Following campaigns by the WJC and many other organisations, the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, found himself addressing a mostly empty UN debating chamber on 23 September 2009 as delegates either boycotted his speech entirely or walked out as he attacked the 'Zionist Regime' for committing genocide against Palestinians.
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Media reports citing Nato officials say that Nato troops in Afghanistan have seized weapons supplied by Iran and apparently intended for the Taliban.The cache included 50 rockets that have twice the range of the weapons currently available to the insurgents. read more »
Iran has started loading domestically made nuclear fuel at a major research reactor for the first time, despite Western sanctions. It was also reported that Iran is to cut oil exports to six European countries in reaction to recent EU sanctions. read more »
» Iran eyes talks after nuclear boasts - Agence France Presse
» At CRIF dinner Sarkozy pledges support for Israel but warns of military strike against Iran
The European Union has stepped up pressure on Iran by imposing a ban on oil imports from the Islamic republic until it complies its international demands over its nuclear program. The 27 EU member countries also agreed to freeze assets in an effort to starve the nuclear program of funding. read more »
US President Barack Obama has signed tough new sanctions into law targeting Iran's central bank and financial sector. The measures effectively require foreign firms to make a choice between doing business with Iran or the United States. read more »
» EJC commends European Union on Iran sanctions decision - Jerusalem Post, Israel
» Obama faces "risk" in ignoring sanctions, Kirk warns - JTA, USA
» Iran seeking to expand influence in Latin America - Washington Post, USA
Russian police on Friday seized a radioactive consignment at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport from a passenger who was about to travel on to Tehran. read more »
» Asia frets over oil as US eyes new Iran sanctions - Reuters, UK
British Foreign Secretary William Hague has told the House of Commons that the government had ordered all Iranian diplomats in London to leave the country within 48 hours, following the storming of two UK Embassy compounds in Tehran by a mob on Tuesday. read more »
» Britain and Germany urge EU to isolate Iran - The Local, Germany
Last week's IAEA report that exposed the atomic 'smoking gun' hidden inside Iran is not the only game changer in the changing fabric of the Middle East. The withdrawal of American troops from Iraq is another gigantic development, which, combined with the Iranian challenge, will dominate Middle Eastern politics in the near future. read more »
» New reports link North Korean, Iranian nuclear programs - Voice of America, USA
A delegation of the World Jewish Congress led by WJC President Ronald S. Lauder and the president of the French Jewish community umbrella organization CRIF, Richard Prasquier, have had a discussion at the Elysée Palace in Paris with France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy. read more »
» Sarkozy pledges friendship to Netanyahu in letter - JTA, USA
» "Sarkozy to visit Israel to mend ties with Netanyahu" - Jerusalem Post, Israel
» US calls UN report on Iran nuclear program "alarming", vows further sanctions - Haaretz, Israel
» Ronald S. Lauder on the growing international assault on Israel 
The International Atomic Energy Agency has again found the regime in Tehran in breach of its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and said there was “credible” evidence that Iran has been conducting a covert nuclear weapons program. read more »
» France will stand side by side with Israel to oppose Iranian threat, Sarkozy tells WJC leaders
Ahead of a critical report by the IAEA on Iran’s nuclear program, the Luxembourg Forum on Preventing Nuclear Catastrophe has called on the international community to act concertedly and with determination to prevent the regime in Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. read more »
» Israel hoping IAEA report will spur West into action - Jerusalem Post, Israel
The United States and Britain are reportedly drawing up plans to attack Iran following reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran now has now enriched uranium sufficient for building four nuclear warheads. read more »
» Poll shows strong Israeli support for Iran attack - Associated Press, USA
» UN uncovers new evidence of suspected Syrian nuclear site - Israel Hayom
Ahead of Iran's annual Al-Quds [Jerusalem] Day, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has again threatened to destroy the Jewish state, saying his country was determined to "eradicate" Israel, which he called an "infectious tumor" and a "regime full of rascality." read more »
Following the refusal of an Iranian swimmer to contest a heat at the World Swimming Championships, WJC President Lauder urged all international sports federations to suspend the participation of Iranians in major championships “until the regime in Tehran ends its ban on competing with Israeli athletes.” read more »
» Malaysian soccer federation says sorry to Israeli player for suffering anti-Semitic abuse
» Fina asks Iran to explain Israel pull-out - Agence France Presse
» British envoy to Israel: Boycotts are the antithesis of Olympic spirit - Haaretz, Israel
» UK criticizes Iran for stance towards Israeli athletes - Jerusalem Post, Israel
The decision by the US administration not to take part in a United Nations event in September to mark the tenth anniversary of the controversial 2001 Durban conference on combating racism has been welcomed by the World Jewish Congress. read more »
This year’s session of the United Nations Council of the Status of Women (CSW) was marred by the outrageous ascension of Iran to the CSW board - although Iran is one of the world’s most egregious violators of women’s rights. The World Jewish Diplomatic Corps, together with other groups, protested against this decision. read more »
» United Nations finally decides to take closer look at human rights situation in Iran
The General Assembly of the United Nations has voted unanimously to suspend Libya from the UN Human Rights Council for committing “gross and systematic violations of human rights.” Israel’s PM Netanyahu has called on the West to impose similar measures on Iran, too. read more »
» Israeli musician becomes star of Libyan revolution - Israel Today
Dozens of Iranian opposition supporters were arrested on Monday while taking part in a banned rally in the capital Tehran to support the popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. read more »
» 14 dead as Gaddafi regime cracks down on protesters
» Turkey and Iran want to triple bilateral trade volume
» Iran “steadily, constantly” producing enriched uranium, says IAEA chief
As Iran pursues the development of a nuclear capability whilst refusing to allow inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the international community has imposed several rounds of increasing severe sanctions to try and force it to fulfill its legal and moral obligations. read more »
» Switzerland adopts stricter sanctions against Iran, in line with EU
» French FM tells European Jewish Congress: “France will take a strong stand against Iran”
» US Congress passes stiff Iran sanctions
» OPINION - Ronald S. Lauder: Put more pressure on Iran - Financial Times Deutschland
» United Nations imposes fourth round of sanctions on Iran
» Should Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Barack Obama should meet to discuss the nuclear issue? 
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – whose regime is the main backer of the radical Shiite paramilitary group Hezbollah – has called on Israel, the United States and European nations to stop what he called interfering in Lebanese politics. read more »
» Speculation about possible role of Iranian supreme leader in assassination of former Lebanese PM
The prosecutor of the UN Special Tribunal investigating the 2005 murder of Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, has submitted a confidential indictment naming senior leaders of Hezbollah and reportedly also the Iranian regime as masterminds of the assassination. read more »
» Are the actions of the Iranian government a threat to peace and stability in the world?
A UN General Assembly committee adopted a resolution strongly criticizing “serious human rights violations in Iran.” Mohammad Javad Larijani, the head of Iran's Human Rights Council, defended the practice of stoning people to death read more »
Research by the cyber security company Symantec on the Stuxnet computer worm has concluded that it was specifically programmed to sabotage electronic equipment used in Iran for uranium enrichment. read more »
» Illegal Iranian arms shipment seized in Nigeria
» Are the actions of the Iranian government a threat to peace and stability in the world?
The United Nations Economic and Social Council has rejected Iran's candidacy for the new UN agency promoting women's rights, following massive protests by Western countries and human rights organizations, including the World Jewish Congress. However, the council elected Saudi Arabia as one of the new Executive members of UN Women. read more »
» OPINION - Robin Shepherd: Saudi Arabia gets seat on governing board of top UN women’s rights body
» Iran stays execution of woman convicted of adultery following global outcry
Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for allegedly having committed adultery, escaped her execution on Wednesday after strong international protests. read more »
» Stop Iran and Saudi Arabia from running UN Women’s rights agency!
