In March 13, a number of U.S. senators, policymakers, and professors gathered at a conference dedicated to criticizing George Bush's policy toward Iran. The annual American Iranian Council gala is subsidized by a dozen oil companies, and sponsored by those same universities — Columbia and Georgetown — whose faculty so prominently dismissed the threat posed by Islamist terror right up to the moment the first jetliner slammed into the World Trade Center. ... more

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, in a departure from his previously stated position, said his country rejected any negotiations with the United States, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported Monday. ... more

Iran's supreme leader on Monday knocked down the possibility of talks with the United States a day after a government spokesman said Tehran was not opposed to the discussions. ... more

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has ruled out negotiations with the United States as a way of resolving current tensions between the two countries. ... more

The Iranian government sees no reason why Iranian parliamentarians and their American counterparts cannot hold talks, government spokesman Abdullah Ramezanzadeh said on 17 March according to IRNA. ... more

Vice-President for legal and parliamentary affairs, Hojjat ol-Eslam [Mohammad Ali] Abtahi, said that 1380 [year beginning 20 March 2001] was the year of the institutionalization of reform and civil rights movement. ... more

"We don't agree with an American attack on Iraq. It will cause great damage and suffering to ordinary people," Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, the spiritual and political leader of Iraq's exiled Shi'ite community, told the Guardian at his heavily guarded headquarters in central Tehran. The ayatollah fled Iraq in 1980 and, with Iranian government support, set up the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri). Western governments estimate that Sciri has a force of between 7,000 and 15,000 men. ... more

LONDON: Both the Jordanian and Iranian governments appear to be doing their best to avoid a public row over strains in their relations that seem to have been mounting for some time, but have only recently come to public attention. ... more

ABU DHABI -- Iran may offer to supply gas to the Qatar-United Arab Emirates Dolphin project once Dolphin Energy Ltd. finalizes gas purchase agreements with Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Ahmad Rahgozar, vice president of the National Iranian Oil Co. (C.NIO), said Monday. ... more

[Iqbal Jamil] The first bus from Karachi with 30 passengers on board left for Tehran. The bus service was jointly inaugurated by nazim [administrator] of Karachi city, Nematullah Khan, advocate and Iranian consul general in Karachi, Muhammad Zahiri Amirani. ... more

LOS ANGELES -- An Iranian was sentenced Monday to 33 months in prison for making an anti-American threat after being caught smoking during an Air Canada flight. ... more

MOSCOW -- Russia has agreed to sell combat helicopters to Iran. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Moscow has concluded an agreement to sell the aircraft to Teheran. Ivanov said the contract does not pose any threat to Persian Gulf security. ... more

Political and military events unfolding in occupied Palestine and America's renewed attempts at pressuring Saddam Hussayn's Iraq are the two key developments in the Middle East. ... more

New Delhi, March 19, IRNA -- Iranian chess players Ehsan Qaem Maqami and Ghader Pour Shayesteh face a dismal day against foreign opponents in the second day of the XIII Goodrich International Open Chess Tournament in Calcutta in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. Maqami (one point) lost to Arsen Yegiazarian (Armenia) (2 points) in the tournament at the Gorky Sadan on Monday. Earlier in the tournament, Maqami gained one point Sunday to beat Nisha Mohta (Ind). Iran's first Woman International Master (WIM) Shayesteh Gadeh Pour who joined the tournament from Monday was also beaten by Zi Jing Wong (Mas) (1 point). ... more

"Iran va Jahan" extends its best wishes for a very happy "Norooz"

WASHINGTON -- On Oct. 6, 1981, I was in Oman and spent the night at the Holiday Inn in the port town of Salalah. ... more

NEW YORK: Nuclear weapons in war against terrorism or on rogue states will be virtually useless as the objective of deterrence would not be met by their use, a report said here on Monday. ... more

WASHINGTON – Details of the Pentagon's classified Nuclear Posture Review, leaked out last week, provoked a swift reaction from some analysts ... ... more

Osama bin Laden is still alive, according to a relative of the world's most wanted man. Bin Laden's half-brother Ahmad Mohammed said his family had received information three weeks ago that indicated the high-profile fugitive was still alive. ... more