Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (L) and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at the Miraflores presidential palace, Caracas, January 9, 2012 Last week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made a week-long tour of Latin America. The Iranian leader visited Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Ecuador. Ahmadinejad does not have many friends in the world. All of them, except for Syria, are in Latin America.... 

Benjamin Netanyahu and Barack Obama Both American and Israeli officials say that the decision to postpone a massive joint missile drill scheduled for this spring has nothing to do with hostilities with Iran, although insiders suggest something quite the contrary. The Austere Challenge 12 drill, originally scheduled for April 2012, was slated to be the largest missile drill ever conducted in cooperation... 

The military showdown in the Persian Gulf seems even more inevitable, with the UK foreign secretary not ruling out military action against Iran. Applying even more pressure to the country, Europe may ban Iranian oil imports by the end of the month. ­The UK will continue to pursue a diplomatic solution to bringing Iran to the negotiating table, although, according to the UK Foreign Secretary William... 

USS Abraham Lincoln and its battle group is on its way to the Persian Gulf as the US builds up military presence around Iran. The US and Israel cancel a joint military drill, which was originally scheduled to be held in spring, in what seems to be a sign of deepening rifts between the age-old allies. On January 5, Israeli military announced that Tel Aviv is gearing up for a major missile defense exercise,... 

Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Rogozin The escalating conflict around Iran should be contained by common effort, otherwise the promising Arab Spring will grow into a “scorching Arab Summer,” says Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s former envoy to NATO. ­“Iran is our close neighbor, just south of the Caucasus. Should anything happen to Iran, should Iran get drawn into any political or military... 

The buddy-buddy relationship between American and Israel could falter as it is revealed that Mossad intelligence officers posed as CIA agents in order to recruit and train Iranian terrorists, all unbeknown to US authorities. American intelligence officials have come clean with details surrounding Israel’s attempt to infiltrate the network of the Iranian terrorist group Jundallah. According to internal... 

US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro has described Iran as a regional threat, saying Washington will resort to “all necessary means” to stop Tehran’s nuclear program. “We’ve said and I say again that all options are open … President (Barack) Obama clearly and consistently says that he will do everything and resort to all necessary means... 

USS Carl Vinson The US is deploying more warships to the Persian Gulf area, with the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson entering the Arabian Sea. Washington is also winning over Japan and India in the oil sanction war against Iran. The Pentagon denies the USS Carl Vinson has been dispatched to the Gulf region over the Strait of Hormuz tensions. “Her deployment in that area is routine, long-planned... 

Lawmaker Kazem Jalali A senior lawmaker says assassination of Iranian scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan proves that the confidential information provided to international bodies by Iran has been leaked to the country’s enemies. “The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) must be trusted by nations because nations and governments give their documents to the agency,” said speaker of the... 

Iranian scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan was killed in a terrorist attack in Tehran on Wednesday, January 11, 2012. Iran accuses Israel and the USA of assassinating an Iranian nuclear professor in Tehran, pointing to a string of attacks against such scientists in the country. Both countries have denied the accusations, according to AP. Iran’s vice-president reacted to the attack by saying it would... 

An Iranian Warship Tehran’s leadership has decided to order a blockade of the strategic Strait of Hormuz if the country’s oil exports are blocked, a senior Revolutionary Guard Commander said as reported by Iranian press. ­The strategic decision was made by Iran’s top authorities, Ali Ashraf Nouri said, as cited by the Iranian Khorasan daily. “The supreme authorities … have insisted... 

A frame grab obtained from a video aired on the Iranian television on December 18, 2011 shows Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, the CIA operative recently detained in the Islamic Republic. Iran has sentenced to death CIA operative Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, who was earlier arrested by Iran’s intelligence forces on charges of committing acts of espionage on behalf of the US. The verdict was issued by Tehran’s... 

US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland The US has warned Latin American states against a further expansion of diplomatic and business ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran. “We are making absolutely clear to countries around the world that now is not the time to be deepening ties, not security ties, not economic ties, with Iran,” US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said... 

Amid the anti-Iran war rhetoric, the British Royal Navy has dispatched its most advanced and sophisticated destroyer to the Persian Gulf. The Ministry of Defense confirmed on Saturday that the one-billion-pound destroyer would join the British presence in the region. The Telegraph claimed the vessel has been fitted with new technology in order to shoot down any missile in Iran’s armory. The... 

South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak (L) igreets Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda. Both countries have expressed their intentions to disregard US-led sanctions on Iranian oil. Japan has become the latest country to hint at its intention to ignore US-led oil sanctions on Iran, after South Korea’s recent dismissal of Washington’s bid to boycott the Iranian crude. “We are not considering...