The Sunni rebel group Jundullah has claimed responsibility for the double suicide bombing outside of a Shi’ite mosque in the Iranian provincial capital of Zahedan. At least twenty-seven people were killed in the attacks and more than two-hundred and seventy have been injured. While the U.S., Canada, and the UN, have all publicly denounced the attacks, Iranian officials have stated that the group claiming responsibility for the attack is supported by the U.S. Reputable sources outside of the Iranian government confirm this association and in February of this year, the leader of the Jundullah gave a televised confession describing the support he had received from U.S. sources and the Central Intelligence Agency.

In March 2010 Channel 4 News was shown a large consignment of weapons, reportedly destined for Afghan insurgents, which had been intercepted on the Iranian border in Herat province. The weapons seized included landmines, explosives, mortar rounds, RPG rounds and grenades as well as possible IED main charges in cooking pots and jerry cans. Some of the mines had Persian serial numbers. Afghan government records show that 10.5 tonnes of weapons from Iran were intercepted in Herat province during the previous 12 months and Afghanistan claims that 60% of the weaponry came directly from the Iranian government.

The Iranian government says it has evidence that one of its nuclear scientists was abducted and is being held in the US against his will. Shahram Amiri disappeared a year ago while on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. A video broadcast by Iranian TV purports to show Mr Amiri saying he was kidnapped and is living in Arizona. Hours later, another video posted on YouTube appeared to show the scientist saying he was happy in America. The US denied abducting him.

Delegates from the US, Britain and France have walked out of a nuclear non-proliferation conference at the UN general assembly in New York after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s president, criticised nuclear weapon states. The lower-level diplomats of the three Western nuclear-armed countries left the assembly’s hall after Ahmadinejad accused nuclear states of threatening those without them.
Ahmadinejad is the only head of state taking part in the UN nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference, which is hosting delegations from 189 countries.

Iranian scientists have submitted plans to start work on at least one new nuclear facility by September, a top official was quoted as saying Saturday, in a move that could inflame tensions with the West. Ali Akbar Salehi, who oversees Iran’s complex of nuclear installations, told the semiofficial Iranian Labor News Agency that his Atomic Energy Organization has taken steps to commission “one or two” new sites pending the approval of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He said the new installations were in line with a 2009 policy to expand the nation’s nuclear technology infrastructure. But he did not specify where the sites would be or whether they would be power reactors, uranium-enrichment plants or other types of facilities.

In unusually blunt language, an International Atomic Energy Agency report for the first time suggested Iran was actively pursuing nuclear weapons capability, throwing independent weight behind similar Western suspicions. The IAEA seemed to be cautiously going public with concerns arising from a classified agency analysis leaked in part last year which concluded that Iran has already honed explosives expertise relevant to a workable nuclear weapon. The report also confirmed Iran had produced its first small batch of uranium enriched to a higher purity and had set aside the vast bulk of its low-enriched uranium stockpile for this purpose even though this seemed far in excess of possible civilian needs. The developments will intensify pressure on Iran to prove it is not covertly bent on “weaponizing” enrichment by allowing unfettered access for IAEA inspectors and investigators, something it rejects in protest at U.N. sanctions.

In order to confirm, as required by the Safeguards Agreement, that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities, the Agency needs to have confidence in the absence of possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear programme. Previous reports by the Director General have detailed the outstanding issues and the actions required of Iran,12 including, inter alia, that Iran implement the Additional Protocol and provide the Agency with the information and access necessary to: resolve questions related to the alleged studies; clarify the circumstances of the acquisition of the uranium metal document; clarify procurement and R&D activities of military related institutes and companies that could be nuclear related; and clarify the production of nuclear related equipment and components by companies belonging to the defence industries.

Natanz (نطنز) is a hardened Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) covering 100,000 square meters that is built 8 meters underground and protected by a concrete wall 2.5 meters thick, itself protected by another concrete wall. In 2004, the roof was hardened with reinforced concrete and covered with 22 meters of earth. The complex consists of two 25,000 square meter halls and a number of administrative buildings. This once secret site was one of the two exposed by Alireza Jafarzadeh in August, 2002. IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei visited the site on 21 February 2003 and reported that 160 centrifuges were complete and ready for operation, with 1000 more under construction at the site. Under the terms of Iran’s safeguards agreement, Iran was under no obligation to report the existence of the site while it was still under construction. There are currently approximately 7,000 centrifuges installed at Natanz, of which 5,000 are producing low enriched uranium.

The Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant (Persian نیروگاه اتمی بوشهر) is a nuclear power plant in Iran which is under construction 17 kilometres (11 mi) south-east of the city of Bushehr, between the fishing villages of Halileh and Bandargeh along the Persian Gulf. The nuclear power plant was planned to go on network in 2009. As late as November 28, 2009, the construction of the facility was said to be on schedule for completion.