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was scheduled to visit Hezbollah strongholds near the Lebanese border with Israel on Thursday after he was warmly received in Beirut on Wednesday. read more »
» Ahmadinejad: Israel will soon go to hell, and its supporters with it
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's upcoming visit to Lebanon has stirred controversy in the Middle East, and even some Lebanese leaders view it as a provocation meant to serve the Iranian leader's future plans for war. read more »
» ‘Haaretz’: Hezbollah operatives trained on Syrian missile base near Damascus
» Are the actions of the Iranian government a threat to peace and stability in the world?
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has provoked another walkout at the United Nations by suggesting that many people believed the US government staged the 9/11 terror attacks in an attempt to save the survival of the “Zionist regime” (Israel). read more »
» Israeli and Palestinian leaders try to save peace talks as settlement building freeze ends
» At UN, Obama asks world leaders for more commitment to Middle East peace process
» Israel rejects accusations by UN Human Rights Council panel on flotilla raid
» Peres tells UN that Israel is ready to make peace with Syria
Addressing the United Nations in New York, President Shimon Peres has said Israel was ready to enter peace talks with Syria “straight away”. read more »
» Netanyahu: Israeli troops to stay on West Bank border with Jordan
» Olmert: US was ready to accept 100,000 Palestinian refugees as part of peace deal
Iran has announced that it will start building the first of ten new uranium enrichment plants at a secret location in the spring of 2011. read more »
» Iran warns West of interfering in case of woman to be executed by stoning
» Opinion poll finds support for nuclear-armed Iran in Arab world
» Syria and Iran to support Lebanon against Israeli “aggression”
» Are the actions of the Iranian government a threat to peace and stability in the world?
The 2010 Arab Public Opinion Poll has found that 57 percent of respondents view Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons positively. US President Obama’s approval ratings in the Arab world have declined sharply in the last 12 months. read more »
As the US halts military aid to Lebanon following the deadly exchange of fire with Israel on the border, Iran and Syria have pledged to support Lebanon militarily against “the Zionist regime”. read more »
» UN vindicates Israel over deadly exchange of fire with Lebanese troops
» Four die in exchange of fire between Lebanese and Israeli troops
» Are the actions of the Iranian government a threat to peace and stability in the world?
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has reportedly escaped an attempt to kill him in the western city of Hamadan when a hand grenade exploded in a vehicle accompanying his convoy. read more »
» Iran claims to have S-300 surface-to-air missiles - Associated Press, USA
» Australia to impose new sanctions on Iran
The head of Iran's nuclear agency has said that it's first nuclear power plant will become operational in September. The Bushehr reactor, a joint venture with Russia, has been under development for 15 years. read more »
» Iran says it has now 17 kilos of higher enriched uranium
» Tehran bars two inspectors of UN nuclear watchdog from entering Iran
» Has the time come for military action against Iran's nuclear program?
Iran has banned ‘Zionist' companies , including non-Israeli ones, from doing business in Iran, Israel’s ‘Army Radio’ has reported. read more »
» Venezuela’s Chávez and Syria’s Assad lash out against Israel
» British trade union calls for boycott - Jerusalem Post, Israel
» Are the actions of the Iranian government a threat to peace and stability in the world?
Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi reportedly said that he and fellow world leaders "believe absolutely" that Israel may decide to take military action against Iran to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. read more »
» US Congress passes stiff Iran sanctions
» OPINION - Ronald S. Lauder: Put more pressure on Iran - Financial Times Deutschland
» Has the time come for military action against Iran's nuclear program?
In a thinly veiled reference to nuclear arms, Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi – a hard-line Iranian cleric who is seen as spiritual mentor of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – has called for the production of those “special weapons’’ that were a monopoly of a few nations. read more »
» United Nations imposes fourth round of sanctions on Iran
» Are the actions of the Iranian government a threat to peace and stability in the world?
At a conference in Istanbul, Turkey, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said his country would not give any more ground on its nuclear program. He also accused Israel of having committed “crimes that have been unprecedented in the history of mankind.” read more »
» Iran sanctions will come, says Russian president
» Iran has enough material to build two nuclear bombs, IAEA reports says
» Has the time come for military action against Iran's nuclear program?
A new report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna reveals that Iran has now amassed enough fissile material to build two nuclear bombs, if it chooses to enrich its uranium stockpile to a weapons-grade level. read more »
» Sanctions can and do hurt Iran. Financial Times
» Major powers agree on new package of sanctions against Iran
» Are the actions of the Iranian government a threat to peace and stability in the world?
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has agreed "in principle" to new talks with the major powers, mediated by Brazil, on the exchange of nuclear fuel for uranium. read more »
» Many UN members walk out after yet another Ahmadinejad diatribe
» Top Iranian official rules out uranium enrichment deal with West
» Has the time come for military action against Iran's nuclear program?
Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad again triggered a walkout by Western countries at the United Nations following a blistering attack against the United States and Israel at a nuclear non-proliferation conference in New York. read more »
» World Jewish Congress calls on UN members to walk out on Ahmadinejad
» Should Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Barack Obama should meet to discuss the nuclear issue?
The World Jewish Congress and other Jewish organizations have called on United Nations representatives to walk out on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he addresses a conference on nuclear non-proliferation in New York. read more »
» Top Iranian official rules out uranium enrichment deal with West
» Chávez denies US claim that Iranian forces have a presence in Venezuela
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has denied an American report that members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard were present in his country. read more »
» Two major accounting firms cut ties with Iran
» Are the actions of the Iranian government a threat to peace and stability in the world?
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has issued a strong personal attack against US President Barack Obama, calling him a “cowboy” who was quick to threaten to use nuclear weapons against America’s enemies. read more »
» Obama limits reasons for use of US nuclear weapons
» Obama, Sarkozy want new Iran sanctions in place “within weeks”
» Should Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Barack Obama should meet to discuss the nuclear issue?
US President Barack Obama and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy have said they wanted tough new sanctions against Iran adopted at the United Nations within weeks. In a reversal of its stance, China has agreed to take part in talks on new UN measures against Tehran. read more »
» Has the time come for military action against Iran's nuclear program?
In a speech to supporters in southern Iran, the Iranian president launched yet another diatribe against Israel and predicted it would be annihilated soon. read more »
» Op-Ed by Meital Nir on the United Nations Human Rights Council and Iran
Whilst the United States and Europe are pushing for new sanctions against Iran, countries such as Brazil and China expressed reservations. The Iranian human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi warned of sanctions punishing the people and not the regime. read more »
» German minister says Iranian membership of UN Human Rights Council would be an “affront”
» Iran attacks Western “lewdness” at UN Human Rights Council meeting
» Has the time come for military action against Iran's nuclear program?
The new head of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has said that Iran is not co-operating with the agency 's investigation into the country's nuclear program. read more »
» EU draws up list of stiff sanctions against Iran
» Iran says it will build two new uranium enrichment sites this year
» Are the actions of the Iranian government a threat to peace and stability in the world?
European Union officials have drawn up an extensive list of new sanctions against Iran sanctions which if implemented would affect the entire economy of the Islamic republic and target the financial and oil sectors in particular. read more »
» Iran says it will build two new uranium enrichment sites this year
» Should Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Barack Obama should meet to discuss the nuclear issue?
The Human Rights Council of the United Nations has begun a debate on the human rights record of Iran. read more »
President Barack Obama has pledged that the United States and its allies would soon deliver a "significant regime of sanctions" against Iran for its nuclear program. read more »
» Pro-government protestors attack Italian Embassy in Tehran
» Has the time come for military action against Iran's nuclear program?
