Middle East
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Iran open for IAEA talks, no word on Parchin: diplomats
2012-04-19 17:53:55 UTC
VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran says it is ready to resume talks with the U.N. nuclear watchdog two months after their last meeting ended in failure, but still appears to be stonewalling a request for access to a key military site, Western diplomats said on Thursday.
Just days after Iran and six world...
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Syria hasn't fully complied with Annan peace plan: U.N. chief
2012-04-19 05:49:57 UTC
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Syria has not fully complied with a U.N.-backed peace plan for the country and has yet to send a "clear signal" about its commitment to ending more than a year of violence, the U.N. chief told the Security Council in a letter obtained by Reuters on Wednesday.
At the ...
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US aircraft carriers not allowed to stop in areas designated by Iran
2012-04-19 04:21:02 UTC
The commander of the Iranian Armed Forces said on Wednesday that Iran has notified the two U.S. aircraft carriers deployed in the Persian Gulf that they are not allowed to stop in certain areas of the Persian Gulf designated by Iranian naval forces, MNA reported.
"We had previously notified th...
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U.S. says Syria at turning point, stresses pressure
2012-04-18 18:23:12 UTC
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Syria is at a turning point where the violence must stop or the United States will find ways to increase pressure on the Damascus government, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday.
Clinton gave no details of what the United States or other nations mig...
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Exclusive: Bolivia poised to de-flag Iranian ships
2012-04-18 17:49:38 UTC
DUBAI (Reuters) - Bolivia is poised to strike fifteen vessels linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines off its shipping register just weeks after IRISL found Bolivian replacements for their Maltese and Cypriot flags.
IRISL, its many subsidiaries and their dozens of ships have been...
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Oil buyers cut more Iran imports due to sanctions
2012-04-18 17:16:25 UTC
TOKYO/LONDON (Reuters) - Japan will slash crude purchases from Iran in April, and European and Taiwanese customers will also take less, industry sources told Reuters on Wednesday, adding to signs Western sanctions are curbing sales from OPEC's second-largest producer.
Japan is cutting volumes ...
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Arab ministers urge Syria to open up to U.N. monitors
2012-04-17 23:41:25 UTC
DOHA (Reuters) - Arab League ministers met U.N.-Arab special envoy Kofi Annan on Tuesday and pressed Syria to cooperate fully with his peace mission, first by providing unfettered access to ceasefire monitors.
A six-day-old truce has held in some areas of Syria but fighting has persisted in ot...
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U.N. sees need for more Syria observers, aircraft
2012-04-18 01:16:07 UTC
BEIRUT (Reuters) - A United Nations mission to oversee an end to violence in Syria may need to bring in its own aircraft and deploy more troops to ensure that a firm ceasefire takes hold throughout the country, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday.
A six-day-old truce has held in...
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Afghan Taliban says rehearsed attack for two months
2012-04-17 05:30:43 UTC
KABUL (Reuters) - The insurgents who mounted weekend attacks in central Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan carefully rehearsed for months, even building small military-style models and pre-positioning weapons, a Taliban spokesman said on Monday.
Zabihullah Mujahid provided Reuters with a rar...
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Karzai says NATO failed as 18-hour Kabul attack ends
2012-04-17 01:46:31 UTC
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Monday that a coordinated Taliban attack on Kabul showed a "failure" by Afghan intelligence and especially by NATO, while Washington signaled the Haqqani group of militants was responsible.
The Afghan leader's comments underscored abiding...
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Algeria offers own brand of "Arab Spring" for vote
2012-04-15 21:34:28 UTC
ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria on Sunday launched the campaign for a parliamentary election that the ruling elite, in power for 50 years, hopes will soak up the pressure for change that has been building since the "Arab Spring" revolts in neighboring countries.
Oil and gas exporter Algeria is the...
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Taliban attack Afghanistan in "spring offensive"
2012-04-15 20:37:26 UTC
KABUL (Reuters) - Heavy explosions, rockets and gunfire rattled Kabul on Sunday as Afghanistan's Taliban launched a "spring offensive" with multiple attacks targeting Western embassies, the NATO force's headquarters and the parliament building.
The assault, one of the most serious on the capit...