Iran began work on Tuesday to make higher-grade nuclear fuel, a senior official said, and the Pentagon said the United States wanted a U.N. Security Council resolution on Iran “within weeks” over its nuclear programme. The Islamic Republic, which denies its programme has military aims, announced on Sunday it would produce uranium enriched to a level of 20 percent for a Tehran research reactor making medical isotopes. This followed a failure to agree terms for a proposed nuclear swap with major powers, under which Iran would send most of its low-enriched uranium abroad in return for such fuel.

This week’s assassination of an Iranian scientist was carried out in a “Zionist style,” President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday, in his first direct comment on the bombing attack in Tehran. Iranian officials and media have blamed both Israel, which Tehran calls “the Zionist regime,” and the United States for Tuesday’s killing of professor Massoud Ali-Mohammadi. Washington has dismissed the charge of U.S. involvement as absurd. “The depth of the enemies’ grudge can be seen in the university professor’s assassination,” Ahmadinejad said, ISNA news agency reported. “The manner of bomb planting shows a Zionist style and they want to make sure that Iran would not advance,” he said.

Confidential intelligence documents obtained by The Times show that Iran is working on testing a key final component of a nuclear bomb. The notes, from Iran’s most sensitive military nuclear project, describe a four-year plan to test a neutron initiator, the component of a nuclear bomb that triggers an explosion. Foreign intelligence agencies date them to early 2007, four years after Iran was thought to have suspended its weapons programme.

A suicide bomber killed at least two senior commanders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in the country’s southeast on Sunday during an attack in which 60 people died or were wounded, Iranian media reported. “Attacker detonated explosives strapped to his body during gathering of tribal heads,” state Press TV said in a headline, adding that civilians and tribal leaders were also among the victims.

Mme President, let me begin by congratulating you, on being elected President of the General Conference. I can assure you the fullest cooperation of the delegation of Israel, in carrying out your important and responsible tasks. I also wish to congratulate the kingdom of Cambodia and the Republic of Rwanda as new members of the Agency. Yesterday, the General Conference has confirmed Ambassador Yukiya Amano of Japan, to the most professional and distinguished post of IAEA’s Director General. Israel has known Ambassador Amano’s professional qualifications and personal integrity over the years, and looks forward to working with him in this new capacity. We wish Ambassador Amano much success in guiding the work of the Agency.

The United States piled pressure on Iran Monday ahead of key nuclear talks, demanding full access to Tehran’s newly revealed uranium plant and denouncing “provocative” new missile tests.

Critical talks over Iran’s nuclear ambitions began Thursday morning in the Geneva countryside, with Washington and its allies hoping to draw Iran into a serious negotiation that will open up the country to serious nuclear inspections, suspend Iran’s nuclear enrichment program and reassure its neighbors that its intentions are peaceful.

Despite Iran’s progress since 2007 toward producing enriched uranium, the State Department’s intelligence analysts continue to think that Tehran will not be able to produce weapons-grade material before 2013, according to a newly disclosed congressional document. The updated assessment, by the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research, emphasizes that the analysis is based on Iran’s technical capability and is not a judgment about “when Iran might make any political decision” to produce highly enriched uranium.

The Iranian authorities opened an extraordinary mass trial against more than 100 opposition figures on Saturday, accusing them of conspiring with foreign powers to stage a revolution through terrorism, subversion, and a media campaign to discredit last month’s presidential election.

Iran’s human rights activists say they live in dread of the midnight knock on the door or the car that pulls up next to them on the street, fearing that at any moment they might be arrested in the government’s post-election clampdown.

Israel dug in its heels Monday in a disagreement with the United States over a potential military strike to thwart Iran’s progress toward a possible nuclear weapon, as the visiting American defense chief urged patience.

The stakes over Iran’s disputed presidential election were raised dramatically yesterday, after a powerful regime hardliner denounced Mir Hossein Mousavi, the candidate officially declared to have lost, as an American agent and demanded that he undergo a public trial.

Iranian police officials have reportedly arrested the armed imposters who posed as security forces during post-election violence in the country. Iran’s Basij commander, Hossein Taeb, said Monday that the imposters had worn police and Basij uniforms to infiltrate the rallies and create havoc. Taeb added that the recent anti-government riots have killed eight members of the Basij and wounded 300 others.

When a truck bomb exploded outside a housing unit in Saudi Arabia in 1996, killing 19 US service members, the Saudis quickly concluded that the plot had been carried out by Hezbollah with the backing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. FBI Director Louis Freeh was prepared to accept the confessions obtained by the Saudis as proof, but the Department of Justice suspected they had been obtained through torture. Gareth Porter reports that by 2003, it had become apparent that the Saudis routinely tortured terror suspects and coached them into making confessions that would not implicate al Qaeda. By that time, however, Freeh had embarked on a new career as the chief defender of the Saudis’ response to the Khobar plot.

An influential Iranian cleric on Friday urged “ruthless” punishment, possibly including execution, for leaders of protests against a disputed presidential election, while President Obama intensified his criticism of a crackdown on the Iranian opposition and rejected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s demand for an apology.

China’s communist government, showing concern that mounting protests in Iran could spark another “color” revolution in a close economic ally, has called for the disputed election results to be recognized and cautioned the United States and other Western powers not to meddle in Iran’s affairs.