An American official has told The New York Times that last night’s powerful nuclear test in North Korea could be linked to Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, and that “it’s very possible that the North Koreans are testing for two countries.” Tehran and Pyongyang have long cooperated on missile technology,...

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Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah “are building a network of militias inside Syria to preserve and protect their interests” should opposition forces successfully overthrow the Bashar al-Assad regime. The regime is aligned with Tehran, and the Iranians have continued to supply Damascus with weapons and training over the course of the...

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Iran will cancel visa requirements for Egyptian merchants and tourists seeking to enter the country, according to statements made last week to Egyptian state news by Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi. The move will be read against the backdrop of Iranian efforts to create what Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has...

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Yemen is demanding that Iran stop arming and supporting insurgents in the country, blasting Tehran for interfering in the state’s internal affairs. Sanaa has also asked the U.N. Security Council to investigate an incident last month in which a ship carrying a cache of suspected Iranian-made “anti-aircraft missiles [and] C4 high explosives materials”...

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Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has rejected the possibility, proposed earlier this month by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, of direct bilateral negotiations between Washington and Tehran. The prospect of bilateral negotiations – and their status – has been a contentious issue. It was explicitly argued during a 2012 presidential...

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The visit of Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Egypt, the first by an Iranian leader since Cairo and Tehran broke off relations in 1980, has not entirely succeeded in conveying a sense of rapprochement between the two long-time rivals. Over the course of the trip, Egyptian officials have publicly condemned...

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Analysts are positively comparing the political resolve shown by Bulgarian officials – who yesterday announced that they had discovered links between Hezbollah and the July 2012 bombing of a tourist bus in Burgas, Bulgaria – with recent Argentinean moves that have been criticized for papering over Iran-backed terrorism. Buenos Aires...

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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has become the first Iranian head of state to visit Egypt since Tehran broke off diplomatic relations with Cairo in 1980. Iran has been engaged in something of a charm offensive toward Egypt, dispatching high-level officials and using state-controlled Iranian TV to promote rapprochement. However, deep divisions remain...

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While both the Arab League and the Iranian regime have condemned reported Israeli strikes on Syrian military assets, British Foreign Secretary William Hague has indicated that London is “not going to give any condemnation of Israel or rush into any criticism.” Reports emerged earlier this week that Israel had struck either a weapons...

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Non-proliferation experts are emphasizing that the installation by Iran of advanced IR-2m centrifuges in the Natanz enrichment facility would be a “game-changer.” Tehran recently informed the International Atomic Energy Agency in a letter that it intends to take such a step. Whereas the centrifuge units currently installed in Natanz can hold 170 centrifuges each,...

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