Category: Iran

A deal for Iran to freeze parts of its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief will take effect on January 20, giving world powers and Tehran six months to agree a complete end to a standoff that has raised the risk of a wider Middle East war. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry cautioned that the next stage in negotiations would be "very difficult" after Iran, Washington and the European Union announced the launch date for the interim deal struck in Geneva in November. Iran will receive some easing of economic sanctions from January 20, including the suspension of restrictions on Iranian exports of petrochemicals, a senior U.S. official said. The official said such immediate relief – which will hinge on U.N. inspectors confirming that Iran is curbing enrichment of uranium – would include imports for its auto manufacturing sector and trade in gold and […]

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A deal for Iran to freeze parts of its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief will take effect on January 20, giving world powers and Tehran six months to agree a complete end to a standoff that has raised the risk of a wider Middle East war. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry cautioned that the next stage in negotiations would be "very difficult" after Iran, Washington and the European Union announced the launch date for the interim deal struck in Geneva in November. Iran will receive some easing of economic sanctions from January 20, including the suspension of restrictions on Iranian exports of petrochemicals, a senior U.S. official said. The official said such immediate relief – which will hinge on U.N. inspectors confirming that Iran is curbing enrichment of uranium – would include imports for its auto manufacturing sector and trade in gold and […]

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World powers and Iran agreed to begin implementing a pact to curb Tehran’s nuclear program on Jan. 20, setting the stage for six months of diplomacy intended to end Tehran’s atomic weapons threat, officials said. Under Sunday’s deal, Iran will stop producing near-weapons grade nuclear fuel and start rolling back or freezing other nuclear work next week, said U.S., European and Iranian officials. In turn, the U.S. and European Union will start easing some of their punitive economic sanctions on Iran, starting next week with suspending a ban on Iran’s trade of petrochemicals, autos and precious metals. U.S. and European officials hailed the latest milestone as a way to peacefully contain Iran’s nuclear program, while acknowledging that failure was a real possibility given the complexity of the talks. Still, the accord fueled political friction within the U.S. Senior U.S. lawmakers quickly criticized the deal for not going far enough […]

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Iran and a group of six world powers completed a deal on Sunday that will temporarily freeze much of Tehran’s nuclear program starting next Monday, Jan. 20, in exchange for limited relief from Western economic sanctions. The main elements of the deal, which is to last for six months, were announced in November . But its implementation was delayed as negotiators worked out technical details. The agreement faced opposition from Iranian hard-liners and Israeli leaders , as well as heavy criticism from some American lawmakers, who have threatened to approve further sanctions despite President Obama’s promise of a veto. It comes as Tehran has sought to expand its influence in the Middle East by providing weapons and sometimes members of its own paramilitary Quds Force, in what Western nations view as destabilizing activities in countries including Syria, Bahrain and Yemen, according to interviews with intelligence, military, diplomatic […]

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Iran  and  Russia  are negotiating an oil-for-goods swap worth $1.5 billion a month that would let Iran increase oil exports substantially, undermining Western sanctions that helped persuade Tehran in November to accept a preliminary deal to curb its nuclear program. Russian and Iranian sources close to the barter negotiations said final details were in discussion for a deal that would see Moscow buy up to 500,000 barrels a day of Iranian oil in exchange for Russian equipment and goods, according to the Reuters news agency. "Good progress is being made at the moment with strong chances of success," said a Russian source. "We are discussing the details, and the date of signing a deal depends on those details." The Kremlin declined to comment. "Our desire is to sign the deal as soon as possible," said a senior Iranian official, who declined to be named. "Our officials are discussing the matter […]

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Iran and a group of six world powers moved closer on Friday to carrying out the nuclear agreement reached in November, with the Iranian side saying all outstanding issues have been resolved. The agreement, which still requires final approval by all the governments, would temporarily halt some of Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for billions of dollars in sanctions relief. Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister and deputy nuclear negotiator, said “we found solutions for all the points of disagreements” during a two-day meeting in Geneva with his counterpart representing the so-called P5-plus-1 countries: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, which are the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, plus Germany. A spokesman for that side — represented by Helga Schmid, deputy to the lead negotiator, Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s top foreign policy official — issued a statement that did not go quite […]