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Corrected-Beyond monitors, world deeply divided on Syria
2012-04-15 07:05:55 UTC
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With a cease-fire barely holding and the deployment of unarmed foreign observers expected to ease but not end months of violence, world powers are still struggling to find a longer-term strategy for Syria.
After heavy diplomatic wrangling, the United Nations Security Cou...
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Israel moves to thwart pro-Palestinian fly-in
2012-04-15 02:23:52 UTC
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel moved to block an influx of pro-Palestinian activists planning to visit the occupied West Bank, drafting a letter from the Prime Minister's Office suggesting they focus instead on "real problems" in the Middle East, officials said on Saturday.
Some 1,200 Palestinia...
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Iran, big powers agree - to keep talking
2012-04-15 01:48:45 UTC
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - After a year of sanctions and saber-rattling over Iran's nuclear program, negotiators from Tehran and six world powers finally resumed talks and found at least enough common ground to agree to meet again next month.
With threats of war hanging over an already unsettled Mid...
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U.N. council approves deployment of monitors to Syria
2012-04-14 17:21:20 UTC
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia and China joined the rest of the U.N. Security Council on Saturday to authorize the deployment of up to 30 unarmed observers to Syria to monitor the country's fragile ceasefire as called for by U.N.-Arab League mediator Kofi Annan.
It is the first resolution t...
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Moscow urges swift UN resolution on Syrian observers
2012-04-14 05:39:58 UTC
Russia is calling on the UN Security Council to adopt a swift resolution on the urgent sending of UN observers to Syria to ensure a ceasefire in the country torn by civil unrest, Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said on Friday, RIA Novosti reported.
"The urgent sending of UN observers t...
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Exclusive: Iran ships "off radar" as Tehran conceals oil sales
2012-04-13 19:23:13 UTC
LONDON (Reuters) - Iran is concealing the destination of its oil sales by disabling tracking systems aboard its tanker fleet, making it difficult to assess how much crude Tehran is exporting as it seeks to counter Western sanctions aimed at cutting its oil revenues.
Most of Iran's 39-strong fl...
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Russia sends conflicting signals on Syria ships
2012-04-13 19:15:26 UTC
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian news agency reported on Friday that Moscow had decided to keep a warship on patrol off Syria for the foreseeable future, but a military source said Russia's naval presence in the eastern Mediterranean had "nothing to do" with Syria.
The conflicting signals came dur...
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West pushes U.N. Syria vote, despite Russian criticism
2012-04-13 19:09:59 UTC
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Western powers brushed aside Russian criticism of a U.S.-drafted Security Council resolution authorizing an advance team of U.N. observers to monitor Syria's fragile ceasefire and said they hoped to put it to a vote on Friday.
The U.N. missions of Britain, France and...
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UN team ready for Syria deployment
2012-04-13 17:32:55 UTC
A United Nations team of 30 unarmed military observers is ready to deploy to Syria to begin a monitoring mission as soon as the Security Council approves its mission, which may be as soon as Friday, a spokesman for special envoy Kofi Annan has said.
The team is "standing by" to begin overseein...
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Yemen army clashes with Islamists, 34 killed
2012-04-13 16:30:56 UTC
ADEN (Reuters) - At least 34 people, mostly Islamist militants, were killed near the southern Yemeni city of Lawdar on Friday in clashes between government forces and an al-Qaeda linked group, official and tribal sources said.
Yemen's military launched an offensive five days ago against Islami...
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Iran, powers set for high-stakes nuclear talks
2012-04-13 19:19:28 UTC
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Iran and six world powers prepared on Friday for rare talks aimed at easing fears that a deepening dispute over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program could plunge the Middle East into a new war.
Senior officials from Iran and the big powers arrived in Istanbul ahead of Sa...
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U.N. could approve Syria monitors Friday, envoys say
2012-04-12 17:41:02 UTC
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council could approve on Friday a resolution to send unarmed U.N. observers to Syria to monitor a fragile ceasefire in the 13-month conflict that has brought the country to the brink of civil war, diplomats said.
U.N. Arab League peace envoy Kofi An...
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Nuclear talks aim to ease fears of Iran war
2012-04-12 17:17:51 UTC
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Major powers will hold their first talks with Iran this week in more than a year, hoping Tehran will give enough ground on its nuclear program to extend negotiations and avert the threat of a Middle East war.
Israel has hinted at military action against Iran, arguing time ...