The "Quartet" of international mediators for the Middle East, including Russia, the USA, the United Nations, and the European Union, is slated for a meeting in Moscow on March 19 th , It will adopt a statement to confirm, among other things, that it denounces the construction by Israel of new Jewish settlements on the occupied Palestinian lands. →
Under a blanket of tight security designed to thwart insurgent attacks, Iraqis are voting in parliamentary elections, the second for a full term of parliament since the 2003 US-led invasion seven years, and the first since the start of the US troop pullout from the country. →
Tehran's decision to start further enriching uranium makes one increasingly doubtful that Iran is sincere when claiming that it seeks to allay the world community's concerns about the nature of its nuclear programme. This comes in a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry in response to the Iranian authorities' latest moves. →
On Monday, Iran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA that it was increasing uranium enrichment from 5 per cent to 20 per cent, and that the following day Tuesday, it will begin the production of high grade fuel. →
Experts at the U.S. Defence Department affirm that Iran poses a serious threat to the interests of the U.S. and its allies in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. However, foreign analysts conclude that the deployment of the elements of the U.S. →
Summing up his visit to Russia, Palestinian Leader Mahmud Abbas said that Palestine and Russia share common view of the Middle East problem. Abbas' statement could be regarded as a diplomatic move or an attempt to put pressure on his opponents, showing that Palestine has a powerful ally. →
An official trip by Saeed Jalili, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, to Russia has been called off. Some media reported that the cancellation was in line with more coordination between Iranian officials prior to the forthcoming visit. Other media just reported that the visit had been postponed for an uncertain period of time without naming any cause. →
Russian diplomacy is due to stand another "nuclear test", as it were, now that the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Said Jalili is coming to Moscow as the chief of a team of negotiators of Iran's nuclear problem, - a more acute issue of international politics. →
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is due to hold talks with the Palestinian National Administration Head Mahmoud Abbas next Wednesday in Russia's warm southern city Sochi to sort of unfreeze the Palestinian-Israeli dialogue. This came in a statement on Friday by the Kremlin's press service. →
The United States is discussing with its allies a set of new sanctions against Iran, but keeps the door open if Tehran bows to international demands to roll up its uranium enrichment effort. Washington is treading carefully in a measure due to the Russian and Chinese rejection of fresh economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic. →
The Hamas Palestinian movement has recognized Israel's right to exist and is ready to change its charter, which calls for the destruction of Israel, the "Jerusalem Post" newspaper has informed. Still, what stands behind the publication? The newspaper is quoting Aziz Dwaik, Hamas's top representative in the West Bank of Jordan. →
Russia is displaying advanced models of military aircraft, helicopters and military transport planes at the Bahrain International Air Show which opened on Thursday. Forty companies from the U.S., Britain, Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are taking part in the show. The air show is held under the patronage of King Hamad Ben Isa Al-Khalifa. →
A conference in Doha in Qatar on processing natural gas is debating initiatives to stop aligning the price of gas with that of oil. The hope is to expel volatility from the gas market. →
It will probably take Iran seven years to make a nuclear bomb capacity. This was stated by a prominent Israeli weapon expert, former director-general of the country's Atomic Energy Commission, Brigadier-General Uzi Eilam, in an interview with The Sunday Times. The sensational statement by General Uzi Eilam contradicts assessments of Israel's defence establishment. →
Al Qaeda militants became more active in late December-early January. The US and the UK Embassies in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, were closed in early January after a warning of possible attack. They were shortly reopened after successful anti-terrorist operations conducted by Yemen security services. Several al-Qaeda militants were liquidated in the Arhab district, North Yemen. →
There has been a burst of diplomatic activity in the Middle East over lately with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and chief of the Palestinian Administration Mahmoud Abbas paying separate visits to Egypt recently. On Tuesday, the Egyptian foreign minister welcomed his Jordanian, Spanish, Tunisian and French counterparts to a conference in Cairo. →
Iran's nuclear programme has split the UN Security Council. The permanent members differ on the policy that the international community should pursue on Tehran. →
Iran has so far refused to respond to a UN-brokered uranium enrichment deal aimed at easing fears about its nuclear program by the agreed deadline of today →
Russia has no proofs that Iran plans to develop nuclear weapons, the Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabov says. And to bring accusations against Iran without serious proofs is unjustified and irresponsible, the diplomat stressed, commenting on the statements of the former U.S. →
The latest developments in Iran have provoked broader resonance across the world. Our listeners are also paying interest to these events. We present an interview with an Orientalist, an expert on Iran, Professor Vladimir Sazhin. The situation in Iran is characterized by clashes of opinions between the authorities and the opposition. The opposition has lately staged demonstrations of protest. →