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Iran and Western powers closed in on an interim accord Friday that would provide for a six-month relaxation of tensions and, they hope, pave the way for a longer-term deal to restrict Iran’s nuclear program. A deal would provide concrete steps for how to implement the Nov. 24 agreement, which requires Iran to curtail its nuclear activities in exchange for the easing of some of the West’s longtime sanctions against the country. If the interim deal is implemented, the two sides have given themselves 12 months to reach a broader, more comprehensive agreement that would represent a historic rapprochement between Iran and the West. But leaders of both sides say they hope to reach that deal sooner, within six months of the interim accord. U.S. and European officials hope that the implementation agreement will be finalized by the end of the month, marking the first formal warming of relations […]

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ran and Russia are negotiating an oil-for-goods swap that would let Iran lift oil exports substantially, in defiance of the Western sanctions that helped force Tehran in November to agree a preliminary deal to end its nuclear program. Three Russian and Iranian sources close to the negotiations said final details were in discussion for a barter deal that would see Moscow buy up to 500,000 barrels a day of Iranian oil in exchange for Russian equipment and goods. "Good progress is being made at the moment with strong chances of success," said a Russian source. "We are discussing the details and the date of signing a deal depends on those details." It is not clear whether the deal would be implemented before the details of November’s nuclear agreement in Geneva between Iran and six world powers, including Russia, are finalized. Technical talks between Iran and the […]

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Iran’s supreme leader harshly denounced the United States on Thursday as negotiations to conclude an interim agreement in the Iranian nuclear dispute resumed, saying those talks illustrated what he called the hostility of Americans toward Iran and the Muslim world. The remarks by the leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reported by Iran’s official news media, covered a range of grievances against the United States, including what he described as American hypocrisy on human rights issues, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, which President Obama had promised to close. Ayatollah Khamenei also reiterated his contention that the American-led economic sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program had no relevance to the progress in the negotiations with six world powers in recent months under Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani. “The enemies think they imposed the embargo and forced Iran to negotiate,” he said. “No! We have already […]

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Even as the United States and Iran pursue negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program, they find themselves on the same side of a range of regional issues surrounding an insurgency raging across the Middle East. While the two governments quietly continue to pursue their often conflicting interests, they are being drawn together by their mutual opposition to an international movement of young Sunni fighters, who with their pickup trucks and Kalashnikovs are raising the black flag of Al Qaeda along sectarian fault lines in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen. The United States, reluctant to intervene in bloody, inconclusive conflicts, is seeing its regional influence decline, while Iraq, which cost the Americans $1 trillion and more than 4,000 lives, is growing increasingly unstable. At the same time, Shiite-dominated Iran, the magnetic pole for the Shiite minority in the region, has its own reasons to be nervous, with the […]

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Two members of Iran’s hard-line-dominated Parliament were added to a supervisory council responsible for monitoring the country’s nuclear negotiating team, Iranian news media reported Wednesday. The additions appeared to strengthen the influence of critics of the talks between Iran and world powers. The two members of Parliament were not identified by name, but they were described as “legal and technical experts who will be able to prevent misunderstandings by the Americans.” The supervisory council’s precise monitoring role has never been made clear. But it now includes one representative from President Hassan Rouhani’s government, one from the judiciary, one from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and three members of Parliament, the semiofficial Mehr News Agency reported. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is also Iran’s leading negotiator in the nuclear dispute, has always emphasized that his negotiation team is fully authorized by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali […]

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Iran has boosted its team in charge of nuclear talks with world powers, adding what are believed to be hard-liners and conservatives in an apparent effort to silence critics of the landmark interim accord reached in Geneva in November. The semi-official news agencies Fars and Mehr reported on Wednesday that new members have joined the high council, which directs strategies in the talks and which is led by the country’s moderate President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. The agencies did not identify the new members, saying only that representatives of "all branches of power and other senior figures" are now on the council. The development comes a day after Iran and Western negotiators reported they were nearing an understanding on the details of implementing the Geneva accord. The deal puts strong limits on Iran’s uranium enrichment program in return for […]

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Iran resumed technical talks with world powers in Geneva on Monday, a vital step in implementing a nuclear deal signed last month which suspends key elements of Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for limited sanctions relief. The talks between expert teams from Iran and six world powers are meant to translate the political deal into a detailed implementation plan by the end of January, Iran’s state news agency, IRNA, quoted an unnamed source as saying. A key sticking point appears to be how much advance information Western governments will get so they can verify that Iran is meeting its end of the deal before they lift any sanctions. The third round of talks between technical experts from the permanent U.N. Security Council members – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States – plus Germany, are set to last a day and resume in 2014, IRNA […]

