TEHRAN — A fiery anti-Israel speech by Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, delivered shortly after a successful Iranian satellite launch, added to growing global tensions Friday, as Israel warned that it might mount a preemptive strike against the Islamic republic’s nuclear facilities despite U.S. objections. Read full article > >

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Khamenei: Iran will back ‘any nations, any groups’ fighting Israel

TEHRAN — Faced with a plummeting currency in the wake of toughened international sanctions, Iran is cracking down on black-market money changers and warning that major speculators could face execution. Read full article > >

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Iran warns currency speculators as rial continues to fall

The dispute between Iran and Western economies escalates after Tehran says it will stop oil sales to some countries.

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Iran seeks to halt some oil sales

TEHRAN — A high-ranking former Iranian commander has sparked protests and angry denunciations by hard-liners and Revolutionary Guard leaders for publishing a commentary that critics said compares recent government crackdowns on the opposition to repression during the rule of the shah. Read full article > >

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Former commander’s letter sparks uproar in Iran

Tehran says it has evidence CIA killed scientist.

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U.S. Warns Israel: Don’t Strike Iran

At a time of growing tension over its nuclear program, Iran reported on Wednesday that a nuclear scientist died in what was termed a “terrorist bomb blast” in Tehran.

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Iran Reports Killing of Nuclear Scientist

A nuclear scientist is killed after a suspected bomb exploded in a car in northern Tehran, reports say, the latest in a string of such nuclear-linked attacks.

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‘Scientist killed’ in Iran blast

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has begun uranium enrichment at a new underground site well protected from possible airstrikes, a leading hardline newspaper reported Sunday. Kayhan daily, which is close to Iran’s ruling clerics, said Tehran has begun injecting uranium gas into sophisticated centrifuges at the Fordo facility near the holy city of Qom. Read full article > >

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Report: Iran begins uranium enrichment at new underground site

For the U.S. Navy, it was like hitting the public-relations jackpot: An aircraft carrier strike group that just left the Persian Gulf stumbles across an Iranian fishing vessel in distress, hijacked by pirates. Forces from the U.S.S. John C. Stennis carrier strike group, whose presence in the region had provoked a rhetorical outburst from Tehran that spooked global oil markets , swiftly made the most of the moment. They seized 15 Somali pirates without firing a shot and rescued 13 hungry Iranian fishermen who had been held hostage for several weeks. Read full article > >

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U.S. picks up Iranian hostages, with good timing

France says the EU should follow the US in imposing stricter sanctions on Tehran, as Iran’s currency falls again amid worries over their impact.

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France urges new Iran sanctions

West had doubted Tehran was capable.

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Iran Produces First Nuclear Fuel Rod

The bill also applies penalties against Iran’s central bank in an effort to hamper Tehran’s ability to finance its nuclear enrichment program.

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Obama Signs Military Spending Bill

MOSCOW — Russia’s customs agency said Friday that it seized radioactive metal from the luggage of an Iranian passenger bound for Tehran. Spokeswoman Kseniya Grebenkina told The Associated Press that the luggage had been seized some time ago, but could not specify when. The Iranian hasn’t been detained, she said. Read full article > >

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Russian customs seize radioactive metal from Iranian’s luggage bound for Tehran

TEHRAN — Iranian officials on Tuesday demanded an apology from the Obama administration before they would even consider any U.S. request to return a surveillance drone that Iran captured earlier this month. “President Obama should not forget that that the Iranian airspace was clearly violated by the U.S. drone, and therefore the U.S. should first apologize for that,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters Tuesday. Read full article > >

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Iran demands U.S. apology for drone flight

IRAN HAS BEEN showing signs of increasing nervousness about the possibility that its nuclear program will come under attack by Israel or the United States. From the West’s point of view, this alarm is good: The more Iran worries about a military attack, the more likely it is to scale back its nuclear activity. The only occasion in which Tehran froze its weaponization program came immediately after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, when it feared it might be the next American target. That’s why the Obama administration, like the Bush administration before it, regularly repeats that “all options are on the table.” Read full article > >

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The wrong signals to Iran