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has shocked the international community with his announcement that his country would immediately start producing 20-percent-enriched uranium in Iran for use in its nuclear reactor in Tehran. read more »
» Why uranium enrichment is so important - CNN, USA
» Seven people linked to US-backed radio station arrested in Iran
» Prof. David Menashri, Head of Centre for Iranian Studies, Tel Aviv University
Speaking on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Israel’s President Peres, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and World Jewish Congress President Lauder highlighted the danger posed by the Iranian regime. In Tehran, Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei predicted the day would come when Israel would be destroyed. read more »
» Address by Benjamin Netanyahu at ceremony marking 65 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz
» Are the actions of the Iranian government a threat to peace and stability in the world?
UN inspectors probing suspected nuclear weapons activities in Iran have been denied access to a key military site, the IAEA said on Wednesday. read more »
Should Israel decide to launch a strike on Iran, its pilots would have to fly more than 1,000 miles across unfriendly airspace, refuel in the air en route, fight off Iran’s air defenses, attack multiple underground sites simultaneously - and use at least 100 planes. read more »
Although Iran’s policies now lie at the center of world politics, far too little attention is being paid to the unique ideological atmosphere that makes the Iranian nuclear weapons program so dangerous. Holocaust denial is the cruelest aspect of this ideology. read more »
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran criticized foreign powers for a campaign of destabilization, which he said was to blame for the problems facing Pakistan and Afghanistan. read more »
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Thursday Iran's announcement of new nuclear achievements was exaggerated and meant to fend off action against the Islamic republic. read more »
Iran has started loading domestically made nuclear fuel at a major research reactor for the first time, despite Western sanctions. It was also reported that Iran is to cut oil exports to six European countries in reaction to recent EU sanctions. read more »
A website with close ties to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has outlined why it would be acceptable to kill all Jews and annihilate Israel. read more »
Obama says there is no evidence Iran has the "intentions or capabilities" to wage attacks on American soil, stresses US will do everything to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapon. read more »
Iran will help any nation or group that confronts the “cancer” Israel, the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday. read more »
Iran was trying to strike Israeli targets around the world in a bid to stop the assassinations of its nuclear scientists, the head of the Israel's internal security service, Yoram Cohen, has said. read more »
IAEA inspectors have agreed to return to Tehran later this month for a second round of talks on Iran’s nuclear program, while acknowledging that meetings this week achieved no significant breakthroughs, diplomats have said. read more »
IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said Israel must build up its military capabilities and be prepared to strike if economic sanctions fail to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. read more »
Members of the US Senate's Banking Committee plan to vote on a new round of sanctions targeting Iran's energy sector, aimed at choking off funds they suspect Tehran uses to develop nuclear weapons. read more »
The United States is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and will take no options off the table to achieve that goal, President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union address on Tuesday. read more »
The European Union has stepped up pressure on Iran by imposing a ban on oil imports from the Islamic republic until it complies its international demands over its nuclear program. The 27 EU member countries also agreed to freeze assets in an effort to starve the nuclear program of funding. read more »
European Union diplomats agreed to place an embargo on the import of Iranian oil with a phase-in period to 1 July 2012. read more »
The Obama administration is relying on a secret channel of communication to warn Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that closing the Strait of Hormuz is a “red line” that would provoke an American response. read more »
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, under growing pressure from the international community for his country's nuclear program, found some fleeting solace Monday in the arms of another controversial statesman: Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. read more »
Diplomats on Monday confirmed reports that Iran has begun uranium enrichment at a new underground bunker and say the process is producing material that can be upgraded quickly for use in a nuclear weapon. read more »
The European Jewish Congress on Thursday commended the European Union for agreeing in principle to ban the import of oil from Iran. EJC President Moshe Kantor said the decision announced by European officials earlier this week was an important measure that would help deter the defiant Islamic Republic from pursuing its nuclear program. read more »
Senator Mark Kirk, a co-author of the new Iran sanctions law, has warned that President Obama would face "overwhelming opposition" from Congress if he ignored parts of the measure. read more »
US President Barack Obama has signed tough new sanctions into law targeting Iran's central bank and financial sector. The measures effectively require foreign firms to make a choice between doing business with Iran or the United States. read more »
Iran is quietly seeking to expand its ties with Latin America in what US officials and regional experts say is an effort to circumvent economic sanctions and gain access to much-needed markets and raw materials. read more »
President Barack Obama's sharp criticisms of Venezuela's human rights record and its ties to Iran are heightening tensions with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who on Monday responded by calling Obama a "clown" and telling him to mind his own business. read more »
US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said that Iran would not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon. Despite the efforts to disrupt the Iranian nuclear program, the Iranians had now reached a point where they could assemble a bomb in a year or potentially less. read more »
Plans for fresh US sanctions to isolate Tehran have sent shudders among Asian governments who fear they will have no way to pay for Iranian crude imports and face rising costs to fuel the region's growing economies. read more »
Russian police on Friday seized a radioactive consignment at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport from a passenger who was about to travel on to Tehran. read more »
An Iranian lawmaker said Thursday that the Islamic Republic has begun construction on a new nuclear plant in Isfahan, where a mysterious explosion reportedly occurred at the site of a nuclear facility last month. read more »
Leaders of a US House and Senate negotiating panel on Monday said they had agreed to compromise legislation imposing new sanctions that target Iran's central bank, despite Obama administration misgivings over the measure. read more »
The extra sanctions, targeting additional entities and individuals over their involvement in Iran's ballistic missile and nuclear programs, underlined Australia's mounting concern, Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said on Tuesday. read more »
Argentina is quietly reaching out to Iran, worrying key Western powers and Israel as they try to tighten Tehran's international isolation over its nuclear program, UN diplomats told the news agency 'Reuters'. read more »
Iran said on Sunday that it shot down a US stealth drone near the country's eastern border, but US officials in Afghanistan said the craft could instead be an unmanned reconnaissance plane that veered off course and crashed last week. read more »
The United States Senate took aim at the Iranian central bank in an effort to choke off oil exports, while the European Union stopped short of targeting crude as it tightened sanctions intended to curb Iran’s nuclear program. read more »
Britain and Germany called for sanctions to financially isolate Iran as EU foreign ministers gathered to consider tough new measures against Tehran due to fresh concerns over its nuclear program. read more »
British Foreign Secretary William Hague has told the House of Commons that the government had ordered all Iranian diplomats in London to leave the country within 48 hours, following the storming of two UK Embassy compounds in Tehran by a mob on Tuesday. read more »
Iran has enough material for the production of four or five nuclear bombs, former Military Intelligence head Amos Yadlin declared at a ceremony marking his appointment as the new director of Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies. read more »
Iran critics are calling on a German foundation to cut ties with a board of trustees member Mostafa Dolatya, Iran's acting vice minister, who has called for Israel's destruction. read more »
An Iranian bill to downgrade diplomatic ties with the UK got final approval on Monday, just one day after parliament approved the draft which compels the government to expel the British ambassador. read more »
General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the aerospace division of the powerful Revolutionary Guard, has threatened to target Nato's missile defense shield in neighboring Turkey in case of a military strike against Tehran's nuclear program. read more »
The United States, Canada and several European Union countries are enacting new sanctions against Iran, following a recent report by the International Atomic Energy Agency which suggested that the regime in Tehran could soon have the ability to build nuclear weapons. read more »
