Iranian news

Misleading headline.

Turns out that Iran is retaliating for refusals to fuel Iranian planes

Iran refuses to fuel some European, Arab airlines

Google,

31 December, 2011

TEHRAN — Iran is refusing to refuel some European and Arab airlines at its main international airport in a tit-for-tat move over major oil companies denying fuel to Iranian planes abroad, the airport's chief said on Saturday.

"Government directives" ordered the ban, Morteza Dehqan, head of Tehran's Imam Khomeini international airport, told the ISNA news agency.

"In a reciprocal move, we are not giving fuel to the airlines of countries which do not give fuel to our airlines," he said.

He did not say when the decision was adopted.

AFP could not immediately confirm which foreign airlines were affected by the decision.

In October, Iran's foreign ministry warned it would "confront" Western companies for refusing to refuel its planes in Europe, which it called a violation of international law.

European authorities and airports have been silent about the reported measures, which are separate to unilateral restrictions the EU imposed soon after the UN Security Council adopted a fourth set of sanctions against Tehran in June.

Unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States, however, target gasoline and jet fuel supplies to Iran.

Some airports in the Gulf and southwestern Asia are also reportedly refusing fuel to Iranian airlines, including its flag carrier Iran Air as well as leading private airline Mahan Air.

Iran Air has been under US sanctions since 1995 that have prevented any sale of Boeing or Airbus aircraft or spare parts. As a result, the airline has become one of the most dilapidated airlines in the world.

Mahan Air was put on the US sanctions list in October for allegedly transporting members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, some senior officers of which are on a US travel blacklist.

Let us see if the West, which seems determined to wage war on Iran will accept these proposals.  I doubt it - remember the lead-up to war with Iraq?

Iran Proposes New Nuclear Talks With World Powers

ABC News,

31 December, 2011

Iran has proposed a new round of talks about its controversial nuclear program with the six world powers, the country's top nuclear negotiator said Saturday.

Saeed Jalili said he has formally called on the six powers — the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — to return to the negotiating table with Iran.

The invitation comes in the wake of new sanctions recently imposed by the West over Tehran's uranium enrichment program, which is a potential pathway to making nuclear arms.

For article GO HERE

Iran to test-fire long-range missiles during drill

Reuters,

30 December, 2011

Iran will fire long-range missiles during a naval drill in the Gulf on Saturday, a semi-official news agency reported, a show of force at a time when Iran has threatened to close shipping lanes if the West imposes sanctions on its oil exports.

Iran threatened on Tuesday to stop the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz if it became the target of an oil export embargo over its nuclear ambitions, a move that could trigger military conflict with countries dependent on Gulf oil.

"The Iranian navy will test several kinds of its missiles, including its long-range missiles, in the Persian Gulf on Saturday," Admiral Mahmoud Mousavi, deputy commander of the Iranian navy, told Fars news agency.

For article GO HERE