Gareth Porter

For many months, the George W. Bush administration has been complaining that Iranian meddling in Iraq is a threat to the country’s stability and to U.S. troops. The irony of this publicity campaign over Tehran’s alleged bid to undermine the occupation is that Iran may well be the main factor holding up a showdown between … Continue reading “Iraq Occupation Depends on Sadr – and Iran”

In the struggle over U.S. policy toward Iran, neoconservatives in the George W. Bush administration spoiling for an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites have been seeking to convince the public that the United States must strike before an Iranian nuclear weapons capability becomes inevitable. In order to do so, they must discredit the intelligence community’s … Continue reading “Neocons Discredit Intel in Haste to Attack Iran”

Even before Iran gave its formal counteroffer to ambassadors of the P5+1 countries (the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China) Tuesday, the George W. Bush administration had already begun the process of organizing sanctions against Iran. Washington had already held a conference call on sanctions Sunday with French, German, and British officials, the Washington … Continue reading “Bush Ensured Iran Offer
Would Be Rejected”

Israel has argued that the war against Hezbollah’s rocket arsenal was a defensive response to the Shi’ite organization’s threat to Israeli security, but the evidence points to a much more ambitious objective – the weakening of Iran’s deterrent to an attack on its nuclear sites. In planning for the destruction of most of Hezbollah’s arsenal … Continue reading “Was Israel’s Aim to Clear Path for US War on Iran?”

The United States has been reduced to the role of passive bystander as a new stage of sectarian civil war has begun in Iraq, marked by military units with heavy weaponry carrying out mass killings. Last week’s bloody massacre in Mahmoudiya illustrates both the new level of sectarian violence and the U.S.’ role as passive … Continue reading “US Now a Bystander in Iraq’s Sectarian War”

Caught between the need to explore a possible diplomatic way out of an otherwise hopeless mess in Iraq and the domestic political need to keep the Democrats on the defensive, U.S. President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are playing a double game on the issue of a timetable for withdrawal. For many … Continue reading “Bush’s Double Game on an Iraq Withdrawal Timetable”

U.S. and European officials have been saying for years that Iran is using its publicly declared nuclear program as a cover for a clandestine nuclear weapons program, but have never produced concrete evidence to support that argument. Since April, however, Western suspicions of such a secret bomb program have focused on the idea that Iran … Continue reading “No Evidence of Secret Enrichment by Iran”

German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung’s suggestion that Iran should be allowed to carry out a limited enrichment program under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has exposed a fundamental crack in the façade of unity among the six countries that have given Iran a proposal aimed at halting all its enrichment … Continue reading “German Official Urges Compromise on Iran Enrichment”

Iran’s announcement that it will not respond to the formal negotiating offer from the six powers until late August was both an expression of confidence and a bit of payback for European stalling in responding to Iran in 2005. By refusing to comply with a June 29 deadline, Tehran was communicating to Washington and the … Continue reading “Defying US Deadline, Iran Recalls an EU Stall”

Despite claims that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has regained the diplomatic initiative from Iran with a conditional offer to join multilateral talks with Tehran, the real story behind the policy shift is that the administration has suffered a decisive defeat of its effort to get international sanctions for possible military action against Iran. … Continue reading “Bush Iran Strategy Suffers Major Diplomatic Defeat”