The Obama administration is investigating whether Iran supplied the Libyan government of Moammar Gaddafi with hundreds of special artillery shells for chemical weapons that Libya kept secret for decades, US officials said. read more »
Iran dares Israel to attack, because the retaliation would send the Jewish state to "the dustbin of history," a senior Revolutionary Guard commander has said, according to the 'Fars' news agency. read more »
An adviser to Iran's supreme leader has said that Tehran was willing to share its controversial nuclear technology with neighbouring countries, suggesting it could help Turkey build an atomic power plant. read more »
Media are reporting details of alleged cooperation between Iran and North Korea in trying to build atomic bombs. Such joint activities have been suspected for years. read more »
Last week's IAEA report that exposed the atomic 'smoking gun' hidden inside Iran is not the only game changer in the changing fabric of the Middle East. The withdrawal of American troops from Iraq is another gigantic development, which, combined with the Iranian challenge, will dominate Middle Eastern politics in the near future. read more »
The United States said on Tuesday it was alarmed by a recently published International Atomic Energy Agency report on Iran's nuclear program, adding that it would pursue further economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic, as well as mulling "a range of possibilities." read more »
A delegation of the World Jewish Congress led by WJC President Ronald S. Lauder and the president of the French Jewish community umbrella organization CRIF, Richard Prasquier, have had a discussion at the Elysée Palace in Paris with France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy. read more »
The International Atomic Energy Agency has again found the regime in Tehran in breach of its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and said there was “credible” evidence that Iran has been conducting a covert nuclear weapons program. read more »
Israel is expecting the United States to take the lead in pushing the United Nations and other Western countries to impose tougher, new sanctions on Iran following the publication of an incriminating International Atomic Energy Agency report later this week. read more »
Ahead of a critical report by the IAEA on Iran’s nuclear program, the Luxembourg Forum on Preventing Nuclear Catastrophe has called on the international community to act concertedly and with determination to prevent the regime in Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. read more »
Israeli President Shimon Peres said on Saturday "an attack on Iran" by Israel and other countries was "more and more likely." read more »
All the military tests and exercises conducted over the past few days were planned months in advance, and have nothing to do with recent media reports about a debate within the government over whether to attack Iran, Israeli defense officials stressed on Wednesday. read more »
The United States and Britain are reportedly drawing up plans to attack Iran following reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran now has now enriched uranium sufficient for building four nuclear warheads. read more »
The Israeli government would have significant support at home for an Israeli military strike against Iran's nuclear program, according to a poll published Thursday. read more »
An Iranian chess player has become the latest person from the country to refuse to compete against an Israeli player in an international championship. read more »
The names of individuals or companies doing business with Iran would be published under a bill to be submitted to the New York State Legislature. read more »
The US has dispatched its point man on economic sanctions to European capitals in an effort to increase pressure on Iran, amid new fears Tehran could expand its regional influence in the wake of America's troop withdrawal from Iraq. read more »
Iran's foreign minister accused the United States of Nazi-style propaganda for charging that Tehran was linked to an assassination plot on American soil. read more »
For Israelis, the news of the alleged Iranian plot did not come as much of a surprise. Israel has been a target of repeated Iranian efforts and failed conspiracies to bomb its embassies and installations abroad. read more »
The thwarted Iranian plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to the United States also involved an attack on the Saudi and Israeli embassies in Buenos Aires. read more »
The United States on Tuesday accused Iranian officials of plotting to murder the Saudi ambassador to the US. The alleged plot also included plans to bomb Israel's Embassy in Washington and the Saudi and Israeli embassies in Argentina. read more »
The US has accused Iran of backing a plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the US and to blow up the Saudi and Israeli embassies in Washington, detailing an alleged conspiracy that could drag relations between the US and Iran to a new low. read more »
The Israeli family of one of the American hikers who was freed after 781 days in captivity in Iran has expressed relief at his release. read more »
France's UN envoy warned that Iran faces the risk of a military strike if it pursues its nuclear drive because certain countries would not accept it having an atomic weapon. ,In surprisingly frank comments at a New York panel discussion, Gerard Araud followed up on President Nicolas Sarkozy's statement that there could be a "preventive strike" against the Islamic republic. read more »
Iran plans to send ships near the Atlantic coast of the United States, state-run IRNA reported Tuesday, quoting a commander. read more »
Iranian President Ahmadinejad has delivered another fiery tirade before the UN General Assembly, accusing the United States, Israel and NATO of tyranny and insinuating that US forces killed Osama bin Laden in order to keep incriminating details about the 9/11 terrorist attacks secret. Delegates of 30 Western nations walked out of the conference chamber in protest. read more »
While Ahmadinejad’s hyperboles and hubris have made him a star on the American comedic track, the Iranian president’s performance should not be discounted as an act or sideshow. read more »
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s impending visit to United Nations is a cruel parody of law. He will enter the US despite being inadmissible under American law. read more »
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has a record of hurling insults at Israel when he addresses world leaders at the UN General Assembly. The Jewish state has reason to expect more of the same today. read more »
With the Obama administration and much of the organized Jewish community focused on the schizophrenic Palestinian bid for UN membership, a series of recent remarks by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seem to have largely slipped under the radar. read more »
Iran on Wednesday publicly hanged a teenage boy convicted of killing an athlete billed as "Iran's strongest man," local media reported. read more »
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Tuesday that Iran will not give up its "peaceful" nuclear activities. read more »
Ahead of Iran's annual Al-Quds [Jerusalem] Day, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has again threatened to destroy the Jewish state, saying his country was determined to "eradicate" Israel, which he called an "infectious tumor" and a "regime full of rascality." read more »
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned that his regime would respond harshly to any attempts by Israel or the United States to launch military action against the Islamic republic. read more »
Jewish institutions in Uruguay, with the support of the Latin American Jewish Congress, have held a demonstration against statements denying the Holocaust made by Iran's ambassador to the country. read more »
More than 90 US senators signed a letter to President Barack Obama pressing him to sanction Iran's central bank, with some threatening legislation to force the move, an outcome that would represent a stark escalation in tensions between the two countries. read more »
Turkish diplomatic sources have confirmed that an arms shipment from Iran to Syria was intercepted by Turkey. read more »
Moves by Iran to deploy more-advanced centrifuge machines for the production of nuclear fuel are raising new concerns that Tehran could significantly shorten the time it would need to produce nuclear bombs. read more »
Germany's Süddeutsche Zeitung daily quotes 'Western diplomats' as saying that Turkish authorities stopped a large weapons shipment on border with Syria. read more »
Following the refusal of an Iranian swimmer to contest a heat at the World Swimming Championships, WJC President Lauder urged all international sports federations to suspend the participation of Iranians in major championships “until the regime in Tehran ends its ban on competing with Israeli athletes.” read more »
At the Shanghai FINA World Championships, Mohammed Alirezaei refused to contest a 100-meter breaststroke heat evidently because of the presence of an Israeli athlete. He had also done so at the Bejing Olympics in 2008. read more »
“It appears that Iranian organizations provide support to other terrorist organizations" in South America, Peru's former chief of staff, Francisco Contreras, has told the 'Jerusalem Post'. read more »
"We demand appropriate actions, not words," says director of Latin American Jewish Congress; "talking doesn't equal progress." read more »
Iran has offered to "collaborate" with Argentina's investigation into the worst terrorist attack in the South American nation's history, the bombing of a Jewish community center that killed 85 people in 1994. read more »
Israel posed the biggest threat in the Middle East and regional states should take the necessary steps to contain it, Iran’s hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said as he met with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Tehran. read more »
The BBC is courting controversy with its plans to broadcast a documentary series about Muslim prophet Muhammad. The Iranian minister of cultural and Islamic guidance, Mohammad Hosseini, has branded the film an attempt by the "enemy" to "ruin Muslims' sanctity". read more »
