Iran News

I recently wrote that Albania and Kosovo were the two most secular Muslim-majority countries I have ever visited. That is no longer true. Azerbaijan is the most secular Muslim-majority country I have ever visited.

Not once in a week did I heard the muezzin’s call to prayer. I saw only two or maybe three women wearing conservative Islamic clothing, and never anything more conservative than a headscarf.

Baku, though, seemed even more secular than Western Europe. The capital looks like a prosperous and mostly Westernized city-state that's slightly out-of-place in a world of the East, like what you'd get if you crashed Moscow and Istanbul together. It makes sense that Baku appears as it does.

The Safavid Empire began in Azerbaijan when the prominent statesman and the grandson of Uzun Hasan Shah Ismail Khatai (1501-1524) realized his grandfather's wish and united all the territories of Azerbaijan under his control.

He created a centralized Azerbaijani state - Safavid; the capital was Tabriz.

During the reign of the Safavid state system establishment in Azerbaijan progressed. Azerbaijani had been the sate language.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner warned that Israel will strike archfoe Iran before it is able to develop nuclear weapons, in comments published on Sunday.

"I honestly don't believe (a nuclear weapon) will give any immunity to Iran," Kouchner said in an interview with Israel's Haaretz newspaper during a two-day visit to the region.

"First, because you will hit them before. And this is the danger. Israel has always said it will not wait for the bomb to be ready. I think that (the Iranians) know. Everyone knows," he said.

Five enamel works by Isfahani artists received the UNESCO Seal of Excellence award on Sunday.

The Iraqi foreign minister said Tuesday it will require "bold political decisions" to resolve the major issue standing in the way of a deal allowing American troops to remain here next year - who would try U. ...

TEHRAN, Iran- Iranian news reports claimed today that Iran forced a Western aircraft that accidentally entered its airspace to land, then allowed the plane to continue after questioning its passengers.

Confusion today surrounded an Iranian claim that a US plane had violated its territory and had been forced to land in the Islamic Republic.

The semi-official Fars News Agency said that five American military officials had been interrogated at an unnamed Iranian airport for a day after the incident. It said they were released after it was established that the plane had not entered the territory intentionally. It did not say when the incident happened.

The reports were immediately dismissed, however, by the Pentagon which said it was not aware of any plane being forced to land in Iran and said none had recently been missing.

Some subsequent, contradictory Iranian reports suggested the plane was in fact an American transport jet, not a military plane, while others said it belonged to a European aid agency. Another report said the plane was Hungarian.

TEHRAN/BERLIN - Iran has accused six major powers of "unreasonable behavior" over its disputed nuclear program, but the European Union said on Tuesday it would stick to a ...

TEHRAN * Iran will not stop uranium enrichment even if it is guaranteed supplies of nuclear fuel from abroad, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said yesterday.

Many women in Iran have a relatively high body mass index. To investigate whether the condition contributes to excess breast cancer cases, a case-control study was conducted to assess the relationships between ...

A 5-day seminar a oeWe Nothing but Looka , organized to commemorate the 80th birthday of the late contemporary poet Sohrab Sepehri, is opening on Monday.

Date : Sun, 05 Oct 2008 18:37:20 -0700 Tehran Times, Iran News Code : TTime- 179295 Print Date : Monday, October 6, 2008 Iran to start gas exports to Armenia by Oct.

Iran has not received Russia's advanced S-300 anti-aircraft system yet though the countries are still discussing a purchase, Israeli defense sources said on Sunday, revising earlier statements that a deal was ...

The Bush administration has shelved plans to set up a diplomatic outpost in Iran, in part over fears it could affect the U.S. presidential race or be interpreted as political meddling, The Associated Press has learned.

The proposal to send U.S. diplomats to Tehran for the first time in three decades attracted great attention when it was floated over the summer, but has now been placed on indefinite hold as November's election nears and Iran continues to defy demands to halt suspect nuclear activities, officials told the AP.

“Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) hopes that Azerbaijan and Armenia will respond official Tehran’s proposal on mediation in settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict”, said Iran’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Naser Hamidi Zare.

Touching upon the processes going on in the region, the diplomat emphasized that Iran, which is one of the important countries of the region, had keen interest in finding solution to the deadlock: “Therefore, official Tehran has offered the proposal of being mediator between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Iran is ready to take any step for the establishment of normal relations between the all regional countries”.

The world's biggest oil companies have applied to attend Iran's second Gas Export Conference.

BAGHDAD: Hard-line Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr issued a fresh call on Friday for US troops to withdraw from Iraq, saying there would be no sectarian violence after foreign forces quit the country.

Almost undetected, Russia is regaining much of the influence that it lost in the Middle East after the Soviet Union collapsed.

Iran's nuclear ambitions need to be dealt with by the international community and not by Israel alone, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in remarks published Monday.

The Barack Obama campaign has raised millions of dollars in very questionable contributions .