The Gulf Cooperation Council is calling for international inspectors to be dispatched to Iran to inspect the country’s Bushehr nuclear plant. The declaration comes after a Tuesday 6.3-magnitude earthquake in the area, and the GCC called attention to concerns over radiation leaks: GCC Secretary-General, Abdulatif al-Zayani, said that Gulf Arab states...

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Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird, fresh off a two-week trip to the Middle East, has called on the European Union to designate Hezbollah, which he calls “a grave threat to security and stability in the Middle East and beyond.” Designating Hezbollah in Europe would severely impact the terror group’s fundraising...

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North Korea is signalling that it is committed to another missile test, following a nuclear test earlier this year and alongside nuclear threats it’s leveling at South Korea. The moves have put the entire region on edge, with Japan deploying Patriot batteries in Tokyo and U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warning...

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Bahrain’s cabinet has made the country the first Arab state to blacklist Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. The move follows a recommendation issued last week from the Gulf nation’s parliament to do so. Bahrain has long claimed that the Iran-backed terror group foments instability inside the Gulf nation’s borders. In a secret...

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Last month analysts declared, based on an array of government statements, that Canada was rapidly losing patience with Iran. Earlier this week Ottawa’s stance became even more explicit with Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird declaring that if Israel acts unilaterally to degrade Iran’s atomic program, the Islamic republic would have only...

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Iran has brought online new uranium mines and a yellow cake production facility, deepening concerns that the country is diversifying and deepening its critical nuclear infrastructure with an eye toward developing a so-called “virtual arsenal.” Tehran would under that scenario have the technology, material, and know-how to rush across the nuclear...

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The head of Iran’s parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy said Sunday that Tehran will never halt its atomic program but suggested that talks between his country and the international community continue anyway: Alaeddin Boroujerdi said the talks were “considered effective and a step forward,” but he added,...

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Zero progress: Negotiations over Iran’s disputed nuclear program broke off on Saturday without signs of even incremental progress… The failure to reach any accord was a serious setback for the talks… After the conclusion of two days of tense bargaining, Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, said that...

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Today’s P5+1 talks with Iran in Almaty, Kazakhstan ended without progress, as Western diplomats expressed frustration not just over Iranian intransigence but over what appears to be a kind of unseriousness regarding the details of the P5+1’s offer. A Western diplomat described to The Tower gaps not just in agreeing...

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The P5+1 began its latest round of talks with Iran today in Kazakhstan. Analysts worry that Iran will agree to temporarily suspend its enrichment – some leaks have indicated that the target timeframe is for six months – only to use the time to build up its critical nuclear infrastructure. The result...

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