Britain, Canada and the United States are increasing travel curbs on members of the Iranian government over Iran's disputed nuclear program. read more »
Yukiya Amano said that he planned to meet with Iran's foreign minister next week and that he was "quite concerned" over plans by Tehran to triple uranium production capacity. read more »
President Evo Morales of Bolivia has apologized to the head of Argentina’s Jewish community for inviting, and meeting with, Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi, who is wanted in connection with the 1994 terrorist attack against the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires. read more »
Tehran has announced it would triple its uranium enrichment capacity and relocate it to a new facility built inside a mountain. read more »
Tehran has sent several submarines to the Red Sea “with the goal of collecting information and identifying other countries' combat vessels”, the news agency ‘Reuters’ reported on Tuesday, citing Iranian media. read more »
Jack Terpins, president of the Latin American Jewish Congress, has accused Iran of setting up a military presence in Latin America, in cooperation with the Bolivian army. read more »
The decision by the US administration not to take part in a United Nations event in September to mark the tenth anniversary of the controversial 2001 Durban conference on combating racism has been welcomed by the World Jewish Congress. read more »
The European Union has expanded sanctions against Iran over growing concerns about Tehran's nuclear program. EU foreign ministers also imposed a travel ban on Syrian President Assad and other members of his regime. read more »
A Jewish woman and her Armenian Christian husband were executed in Iran for undisclosed reasons, a top State Department official said. read more »
Iran is continuing to use front companies and other concealment methods to circumvent United Nations sanctions but the bans have succeeded in slowing its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, according to a report by UN experts obtained Tuesday by the 'Associated Press' read more »
Iran should respect the unity of its Arab neighbors in the Gulf, the United Arab Emirates foreign minister said on Wednesday. read more »
Iran is manufacturing special missiles for Hamas that can be smuggled through tunnels into the Gaza Strip, according to the report of a conversation between Israel Defense Forces Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Harel and the US ambassador to Israel, James Cunningham. read more »
Spice giant McCormick has agreed to stop selling its spices to Iran, following the efforts of a Baltimore Jewish activist. read more »
German companies are drawing criticism for their plans to take part in an oil industry trade show in Tehran. Some 60 German companies will attend this weekend's event in Tehran, which is dedicated to Iran's energy sector, according to the Stop the Bomb nongovernmental organization. read more »
The European Union foreign ministers have imposed asset freezes and travel bans on 32 Iranian officials on Tuesday, saying they had been involved in human rights violations. read more »
A spokesman for the Iranian regime has called the recent anti-government demonstrations in Syria part of a plot by the West to undermine a government that supports "resistance" in the Middle East. read more »
A call by Dieter Graumann, the head of Germany's Jewish community, for the European Iranian Bank of Commerce in Hamburg to be shut down, has been echoed by the German government. read more »
The Human Rights Council on the United Nations has voted to appoint a special investigator to monitor Iran. read more »
This year’s session of the United Nations Council of the Status of Women (CSW) was marred by the outrageous ascension of Iran to the CSW board - although Iran is one of the world’s most egregious violators of women’s rights. The World Jewish Diplomatic Corps, together with other groups, protested against this decision. read more »
Malaysian police have seized suspicious equipment found in two containers that could possibly be used for nuclear weapons from a ship that left a Chinese port bound for Iran, authorities said. read more »
An Iranian deputy foreign minister who has been visiting South Africa was listed by Interpol as being wanted in connection with a 1994 bombing that killed 85 people. read more »
Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron has said the Iranians "would not be missed" if they decided to boycott the 2012 Olympic Games in London over claims that the logo of the event resembles the word ‘Zion’. read more »
The P5+1 group of Western powers has urged Iran to cooperate with the UN atomic watchdog, otherwise it could soon face further censure for blocking the investigation into its controversial nuclear drive. read more »
Media reports citing Nato officials say that Nato troops in Afghanistan have seized weapons supplied by Iran and apparently intended for the Taliban.The cache included 50 rockets that have twice the range of the weapons currently available to the insurgents. read more »
For most Iranians, eager to reap the financial rewards of their country's vast cultural and commercial potential, there is simply no question that the political future must include peace with Israel and a break with militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. read more »
Secretary of State Clinton presses Congress to approve U$ 100 million in aid to Lebanon. read more »
The General Assembly of the United Nations has voted unanimously to suspend Libya from the UN Human Rights Council for committing “gross and systematic violations of human rights.” Israel’s PM Netanyahu has called on the West to impose similar measures on Iran, too. read more »
The United States has criticized Iran's detention of two opposition leaders as "unacceptable" and called for their release. read more »
Iran is a land of ironies. The land with the oldest Jewish Diaspora in the world is, still today, the country with the second largest Jewish population in the Middle East after Israel. read more »
Tehran said over the weekend that nuclear fuel had to be removed fuel from the Russian-built nuclear reactor in Bushehr for safety reasons. read more »
Tehran and Damascus have agreed to cooperate on naval training, the Iranian news agency IRNA reported on Saturday, after two Iranian warships docked in a Syrian port. read more »
While the Iranian police are using tear gas and electric prods to crack down on anti-government protesters, the UN Commission on the Status of Women is preparing to welcome the Islamic Republic as its newest member when its 56th session gets under way in New York read more »
Two Iranian warships bound for Syria have withdrawn a request to sail through the Egyptian-controlled Suez Canal, after Israel issued a statement Wednesday calling the move a "provocation." read more »
Iran has recovered quickly from the reported cyber attack that targeted its nuclear facility in Natanz last year, according to a report published Wednesday. read more »
Turkey and Iran want to enhance trade and political cooperation between the two countries, their leaders said after a meeting in Tehran read more »
Dozens of Iranian opposition supporters were arrested on Monday while taking part in a banned rally in the capital Tehran to support the popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. read more »
This demand came in light of renewed opposition protests on Monday in Tehran and at least five other cities, which were eventually suppressed by police. read more »
Iran continues to produce a steady supply of enriched uranium, despite the recent attack by a computer worm on its nuclear installations, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, has said read more »
Reacting to the uprising in Egypt, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has announced the creation of a new Middle East free of the United States and what he called the "Zionist regime". read more »
Iran and Turkey have signed a trade pact which Tehran said could be worth up to US$ 30 billion over five years. read more »
As Iran pursues the development of a nuclear capability whilst refusing to allow inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the international community has imposed several rounds of increasing severe sanctions to try and force it to fulfill its legal and moral obligations. read more »
UK Defense Secretary Liam Fox has told the House of Commons that Iran may be capable of building a nuclear weapon by next year. read more »
World Jewish Congress Secretary General-Designate Dan Diker has urged Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, to support the call for the referral of the Iranian regime to the UN Security Council for incitement to genocide. Huckabee was in Israel on a solidarity visit and was a special guest of the Knesset Immigration and Absorption Committee. read more »
Malcolm Hoenlein, the most senior professional official of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, has called Mohammed ElBaradei a "stooge of Iran." read more »
The government of the Netherlands has frozen its diplomatic ties with Iran in protest of the execution by the regime of a woman with Dutch nationality in Tehran on Saturday. read more »
Lebanon's parliament has approved the appointment of billionaire businessman Najib Mikati, the Hezbollah-backed candidate, as the country’s new prime minister. read more »
Talks in Geneva between diplomats from six Western nations and Iran over Tehran’s controversial nuclear program have ended without progress. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has threatened further sanctions if a deal is not reached. read more »
The Swiss government has announced tougher sanctions against Iran, in line with the 27 European Union member states. The measures take effect immediately. read more »
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – whose regime is the main backer of the radical Shiite paramilitary group Hezbollah – has called on Israel, the United States and European nations to stop what he called interfering in Lebanese politics. read more »
