MOSCOW - Iran has taken constructive steps toward compromise in the decade-old standoff over its nuclear program and world powers should reciprocate, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in remarks published on Tuesday.

World, Russia 18 Jun 2013

Ethiopia and Eritrea: An elusive peace on the cards?

Ethiopia and Eritrea are still at each others’ throats. The two neighbours fought hammer and tongs in sun-baked trenches during a two-year war over a decade ago, before a peace deal ended their World War I-style conflict in 2000. Furious veRed Sea, UNrbal battles, however, have continued to this day.