• Iran launches production lines for unmanned planes

Iran has launched two production lines to build unmanned aircraft with surveillance and attack capabilities, the defense minister announced Monday. It also announced that Iran would soon deploy a missile air defense system more powerful than the advanced Russian S-300 system Tehran has ordered from Moscow in 2007 but has...
• Iran plans 10 new enrichment plants in next year

Iran plans to build 10 new uranium enrichment facilities during the next Iranian year, its atomic energy chief was quoted as saying, in comments likely to further raise tension with the West. The statement by Ali Akbar Salehi on Sunday evening comes after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad earlier in the day instructed Iran's...
• Netanyahu to press Moscow on Iran

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will travel to Moscow next Sunday for three days, his office announced on Sunday, for talks expected to focus on getting Russia to back stepped-up sanctions against Iran. The visit, planned weeks ago, comes as the West is showing signs of growing impatience with what is starting to be seen...
• Hamas sends mixed message on apology

The Palestinian Authority on Sunday accused Hamas of double talk regarding its stance on the report of the UN fact-finding mission into Operation Cast Lead. Hamas initially said that it regretted the death of Israeli civilians from its rockets, but later backtracked, denying it had made any apology. The initial Hamas response to the...
• 'Iran may give up nukes if Israeli-PA conflict resolved'

Jordan's King Abdullah said on Sunday that solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could lead to Iran giving up its nuclear weapons program. "If we solve the Israeli-Palestinian problem, why would Iran want to spend so much money on a nuclear program? It makes no sense," Abdullah said in a CNN interview with correspondent Fareed...
• Netanyahu: Israel seeks peace with all its neighbors

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought Sunday to further calm the war of words between Israel and Syria, telling his cabinet that Israel aspired to peace with all its neighbors, and that he was open to fresh talks with Syria. "Israel aspires to reach peace with all its neighbors," Netanyahu said at the start of his weekly cabinet...
• Syrian minister: Lieberman scorned by world

Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal responded to threats made by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman against Damascus in an ongoing war of words between Israel and Syria. On a tour of Quneitra in the Syrian Golan Heights, Bilal said Lieberman's remarks were "irresponsible, wild, and aggressive, and came from...
• 'Iran will enrich uranium to 20%

Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has ordered his country's atomic agency to begin the production of higher enriched uranium. He said in comments broadcast Sunday on state television: "God willing, 20 percent enrichment will start" to meet Iran's needs. He did not give a date for the start of the enrichment process...