The prosecutor of the UN Special Tribunal investigating the 2005 murder of Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, has submitted a confidential indictment naming senior leaders of Hezbollah and reportedly also the Iranian regime as masterminds of the assassination. read more »
The US and Israel jointly developed of the Stuxnet computer worm which did great damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities, the ‘New York Times’ newspaper reports. read more »
Iran has begun secret negotiations on proposals to surrender a substantial part of its uranium stockpile and suspend enriching nuclear fuel in return for an end to sanctions that have crippled the country's economy, the British newspaper 'Daily Telegraph' reports. read more »
The government of the west African state has recalled its ambassador in Tehran after Iran failed to provide a "satisfactory" explanation for arms sent from Iran and discovered in a Nigerian port in October. read more »
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has fired his foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, and replaced him temporarily with the head of Iran’s Nuclear Energy Organization, Vice-President Ali Akbar Salehi. read more »
At a dinner in Paris hosted by EJC President Moshe Kantor, France’s new foreign minister, Michèle Alliot-Marie, has said that Iran was “destabilizing” the entire Middle East. She pledged to take a firm position on Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and said all forms of economic sanctions would be envisaged if Iran continued to pursue the nuclear program. read more »
A group of radical students staged a rally at the tomb of Biblical Queen Esther, one of the most revered sites for Jews in Iran, and threatened to destroy it if Israel damages the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. read more »
In Switzerland, Iran and the Group of Six World Powers held talks focusing on Tehran’s controversial nuclear program for the first time in over a year. read more »
Officials in Iran are upset after discovering the outline of a Star of David atop the roof of the headquarters of Iran Air, the Islamic republic’s national airline, the Arab news channel ‘al-Arabiya’ reports. read more »
Iran on Tuesday agreed to take part in a new round of talks on its nuclear program with a delegation of the Group of Six Nations led by European Union foreign policy supremo Catherine Ashton. read more »
A UN General Assembly committee adopted a resolution strongly criticizing “serious human rights violations in Iran.” Mohammad Javad Larijani, the head of Iran's Human Rights Council, defended the practice of stoning people to death read more »
Research by the cyber security company Symantec on the Stuxnet computer worm has concluded that it was specifically programmed to sabotage electronic equipment used in Iran for uranium enrichment. read more »
The Nigerian government has reported to the UN Security Council the seizure of a shipment of arms from Iran, including rocket launchers and grenades, which were discovered last month in containers labeled as building materials. read more »
Saudi Arabia, probably the most misogynistic dictatorship in the world, has won a seat on UN Women, the UN’s top women’s rights body, the BBC reports today. Iran, however, failed to gain a seat. read more »
The United Nations Economic and Social Council has rejected Iran's candidacy for the new UN agency promoting women's rights, following massive protests by Western countries and human rights organizations, including the World Jewish Congress. However, the council elected Saudi Arabia as one of the new Executive members of UN Women. read more »
The Iranian government still plans to execute Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a widow and mother of two whose stoning sentence on adultery charges provoked a significant international outcry this summer. This development reaffirms concerns about Iran joining the governing body of the new UN women's agency, UN Women. Iran is expected to be elected to the body without contest on Wednesday. read more »
Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for allegedly having committed adultery, escaped her execution on Wednesday after strong international protests. read more »
Time is running out to prevent a global regime where radicals, terrorists and serial human-rights abusers hold the balance of power. read more »
The ‘New York Times’ reports that Washington and its European allies are preparing a new offer for Iran on uranium enrichment abroad. However, the US government has warned Tehran that its continued enrichment of uranium meant that any new international offer on Iran’s nuclear program would be more burdensome than the one the Iranian regime had already rejected. read more »
Israel would "soon go to hell," Iran’s hard-line president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday, calling on the West to drop support for the Jewish state. read more »
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was scheduled to visit Hezbollah strongholds near the Lebanese border with Israel on Thursday after he was warmly received in Beirut on Wednesday. read more »
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's upcoming visit to Lebanon has stirred controversy in the Middle East, and even some Lebanese leaders view it as a provocation meant to serve the Iranian leader's future plans for war. read more »
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has provoked another walkout at the United Nations by suggesting that many people believed the US government staged the 9/11 terror attacks in an attempt to save the survival of the “Zionist regime” (Israel). read more »
Russia has canceled plans to supply Iran with S-300 anti-aircraft missiles due to UN sanctions imposed against the regime in Tehran, a senior Russian military official has said. read more »
Addressing the United Nations in New York, President Shimon Peres has said Israel was ready to enter peace talks with Syria “straight away”. read more »
The nominalism of the international perception of what is good and right is truly dreadful. The use of the burqa seems like a human right to the Council of Europe. It seems indispensable to American liberals, including President Obama, to build a mosque at Ground Zero. read more »
Iran is steadily stockpiling enriched uranium, even in the face of toughened international sanctions, according to a report by inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. read more »
Tehran has said it was prepared to sell weapons to the Lebanon should the government in Beirut seek help to equip its military. read more »
President Ahmadinejad has unveiled Iran’s first bomber drone and said it would serve as a “messenger of death” to Iran’s enemies. read more »
At the Singapore Youth Olympics, officials of the Iranian team have reportedly forced a 16 year-old taekwondo fighter to withdraw because he was pitted against an Israeli competitor in the final. read more »
Tehran has rejected international calls to spare a woman convicted of adultery from being executed by stoning. read more »
Iran has announced that it will start building the first of ten new uranium enrichment plants at a secret location in the spring of 2011. read more »
The 2010 Arab Public Opinion Poll has found that 57 percent of respondents view Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons positively. US President Obama’s approval ratings in the Arab world have declined sharply in the last 12 months. read more »
As the US halts military aid to Lebanon following the deadly exchange of fire with Israel on the border, Iran and Syria have pledged to support Lebanon militarily against “the Zionist regime”. read more »
Iran has obtained four S-300 surface-to-air missile systems despite Russia's refusal to deliver them to Tehran under a valid contract, a semiofficial Iranian news agency claimed Wednesday. read more »
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has reportedly escaped an attempt to kill him in the western city of Hamadan when a hand grenade exploded in a vehicle accompanying his convoy. read more »
In Canberra, the Australian government announced new restrictions on business dealings with Iran in the oil and gas sector. read more »
A day after British Prime Minister David Cameron publicly sided with Turkey in the Gaza flotilla row, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle was in Istanbul and praised the government of Turkey for mediating in the dispute over Iran's nuclear program. read more »
Canada and the 27 member countries of the European Union have adopted economic restrictions against Tehran, targeting Iran's energy sector and banks. Russia called these steps "unacceptable" because they went beyond the UN sanctions. read more »
European Union member states are set to approve further sanctions against Iran over its uranium enrichment program, targeting the country's energy, financial and transport sectors. read more »
Following a report by the ‘Wall Street Journal’, Germany will investigate an Iranian bank based in Hamburg which was blacklisted by the US government last month for evading Iran sanctions. read more »
On his return to Tehran from the US, Iranian nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri has claimed that he had suffered extreme mental and physical torture at the hands of US interrogators, and that Israeli agents participated in interrogations with the CIA. read more »
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said that Iran is "moving closer" to having nuclear weapons capability. read more »
The head of Iran's nuclear agency has said that it's first nuclear power plant will become operational in September. The Bushehr reactor, a joint venture with Russia, has been under development for 15 years. read more »
Iran has banned ‘Zionist' companies , including non-Israeli ones, from doing business in Iran, Israel’s ‘Army Radio’ has reported. read more »
Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi reportedly said that he and fellow world leaders "believe absolutely" that Israel may decide to take military action against Iran to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. read more »
In an interview with the British newspaper ‘The Independent’, senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar warned that new ships would soon try to make their way to Gaza to break the Israeli sea blockade. read more »