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Iran is taking steps to improve its ability to speed up uranium enrichment that could delay implementation of a nuclear deal with six world powers because Tehran’s moves are opposed by the United States and its allies. Iran’s nuclear chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, said late Thursday that his country is building a new generation of centrifuges for uranium enrichment but they need further tests before they can be mass produced. His comments appeared aimed at countering criticism from Iranian hardliners by showing their country’s nuclear program is moving ahead and has not been halted by the accord. But two officials familiar with Iran’s nuclear activities said Tehran has gone even further by interpreting a provision of the interim Geneva nuclear deal in a way rejected by many, if not all, of the six powers that sealed the Geneva deal with Iran. They told The Associated Press […]

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Iran’s nuclear chief said the country is building a new generation of centrifuges for uranium enrichment but that they need further tests before they can be mass produced, apparently trying to counter hard-liner criticism of its nuclear deal with word powers. Under a landmark nuclear deal reached last month in Geneva, Iran promised not to bring new centrifuges into operation for six months, part of temporary limitations on its uranium enrichment program in return for the easing of some sanctions. But the deal does not stop it from developing centrifuges. Salehi’s comments appeared aimed at showing the country is moving ahead with its nuclear program into order to fend off criticism by Iranian hard-liners, who have denounced the deal, calling it a surrender in the face of Western pressure. The government of new President Hassan Rouhani says the deal recognizes Iran’s right to enrich uranium. […]

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The Iranian parliament is considering a proposal to pick another city as the nation’s capital and move the seat of the government from the overcrowded and heavily polluted Tehran. Iran’s official news agency IRNA said Tuesday that if the lawmakers accept the proposal, a council would be set up and spend the next two years studying which alternate location would be best. There was no indication in the proposal what locations could be considered. The greater Tehran area has a population of 12 million and suffers from a score of urban problems such as heavy pollution, traffic jams and a high crime rate. Its residents have tripled in number over the past decade as more and more Iranians moved into the city in search of jobs and a better life. © 2013 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, […]

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The Iranian parliament is considering a proposal to pick another city as the nation’s capital and move the seat of the government from the overcrowded and heavily polluted Tehran. Iran’s official news agency IRNA said Tuesday that if the lawmakers accept the proposal, a council would be set up and spend the next two years studying which alternate location would be best. There was no indication in the proposal what locations could be considered. The greater Tehran area has a population of 12 million and suffers from a score of urban problems such as heavy pollution, traffic jams and a high crime rate. Its residents have tripled in number over the past decade as more and more Iranians moved into the city in search of jobs and a better life. © 2013 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, […]

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Talks between Iran and six major powers on implementing last month’s nuclear deal will resume after Christmas, a spokeswoman for European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Monday. Baroness Ashton spoke with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Sunday, the spokeswoman said, after experts held three days of fresh implementation talks in Geneva. "There will be a break in technical talks over Christmas," said the spokeswoman, Maja Kocijancic. "We expect that technical talks will resume before the new year." The Nov. 24 confidence-building deal saw Iran agreeing to curtail some of its nuclear activities in exchange for a modest relaxing of international sanctions on the country. The agreement was seen as a first step toward a comprehensive accord the two sides hope to sign within 12 months. However, a number of issues must still be completed from the November agreement including when the confidence-building deal enters into force […]

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The escalation in the fight over sanctions comes less than four weeks after diplomats from Iran and six world powers signed a historic accord in Geneva that temporarily freezes key parts of Tehran’s nuclear program in return for short-term relief from some economic sanctions. Negotiators set a six-month deadline for hammering out a permanent treaty that would set strict limits on Iran’s nuclear capabilities. The measure introduced Thursday, if approved, would impose harsh new sanctions on Iran’s petroleum industry while also threatening U.S. allies and partners with financial restrictions unless they sharply curtail trade with Iran. The sanctions would go into effect if Iran violates the terms of the temporary accord reached last month or if it fails to reach a permanent agreement with world powers in a timely manner. Sponsors of the bill said the measure would increase U.S. leverage as its diplomats continue to work toward a […]

