War in Context

The Al Kibar nuclear reactor in Syria
By Paul Woodward, War in Context, April 25, 2008
As someone who voiced great skepticism about the initial claims that Israel destroyed a nuclear facility in the Syrian desert on September 6, 2007, I’ll be the first to admit that the evidence provided in the DNI background briefing presents proof […]

Race for sanctions on Iran speeds up
By Kaveh L Afrasiabi, Asia Times, January 31, 2008
The next Iran report by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is due in early March, and even though Tehran has fully cooperated and there is no evidence of military diversion from its peaceful nuclear activities, the United […]

Saudi cannot be launchpad for Iran attack: report
AFP, January 12, 2008
A leading Saudi newspaper on Saturday ruled out any attempt by the United States to use the oil-rich Gulf kingdom as a launchpad for a possible war on Iran over Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme.
Two days before a visit to Saudi Arabia by US President George […]

Time has come for U.S. to pursue talks with Iran
By Zvi Bar’el, Haaretz, December 5, 2007
The American intelligence report that makes the option of a military strike against Iran - and possibly the next dose of sanctions - less likely to materialize gives us an important time-out to try a new avenue vis-a-vis the Islamic […]

Iran hints it could halt nuclear enrichment for a quid pro quo
By Matthew Schofield, McClatchy, November 23, 2007
Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency said Friday that his country could suspend uranium enrichment if the United States and Western Europe agreed to acknowledge that its nuclear program was peaceful.
But Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh said […]

Report raises new doubts on Iran nuclear program
By Elaine Sciolino and William J. Broad, New York Times, November 16, 2007
The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a report on Thursday that Iran had made new but incomplete disclosures about its past nuclear activities, missing a critical deadline under an agreement with the agency and virtually […]

U.S. dismisses nuclear report on Iran
By Kaveh L Afrasiabi, Asia Times, November 17, 2007
The much-anticipated report on Iran by the head of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that was released this week confirms “substantial progress” in Iran’s cooperation with the agency and the steady resolution of disputed issues and, yet, the US government has reacted […]

Syria nuclear probe may be inconclusive
By Mark Heinrich, Reuters, October 31, 2007
The IAEA has been studying before-and-after commercial aerial photos of the site and has asked Syria for explanations. But Syria has not replied and the pictures alone are unlikely to yield conclusions, the diplomat told Reuters.
“IAEA experts are looking back at the evolution of […]

The box on the Euphrates
By Paul Woodward, War in Context, October 29, 2007
Writing in The American Conservative, former CIA officer Philip Giraldi sees in the Syrian-nuclear-reactor story the hallmarks of a disinformation campaign:
In the intelligence community, a disinformation operation is a calculated attempt to convince an audience that falsehoods about an adversary are true, either […]

Satellite photos show cleansing of Syrian site
By William J. Broad and Mark Mazzetti, New York Times, October 26, 2007
New commercial satellite photos show that a Syrian site believed to have been attacked by Israel last month no longer bears any obvious traces of what some analysts said appeared to have been a partly built nuclear […]

Iran has new nuclear negotiator, but similar stance
By Elaine Sciolino and Peter Kiefer, New York Times, October 24, 2007
Iran’s new chief nuclear negotiator made his international debut in Rome on Tuesday, to a chorus of unusually blunt criticism by politicians in Tehran that the departure of his predecessor was unwise.
Saeed Jalili, the negotiator, met with […]

Iran rocks its nuclear boat
By Kaveh L Afrasiabi, Asia Times, October 23, 2007
Various commentators, especially in Europe and the United States, have been quick in interpreting Larijani’s resignation as a “bad omen” reflecting a triumph for hardliners led by Ahmadinejad. But that is simplistic and ignores a more complex reality in the Iran’s state affairs. […]

Ali Larijani resigns
By Farideh Farhi, ICGA, October 20, 2007
Ali Larijani, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator and the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, has resigned. This is a big deal!
The fact that Larijani had threatened to resign several times was an open secret in Iran; a fact that was even acknowledged by the government spokesman, […]

U.N. nuclear agency examines Syria images
By George Jahn, AP, October 19, 2007
U.N. experts have begun analyzing satellite imagery of the Syrian site struck last month by Israeli warplanes, looking for any signs it was a secret nuclear facility, diplomats said Friday.
It was unclear where the material was obtained or what exactly it showed. One of […]

Rice cites ‘lying’ by Iran about nuclear program
By Michael Abramowitz, Washington Post, October 12, 2007
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice took issue Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement that there is no evidence Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons, asserting that Tehran has prevaricated about its nuclear activities. At the same time, she held […]