In Washington, both houses of Congress on Thursday passed legislation imposing tough sanctions on companies and individuals linked to Iran’s nuclear program. read more »
US lawmakers on Capitol Hill have reached agreement on a series of punitive measures against Iran which could be adopted by Congress as early as this week. Canada will also take additional measures against Tehran. read more »
Iran has barred two inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency from entering the country, claiming they had filed a "false" report about Tehran's nuclear program. read more »
The US government and the European Union are adopting new sanctions against Iran that go beyond the scope of restrictions passed by the UN Security Council last week. read more »
In an op-ed for the German newspaper 'Financial Times Deutschland', the president of the World Jewish Congress argues that the latest UN sanctions against Iran are only a first step and need to be followed up with further measures by the US and Europe. read more »
Ali Larijani, the speaker of the Mahlis, the Iranian parliament, has called on Iran's government to forge ahead with its controversial program to enrich uranium to 20 percent, in spite of the latest round of UN sanctions against the country. read more »
Nearly a year after the violent post election clampdown against opposition protesters, the Human Rights Council in Geneva has formally condemned Iran. read more »
In a thinly veiled reference to nuclear arms, Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi – a hard-line Iranian cleric who is seen as spiritual mentor of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – has called for the production of those “special weapons’’ that were a monopoly of a few nations. read more »
By 12 out of 15 votes, the Security Council of the United Nations on Wednesday approved a fourth round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, which many fear is ultimately aimed at developing nuclear weapons. read more »
Following months of negotiations and an agreement between the five permanent member states, the Security Council in New York is expected to impose new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. read more »
At a conference in Istanbul, Turkey, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said his country would not give any more ground on its nuclear program. He also accused Israel of having committed “crimes that have been unprecedented in the history of mankind.” read more »
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said that new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program were certain unless Tehran comes into compliance with UN demands. read more »
A new report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna reveals that Iran has now amassed enough fissile material to build two nuclear bombs, if it chooses to enrich its uranium stockpile to a weapons-grade level. read more »
Sanctions and underinvestment have cut Iran's oil production capacity by at least 300,000 barrels per day, depriving the country of billions of dollars of revenues. read more »
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has agreed "in principle" to new talks with the major powers, mediated by Brazil, on the exchange of nuclear fuel for uranium. read more »
Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad again triggered a walkout by Western countries at the United Nations following a blistering attack against the United States and Israel at a nuclear non-proliferation conference in New York. read more »
The World Jewish Congress and other Jewish organizations have called on United Nations representatives to walk out on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he addresses a conference on nuclear non-proliferation in New York. read more »
Iran will never accept having its uranium stockpile enriched abroad, a top adviser to the country's supreme leader has said. read more »
The international accounting firms PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young have withdrawn from the Iranian market. read more »
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has denied an American report that members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard were present in his country. read more »
Iran may soon develop ballistic missiles capable of reaching North America, a report by the US Department of Defense says. read more »
After the nuclear security summit in Washington, new UN sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program seem to have become more likely. read more »
US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao have held a private meeting ahead of the Washington nuclear security summit and discussed the international response to Iran’s nuclear program. read more »
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has issued a strong personal attack against US President Barack Obama, calling him a “cowboy” who was quick to threaten to use nuclear weapons against America’s enemies. read more »
US President Barack Obama has presented a new doctrine that would limit the use of American nuclear weapons in case of a war. However, he said this would not apply to "outliers like Iran and North Korea.” read more »
US President Barack Obama and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy have said they wanted tough new sanctions against Iran adopted at the United Nations within weeks. In a reversal of its stance, China has agreed to take part in talks on new UN measures against Tehran. read more »
The Obama administration is softening its proposals on new measures against Iran in order to win the support of Russia and China for a new round of UN sanctions against Tehran, according to the ‘Wall Street Journal’. read more »
Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has announced that the nuclear power plant in Iran that is built by Russia would go on line this summer. read more »
In a TV interview, US President Barack Obama has denied a rift in America’s relations with Israel and said one of his administration’s highest priorities was the Iranian threat. read more »
Turkey’s Prime Minister Erdogan told ‘BBC News’ that Western claims Iran was seeking to produce nuclear weapons were “only rumors”, and he called President Ahmadinejad “a friend”. read more »
In a speech to supporters in southern Iran, the Iranian president launched yet another diatribe against Israel and predicted it would be annihilated soon. read more »
Whilst the United States and Europe are pushing for new sanctions against Iran, countries such as Brazil and China expressed reservations. The Iranian human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi warned of sanctions punishing the people and not the regime. read more »
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has launched a fierce verbal assault on the West, charging that European countries subject Muslim communities to insult and violence and that the United States and Europe sponsor terrorism. read more »
The new head of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has said that Iran is not co-operating with the agency 's investigation into the country's nuclear program. read more »
European Union officials have drawn up an extensive list of new sanctions against Iran sanctions which if implemented would affect the entire economy of the Islamic republic and target the financial and oil sectors in particular. read more »
Iranian Vice-President Ali Akbar Salehi has said two new nuclear facilities would soon be built in the mountains to protect them from any military attack. read more »
The inspectors of the UN’s nuclear watchdog in Vienna have said that Tehran was not in compliance with international demands and its behavior raised concerns about a possible atomic weapons program. read more »
The Human Rights Council of the United Nations has begun a debate on the human rights record of Iran. read more »
As Saudi Arabia has played down suggestions it could encourage China not to block new international sanctions against Iran by giving Beijing oil supply guarantees, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Moscow to convince Russia to support sanctions. read more »
On the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution on Thursday, authorities in Tehran have launched a new crackdown on members of the opposition. read more »
A hundred Iranian students loyal to the regime have staged violent protests in front of the Italian and other embassies of Western countries in the capital Tehran and called for the death of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. read more »
President Barack Obama has pledged that the United States and its allies would soon deliver a "significant regime of sanctions" against Iran for its nuclear program. read more »
Efforts to adopt new UN sanctions on Iran are gathering speed after Tehran declared dead a UN-sponsored proposal for the enrichment of Iranian uranium abroad. read more »
(CNN) - Iran announced plans to begin enriching uranium to 20 percent on Tuesday, a move likely to heighten fears it is moving closer to producing an atomic weapon. read more »
As Iran is gearing up to mark the 31st anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution on Thursday, the regime has arrested seven people linked to the US-backed ‘Radio Farda’ and accused some of them of spying for the West. read more »
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has shocked the international community with his announcement that his country would immediately start producing 20-percent-enriched uranium in Iran for use in its nuclear reactor in Tehran. read more »
At the gala annual dinner of the French Jewish umbrella organization, CRIF, in Paris, France’s Prime Minister, François Fillon, said that his government would ask the UN to adopt “strong” new sanctions against Iran. read more »
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi warned on Thursday that threatening more sanctions against Iran will derail diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute over Tehran's nuclear programme. read more »
The Australian government of PM Kevin Rudd has blocked three shipments to Iran because of fears that the contents could be for Tehran's nuclear program. read more »
