17 December 2004 -- Russia and Iran said today in Moscow they will intensify their economic and technological cooperation, including construction of a second nuclear reactor in the Islamic state.
In recent months, several Iranian online journalists and web technicians have been arrested. Observers say it's part of a government crackdown on the Internet. Four of the journalists have now "confessed," saying they were brainwashed by "foreigners and counterrevolutionaries" into writing articles critical of Iran's Islamic Republic. Reporters Without Borders and Human Rights Watch, however, say the confessions were extracted under extreme pressure from Iran's hard-line judiciary.
A uranium-conversion facility in Iran Nuclear proliferation was a hot issue in 2004 with world attention focused on suspicions that both Iran and North Korea were secretly pursuing atomic weapons programs. But the crisis over Iran took center stage as a trio of European countries repeatedly sought to persuade Tehran to abandon any plans to become a nuclear power. Meanwhile, the crisis over North Korea got little public attention as regional talks to solve it made no apparent progress.
Recent days have seen a mounting drumbeat of charges from Baghdad and Washington that Iran and Syria are actively seeking to undermine the creation of a new post-Saddam Hussein order in Iraq. The charges have been dramatic, but also vague, leaving observers uncertain of the evidence behind them. The latest charge came yesterday, as U.S. President George W. Bush warned both Iran and Syria not to interfere in Iraq as the country prepares for its 30 January elections.
15 December 2004 -- Iraqi Defense Minister Hazim Sha'lan al-Khuza'i today accused Iran of orchestrating terrorist attacks in Iraq.
Is this site producing a nuclear weapon? (file photo) This week, the foreign ministers of Britain, France, and Germany and EU foreign-policy chief Javier Solana met with Iran's top nuclear negotiator in an ongoing attempt to convince Iran to permanently suspend its uranium-enrichment activities. Meanwhile, with each passing day, Iran could be getting closer to producing a nuclear bomb, a growing number of nonproliferation officials believe.
14 December 2004 -- Iran's interior minister criticized the hard-line Guardians Council for proposing to push back Iran's planned presidential election, due to be held next May.
Iranian governmental bodies are locked in a dispute over when to hold the country's next presidential election -- in May or in early June -- but three conservative figures have already declared their intention to be candidates.
14 December 2004 -- A senior Iranian official has spoken of Iran and the European Union opening a "new chapter" in their relations after talks on benefits Iran is to receive for suspending its uranium-enrichment activities.
13 December 2004 -- European and Iranian leaders say they have made progress in their talks about Iran's controversial nuclear activities.
13 December 2004 -- Officials of Iran and the European Union are due to start talks today on issues connected to Iran's nuclear activities.
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