TEHRAN, Iran — Iran will "under no circumstances" enter a war either directly or indirectly with the United States, a prominent reformist Iranian lawmaker said Wednesday, as both Washington and Tehran try to ease heightened tensions in the region. The reported comments by Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh come after the White House...
Iran Quadruples Production of Low-Enriched Uranium, Reports Say
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has quadrupled its production of low-enriched uranium amid tensions with the U.S. over Tehran's unraveling nuclear accord, two semi-official news agencies reported Monday, an announcement just after President Donald Trump warned Iran it would face its "official end" if it threatened America again. While the reports...
Iran’s Top Diplomat Presses Efforts to Save Nuclear Deal
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's foreign minister traveled Friday to China on his Asian tour aimed at keeping world markets open to Tehran amid an intense sanctions campaign from the U.S. as tensions across the Persian Gulf remain high. Concerns about a possible conflict have flared since the White House ordered...
Iran Claims Right to Respond to ‘Unacceptable’ US Sanctions
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia on Thursday blamed Tehran for a drone attack by Yemen's rebels that knocked out a key oil pipeline and a newspaper close to the palace called for the U.S. to carry out "surgical" strikes on Iran, adding a new layer of tension to...
After Trump Invite, Iran Commander Says No Talks With US
TEHRAN, Iran — A top commander in Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard said Friday that Tehran will not talk with the United States, an Iranian news agency reported — a day after President Donald Trump said he'd like Iranian leaders to "call me." The semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted Gen. Yadollah...
Iran Threatens to Boost Uranium Enrichment if Nuclear Deal Fails
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran threatened Wednesday to enrich its uranium stockpile closer to weapons-grade levels in 60 days if world powers fail to negotiate new terms for its 2015 nuclear deal, raising regional tensions as a U.S. aircraft carrier and bombers headed to the Middle East to confront Tehran. A...
Suicide Bomber Targeting Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Kills 27
TEHRAN, Iran — A suicide car bomber claimed by an al-Qaida-linked group attacked a bus carrying members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard paramilitary force Wednesday, killing at least 27 people and wounding 13 others, state media reported. Tehran immediately linked the attack in Iran's restive southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan province...
Ex-US Intelligence Officer Charged in Iran Espionage Case
WASHINGTON — A former U.S. Air Force counterintelligence specialist who defected to Iran has been charged with revealing classified information to the Tehran government, including the code name and secret mission of a Pentagon program. The Justice Department said Wednesday that Monica Elfriede Witt, 39, defected in 2013 after attending a conference...
Iran Begins Marking 40th Anniversary of Islamic Revolution
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran on Friday began celebrations to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed shah, overturned 2,500 years of monarchical rule and brought hard-line Shiite clerics to power. The climactic events that year — from revolutionaries in the streets of Tehran to...
Iran Official Calls Netanyahu's Atomic Claims 'Obscene Charge'
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's foreign minister denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's allegations against Tehran at the U.N. General Assembly as an "obscene charge," the state-run IRNA news agency reported Friday. The response came after Netanyahu on Thursday claimed at the General Assembly that Iran has a "secret atomic warehouse"...