Speaking on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Israel’s President Peres, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and World Jewish Congress President Lauder highlighted the danger posed by the Iranian regime. In Tehran, Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei predicted the day would come when Israel would be destroyed. read more »
World Jewish Congress President: "UN members must stand up and walk out when Ahmadinejad speaks!" read more »
President Ronald Lauder: "UN members must stand up against Iranian ruler" read more »
WJC President Ronald Lauder calls on nations to “send a strong message” read more »
Ronald S. Lauder meets in Brussels with EU leaders Solana, Barroso and Ferrero-Waldner read more »
World Jewish Congress head wants UN to shine the light on human rights abuses everywhere read more »
Letter of WJC President Lauder to UN Human Rights Commissioner read more »
Ronald S. Lauder calls Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann's comments "extremely unbefitting" read more »
The World Jewish Congress expressed deep disappointment that the adoption of the outcome document of the Durban Review Conference in Geneva last week again singles out Israel for blame. read more »
The World Jewish Congress expressed deep disappointment that the adoption of the outcome document of the Durban Review Conference in Geneva last week again singles out Israel for blame. read more »
Ronald S. Lauder: "Italian decision to stay out of Durban Review Conference should be a strong signal for other European governments" read more »
WJC leader calls on countries to stay away from "shameful event" in Geneva read more »
Text of the IAEA report on the Iranian nuclear program download »
The nominalism of the international perception of what is good and right is truly dreadful. The use of the burqa seems like a human right to the Council of Europe. It seems indispensable to American liberals, including President Obama, to build a mosque at Ground Zero. read more »
Iran: Excerpt from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to the Jewish Agency Board of Governors download »
The following document is a candid report to the British Foreign Office by its then- ambassador in Tel Aviv, Sir Ernest John Ward Barnes (John Barnes). Barnes served in Israel between 1972–1975—a period spanning the efforts to promote a ceasefire to the War of Attrition, the Rogers Plan, the Yom Kippur War and the subsequent Disengagement Agreement. download »
Many Iranians—including those in exile—claim that currently there is not any antisemitism in Iran. They point to the fact that the Jews of Iran today constitute the largest Jewish community in any Muslim country, which is true, and that even Mahmoud Ahmadinejad does not attack “the Jews,” but rather “the Zionists.” download »
Israel commends the resolution by the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regarding Iran. download »
Implementation of the NPT safeguards agreement and relevant provisions of Security Council resolutions 1737 (2006), 1747 (2007), 1803 (2008) and 1835 (2008) in the Islamic Republic of Iran download »
Iran’s nuclear ambitions pose a threat to its neighbours, Israel and the wider world. Some countries do not yet publicly acknowledge that Iranian claims that its nuclear programme is only intended for peaceful uses are not credible. Others feel that the threat of massive retaliation, if Iran makes a nuclear attack, is sufficiently prohibitive not to press Iran to the wall on this issue. However, the latter ignore the danger that Iran might build a small-scale collateral nuclear instrument and pass it on to a terrorist organization.
Iran continues to defy key demands of the IAEA and the UN Security Council. Three rounds of sanctions have already been imposed on Iran by the UN, including: travel bans on Iranian officials; the freezing of foreign assets of Iranian companies and officials; and bans on the sale of dual-use items to Iran. A recent UN resolution also urges governments to withdraw financial backing from firms trading with Iran, inspect cargo going into and out of the country, and monitor the activities of two Iranian banks.
The development of Iran's nuclear programme coincides with an intensification of its calls for the destruction of Israel, and thus poses an existential threat to Israel and the Jewish people. It threatens to advance its influence in the Middle East, and to ultimately impose Shiite hegemony in the region. It poses a threat to the entire continent of Europe.
All efforts must continue to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions and press it to comply with the UN Security Council and the IAEA demands.
Iran must be pressured to cease all nuclear enrichment and reprocessing activities and heavy water-related projects until it is conclusively proven that it is only intended for civilian power generation purposes.
The sanctions regime needs to be strengthened in order to bring to the attention of its populous the heavy price it is paying for Ahmadinejad's foreign adventures.
The sanctions regime should include key Iranian industries such as oil and natural gas (including obstructing Iran’s capacity to import refined oil products). It should include industrial machinery, farm equipment and spare parts for its ageing agricultural and transportation infrastructures.
The international community needs to be united to confront the Iranian threat.
Other, more drastic, action against Iranian nuclear installations should only be considered as a last resort if all diplomatic avenues have been exhausted and if the sanctions regime fails to deliver any tangible results.
Governments should be pressed to provide umbrella assurances that, in the event that all efforts fail to curb Iran, retaliation against a nuclear attack on Israel will be definitive, devastating and final.
Alliances of convenience should be encouraged with those Arab neighbours who also fear the spreading influence of Iran into their territory, including those countries that do not yet have diplomatic relations with Israel.
The recent election fraud resulting in significant protests on Iran's streets has created new opportunities to encourage internal actions against the regime. The general population should be encouraged by the outside world to demand more from its leaders in human rights and religious tolerance. The recent political upheavals and the apparent rifts within the religious establishment provide significant longer term opportunities for internally driven regime change.
Iran is a leading sponsor of terrorism, via radical Islamic groups in other countries. The Iranian regime is providing support to Hamas and Hezbollah, amongst others. Hamas and Hezbollah pose a very real and active threat to Israel and a danger to the moderate faction among the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples. The capacity of Hamas to harass and disrupt Israel’s border towns were enhanced immediately prior to Israel’s defensive military initiative in Gaza.
Iran's involvement in the financing of Hezbollah is directly contributing to the internal instability in Lebanon, which in turn has negative implications for the region and is a continuing threat to the residents of Northern Israel.
Iran was directly involved in the planning of the terrorist attacks against the Israeli embassy and the AMIA centre in Buenos Aires in 1992 & 1994. It refuses to cooperate with Interpol, which has issued ‘Red Alert’ notices against several Iranian citizens. Iran has appointed Ahmad Vahidi, one of the masterminds of the AMIA attack, as its new Minister of Defence.
Iranian emissaries continue to infiltrate Muslim communities worldwide in order to spread hatred and to advocate violence against Israel and the Jewish people. Iran has established a gateway to Latin America for its activities, through Venezuela and Bolivia and is actively engaged in cultivating relationships with States in Central America.
International organisations and governments must take measures against the proliferation of weapons and funds from Iran to Hamas and Hezbollah.
Links between Iran and radical terrorist groups need to be exposed and publicised.
Those involved in the promotion of such terrorist activity should be prosecuted and brought to justice.
Almost all countries – the USA and Israel being the exceptions – have diplomatic relations with Iran. Many European countries also have sizeable business interests in Iran, notably in the oil and gas sectors. Some of the energy companies doing business in Iran are state-owned.
Governments should refrain from encouraging or supporting companies seeking new business contracts in Iran, and above all not with state-owned Iranian companies.
Unless key industries such as oil and gas are affected, UN sanctions are unlikely to be effective or to cause an affected local populous to press its government to desist from its nuclear ambitions and to focus instead on indigenous economic problems.
Governments should not help companies in their respective countries to clinch deals with Iranian firms.
Existing contracts with Iran should be suspended until the regime in Tehran accepts all UN demands on its nuclear program.
Business deals with Iran which contravene the spirit or letter of the UN sanctions regime need to be exposed.
Iran’s current leaders, above all President Ahmadinejad, have repeatedly questioned the dimension of the Holocaust, or used the Shoah to criticize Israel. In December 2005, Iran’s Foreign Ministry hosted a conference of Holocaust deniers. Iran’s regime uses the Holocaust as a political weapon.
Iran propagates the denial of the Holocaust as a means to delegitimize and demonize Israel. Denial of the Holocaust denigrates the memory of those who died and shows the true state of mind of Iran’s leadership.
Holocaust denial or trivialisation needs to be condemned and discredited wherever possible.
Perpetrators must be prosecuted wherever legislation permits.
Education about the Holocaust should be enhanced wherever possible, especially among the young, including non-Jewish children.
Governments should be encouraged to introduce Holocaust education into school curricula.
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