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Iran and six world powers will resume talks in Geneva on Thursday about how to implement a landmark nuclear agreement, a week after Tehran broke off the discussions in anger at an expanding U.S. sanctions blacklist. Under the November 24 interim accord, Iran will curb its disputed nuclear program in exchange for a limited easing of sanctions that are damaging its oil-dependent economy. The technical talks – expected to involve nuclear as well as sanctions experts – are meant to translate the political deal into a detailed plan on how to put it into practice. Diplomats said the task was complicated but that progress had been made during the December 9-12 meeting in Vienna, even though differences remained. They said there was a real political will on both sides to carry out the agreement. "It’s in the interests of the Iranians to go quickly because there […]

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Talks on implementing last month’s interim nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers are set to resume this week, two European diplomats said Tuesday. On Thursday, implementation talks in Vienna were put on hold after four days of negotiations when Iran reacted angrily to a U.S. decision to expand its list of Iranian sanctions targets. Over the last 48 hours, Western officials have worked to kick-start the talks. On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to work out a way forward in the talks. On Tuesday morning, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton met with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Brussels to discuss the state of play. Mr. Zarif said Monday that Iran would return to the negotiations even as he hit out at what he called the U.S.’s "improper" actions. The European diplomats said there was no final […]

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Iran pulled out of technical-level denuclearization talks with six world powers Friday to protest the expansion of a U.S. blacklist of companies and individuals allegedly supporting Iran’s atomic program. Tehran said the U.S. move violates the spirit of last month’s groundbreaking agreement on Iran’s nuclear development. But the White House said the action taken Thursday to freeze the U.S. assets of firms and people in several other countries did not violate the agreement, and was based on existing sanctions. In the first major hurdle to the interim deal reached last month in Geneva, the United States targeted more than a dozen companies and individuals in Panama, Singapore, Ukraine and elsewhere for allegedly evading sanctions against Iran and maintaining covert business with Iran’s national tanker company.  Other companies the U.S. accused of being involved directly in the proliferation of material useful for weapons of mass destruction were also blacklisted from […]

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Iran abruptly cut off nuclear talks with world powers and said their interim deal was in jeopardy after the U.S. extended its blacklist of those accused of helping Tehran skirt sanctions. The U.S. said it was confident the talks would soon resume, signaling that the tensions are likely to blow over. U.S. and European officials acknowledged the negotiations had been suspended but played down the seriousness of Iran’s threats. "We’re making progress, but I think we’re at a point in those talks where folks feel a need to consult, take a moment," Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters in Tel Aviv on Friday. He said he expected them back "in the next few days." Iranian negotiators ended talks in Vienna with the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany and said they needed to go back to Tehran to consult. The Obama administration, facing […]

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A breakthrough agreement to end the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program appeared to face its first major difficulty on Friday with Russia warning that expanding a U.S. sanctions blacklist could seriously complicate the deal’s implementation. Russia, which, along with the United States, is among the six world powers that negotiated the November 24 interim accord with Tehran, echoed Iranian criticism that it violated the spirit of the deal and could "block things". The United States on Thursday blacklisted additional companies and people under existing sanctions intended to prevent Iran from obtaining the capability to make nuclear weapons. Iran denies any such aims. Diplomats said Iran, in what appeared to be a response, interrupted technical talks in Vienna with the six nations over how to implement the agreement, under which Tehran is to curb its atomic activities in return for limited sanctions easing. The developments highlighted potential […]

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Assassinations, cyber-attacks and possible military strikes: As nuclear negotiations with Iran enter a crucial stage, Tehran is voicing fears that tougher oversight of its activities will increase the risks of an attack on its atomic facilities and the scientists working on them. Iranian fears that the country’s nuclear activities are a target are plausible but some nuclear experts say such concerns are overblown. Five of Tehran’s nuclear scientists and researchers have been killed in Iran since 2010 and a computer virus aimed at the heart of Tehran’s nuclear program temporarily slowed its uranium enrichment activities three years ago. Since then, Iran has claimed to have thwarted other potential malware invasions. It blames Israel, the United States or their allies for the physical and virtual attacks There have been no reports of recent attacks, but Iranian officials are clearly concerned that opening their nuclear program to greater […]

