TEHRAN — Iranian security forces have arrested an Israeli-backed “terrorist team” that was planning attacks inside Iran, the Intelligence Ministry announced Tuesday, four days before crucial nuclear talks with world powers . Read full article > >

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Iran says it captured Israel-backed ‘terrorist team’

President Obama’s determination cleared the way for severe new sanctions intended to slash Iran’s oil revenue and press Tehran to abandon its nuclear ambitions.

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Obama Clears Way for Measures Against Iran

President Obama delivered his annual message to the Iranian people on Tuesday, using a far more confrontational tone than usual to say that he will seek ways to break through the “electronic curtain” that Tehran has thrown over the Internet and other forms of communication. Read full article > >

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Obama to Iranian people in holiday message: ‘Americans seek a dialogue’

Mock firing squads. Manacles. Blindfolds. This was not what I signed up for when I joined the Foreign Service in October 1978. But that was what I found when, assigned to Tehran as my first post, I was taken captive for 444 days by Islamic militants, along with 51 of my colleagues. I was 24 years old, and Iran was gripped by revolution. Read full article > >

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Iran held me hostage three decades ago. It shouldn’t hold America hostage today.

International sanctions on Iran are starting to pinch, and Tehran is scrambling to hang on to buyers for its crude oil exports. In January, China, South Korea and Singapore sharply cut their oil purchases from Iran. Last month, Shipping Corp. of India canceled an Iranian shipment because its European insurers refused to provide coverage for the tanker, according to Lloyd’s List. And Japanese oil refiners have asked for clauses to be added to oil-purchase contracts so they can back out if they can’t obtain tanker insurance. Read full article > >

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Noose tightens around Iranian oil exports

President Obama urged Israel to allow more time for a campaign of economic sanctions to work on Tehran.

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Obama Cites ‘Window’ for Diplomacy on Iran Bomb

As Tehran practices military drills to protect facilities.

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Nuke Watchdog Lands in Iran

The targeting of two countries that depend little on Iranian oil may be a mostly symbolic response to their positions on Iran’s nuclear program and on Syria, an ally of Tehran.

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Iran Halts Oils Shipments to Britain and France

TEHRAN — In a new show of defiance against tightened sanctions, Iran on Wednesday threatened to cut oil exports to several European Union countries and unveiled advances in its nuclear fuel programs. In a day of fiery speeches, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also lashed out at the West, condemning the recent assassinations of Iranian scientists. Read full article > >

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Iran threatens to cut some oil exports to Europe, touts nuclear advances

Officials in Tehran plan to pre-emptively halt oil exports to six countries, Iranian state media reported, in response to the West’s economic sanctions.

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State Media Says Iran Will Cut Oil to 6 European Nations

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