DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran said Monday it has arrested 17 Iranian nationals allegedly recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency to spy on the country's nuclear and military sites, and that some of them have already been sentenced to death. The arrests took place over the past months, and...
Iran Denies Trump Claim That US Destroyed Iranian Drone
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran on Friday denied President Donald Trump's claim that a U.S. warship destroyed an Iranian drone near the Persian Gulf in another escalation of tensions between the two countries less than a month after Trump nearly launched an airstrike. The Iranian military said all its drones had...
Iran State TV: Iranian Forces Seize Foreign Oil Tanker, Crew
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard forces seized a foreign oil tanker accused of smuggling oil, Iran's state TV reported Thursday. The vessel appears to be a United Arab Emirates-based tanker that had disappeared off trackers in Iranian territorial waters over the weekend. The seizure was the latest in...
US Fears Iran Seized UAE-Based Tanker in Strait of Hormuz
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A small oil tanker from the United Arab Emirates traveling through the Strait of Hormuz entered Iranian waters and turned off its tracker two days ago, leading the U.S. to suspect Iran seized the vessel amid heightened tensions in the region, an American defense official...
Pentagon in Its Longest-Ever Stretch of Leadership Limbo
WASHINGTON — When he resigned as defense secretary last December, Jim Mattis thought it might take two months to install a successor. That seemed terribly long at the time. Seven months later, the U.S. still has no confirmed defense chief even with the nation facing potential armed conflict with Iran. That's the...
Britain Says Iranian Vessels Tried to Block Tanker in Gulf
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The British navy said Thursday it stopped three Iranian paramilitary vessels from disrupting the passage of a British oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz in a brief but tense standoff stemming from the U.K.'s role in seizing an Iranian supertanker a week earlier. The...
Iran Breaches Key Uranium Enrichment Limit in Nuclear Deal
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran on Monday began enriching uranium to 4.5%, just breaking the limit set by its nuclear deal with world powers, while it is still seeking a way for Europe to help it bypass U.S. sanctions amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington. The acknowledgment by the spokesman...
Iranians Say US Sanctions Hurt the People, Not Government
TEHRAN, Iran — While opinions differ across Tehran's Grand Bazaar about the ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Iran over its unraveling nuclear deal, there's one thing those in the beating heart of Iran's capital city agree on: American sanctions hurt the average person, not those in charge. From an...
Iran Breaches Uranium Stockpile Limit Set by Nuclear Deal
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has broken the limit set on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, international inspectors and Tehran said Monday, marking its first major departure from the unraveling agreement a year after the U.S. unilaterally withdrew from the accord. The announcement...
Supreme Leader Says Iranians Won't Budge Over US Sanctions
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's supreme leader said Wednesday that Iranians will not budge or change their stand following new U.S. sanctions targeting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his associates, the latest in a torrent of sharp verbal responses from Tehran in the wake of the measures. President Donald Trump enacted the...