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Assassinations, cyber-attacks and possible military strikes: As nuclear negotiations with Iran enter a crucial stage, Tehran is voicing fears that tougher oversight of its activities will increase the risks of an attack on its atomic facilities and the scientists working on them. Iranian fears that the country’s nuclear activities are a target are plausible but some nuclear experts say such concerns are overblown. Five of Tehran’s nuclear scientists and researchers have been killed in Iran since 2010 and a computer virus aimed at the heart of Tehran’s nuclear program temporarily slowed its uranium enrichment activities three years ago. Since then, Iran has claimed to have thwarted other potential malware invasions. It blames Israel, the United States or their allies for the physical and virtual attacks There have been no reports of recent attacks, but Iranian officials are clearly concerned that opening their nuclear program to greater […]

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The White House on Thursday blocked Congress from passing new sanctions against Iran, at least through the end of the year. Lawmakers in the House and Senate will not vote on new sanctions this year, following a White House campaign to stall legislative action for at least six months while the U.S. and other nations negotiate a comprehensive deal over Tehran’s nuclear program. Congress could return next year and adopt new sanctions, but the delay in a vote has bought the White House more time to make its case amid political pressure over President Barack Obama’s gamble to pursue diplomacy with Iran. As important, more Democrats have fallen in line behind Mr. Obama’s diplomacy, making it less likely they will help advance legislation undermining the Iran talks. In a bid to reduce opposition to an interim deal reached last month between world powers and Iran, the administration blacklisted more […]

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Experts from Iran and six world powers labored for a fourth day on Thursday to work out exactly how to implement last month’s breakthrough deal for Tehran to curb its nuclear program in return for limited sanctions easing. The length of the closed-door discussions at the Vienna headquarters of the U.N. nuclear watchdog indicated the complexity of the task, not necessarily any major disagreements. Diplomats said it showed the parties were determined to ensure that there would be no misunderstandings in the implementation of the November 24 interim agreement. It is a "good sign" they are taking their time to get it right, one said. Iranian officials suggested after the second day of talks on Tuesday that progress was being made but have since declined to comment. Diplomats said the discussions were likely to continue on Friday and might stretch into the weekend. Experts from Iran, […]

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Iran’s oil exports are already rebounding after an interim deal with the West but the Islamic Republic won’t flood markets even if international sanctions are lifted, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday. The IEA, the top energy watchdog, said global oil demand will be higher than expected next year and that could push up oil prices amid persistent production disruptions. In its closely watched monthly oil market report, the IEA said preliminary estimates indicate that receipts of Iran’s crude oil and condensate exports rose by 89,000 barrels a day in November, to 850,000 barrels a day as the Chinese bought more and shipments to Taiwan resumed. By contrast, the agency had said last month that Iran’s crude exports had reached their lowest level in 21 months in October. The Iranian oil export rebound comes as, on Nov. 24, Iran and six world powers agreed to a […]

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A senior Iranian official indicated on Tuesday that progress was being achieved in expert-level talks between Tehran and six world powers over the implementation of a landmark nuclear deal. But Iranian Ambassador Reza Najafi added that the meeting, which began on Monday at the Vienna headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear watchdog, would continue for a third day on Wednesday. The goal is to work out nitty gritty details of implementing the November 24 interim accord under which Iran will curb its disputed nuclear program in return for some easing of sanctions that have battered its oil-dependent economy. Asked whether good progress was being made, Najafi told reporters: "Yes. We are going to continue tomorrow." Najafi is Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA, which will have a key role in verifying that Iran fulfils its side of the agreement. Officials from Iran, […]

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Designated Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif Hardliners in Iran are piling pressure on the country’s main nuclear negotiator and foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif , after he suggested that the US could destroy the country’s defence system “with one bomb”, leaving diplomacy as the only way to resolve the nuclear crisis. In a meeting with students at Tehran University last week, Mr Zarif defended the interim nuclear deal reached with six major powers – the US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany – in Geneva last month and said the Islamic regime was not capable of military confrontation with the US. Domestic media reported on Monday that 20 hardline members of the 290-strong parliament have written to Hassan Rouhani , the centrist president, and urged him to “revise” his decision to appoint Mr Zarif as foreign minister. Hossein Naghavi, a spokesman for parliament’s national security committee, went further and […]

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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani pegged economic recovery in the country on greater activity in the oil sector and increased tax revenues. Rouhani submitted a $7.8 billion general budget to the Parliament Sunday “Getting out of the status quo requires undertaking measures to push [the country] out of stagnation and adopting policies to contain inflation,” Rouhani was was quoted as saying by the Iranian Oil Ministry’s news website. “Therefore, we have tried to increase the general budget’s resources and to that effect we have put higher oil and tax revenues on the agenda.” Iran’s economy is struggling to cope with Western sanctions designed to starve it of oil revenue it could use to finance a controversial nuclear program, which Iran says is for peaceful purposes. Rouhani vowed to reverse the course set by his predecessors when he took office in August. Iranian Oil Minister Bijan […]

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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani pegged economic recovery in the country on greater activity in the oil sector and increased tax revenues. Rouhani submitted a $7.8 billion general budget to the Parliament Sunday “Getting out of the status quo requires undertaking measures to push [the country] out of stagnation and adopting policies to contain inflation,” Rouhani was was quoted as saying by the Iranian Oil Ministry’s news website. “Therefore, we have tried to increase the general budget’s resources and to that effect we have put higher oil and tax revenues on the agenda.” Iran’s economy is struggling to cope with Western sanctions designed to starve it of oil revenue it could use to finance a controversial nuclear program, which Iran says is for peaceful purposes. Rouhani vowed to reverse the course set by his predecessors when he took office in August. Iranian Oil Minister Bijan […]

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AP Photo TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s president defended an interim nuclear deal that eases some of the international community’s crippling economic sanctions in return for a freeze on part of the Islamic Republic’s uranium enrichment activities, saying Saturday that improving the economy is as important as maintaining a peaceful nuclear program. Since Iran signed the interim agreement last month with world powers, President Hassan Rouhani has been trying to convince skeptics and hard-liners at home that Iran is not compromising on key issues of national sovereignty. It’s a task that will become all the more difficult for the moderate leader as Tehran moves toward a final accord six months from now. “Nuclear technology and uranium enrichment is our definite right,” Rouhani said in a speech to university students that was broadcast live on state TV. “But progress, better living conditions and welfare for the people is also our […]

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For years, the workers at the Iranian printing house spewed out posters with state propaganda calling for “Death to America” and resistance to the West. Now, in the aftermath of the temporary Continue Reading

Iran’s top diplomat, who only last month brokered a groundbreaking nuclear deal with the world powers, is now traveling the Persian Gulf region, trying to mend ties with Arab neighbors, Sunni nations that harbor deep suspicions of Shiite Iran. On Wednesday, the diplomat, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, arrived in the United Arab Emirates, having stopped in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman this week, with the goal of undoing years of regional tensions, not only sectarian but also the fruit of the confrontational approach of Iran’s former president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Mr. Zarif met with several Emirati officials, among them Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, where an estimated 400,000 Iranians live and work in companies that are often front offices for trade with Iran — much of it illicit, because of sanctions. Mr. Zarif also invited the Emirates’ president, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, to […]

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Iran plans to meet with international oil companies as soon as March to try to entice investors to its energy industry once world powers lift sanctions, the Persian Gulf state’s oil minister said. Iran, once OPEC’s second-largest producer, is talking with European companies about future projects, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh told reporters today in Vienna. The minister said he hopes Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) , Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) Plc, BP (BP/) Plc, Eni SpA and Statoil ASA (STL) will invest in the country. Iranian officials will meet with international companies in London in March, he said, declining to identify them. The Islamic republic agreed last month to restrict work on its nuclear program for six months in return for a loosening of sanctions that offers about $7 billion in relief and access to $4.2 billion in oil revenue frozen in foreign banks. The accord leaves in place banking and […]

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A surge of diplomacy and an outburst of violence in the days since world powers reached a deal with Iran illustrate both the promise and the peril of what could be the start of a more peaceful era in the Middle East — or the beginning of a new round of bloodletting. The announcement of the six-month accord on Iran’s nuclear program, hailed by President Obama as an opportunity to reverse decades of hostility between Washington and Tehran, has quickly been followed by indications of the deal’s potential to unlock other regional conflicts. An anti-Government protester raises his fist after getting into the compound of Government House in Bangkok, Thailand Tuesday, Dec. 3 2013. Anti-government protesters swarmed into the Thai prime minister’s office compound Tuesday as police stood by and watched, allowing them to claim a symbolic victory after three days of bitter clashes. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn) […]

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