Anger as Schroeder visits Iran

German Jewish leaders harshly criticised former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder for meeting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran. Mr Schroeder, who works for Russian energy giant Gazprom, called for direct talks between the US and Iran.

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Ahmadinejad Xmas speech has C4 under fire

Channel 4 has defended its invitation to Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to deliver its alternative Christmas message.

In his speech, Mr Ahmadinejad claimed society faced a range of moral, political and security crises.

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Fear over Russia air defence sale to Iran

Concern mounted in Israel this week over reports that Russia has finalised plans to sell an anti-aircraft missile system to Iran that would make any potential airstrike against their nuclear facilities far more difficult.

Israel is concerned that Russia will sell Iran the S-300, one of the most advanced multi-target anti-aircraft-systems in the world. It has a reported ability to track up to 100 targets simultaneously while engaging up to 12. It has a range of 200 kilometers and can hit targets at altitudes of 90,000 feet.

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Analysis: This may bring a strike closer

Something went wrong with Russia’s air defence systems on September 6, 2007. Israeli fighter jets penetrated Syrian airspace and destroyed a secret installation, in all likelihood a nuclear reactor. Syria was protected by a Russian-made air defence system, the Pantsir, and Israel’s ability to penetrate Syrian airspace and destroy such a sensitive facility meant that Tehran took notice: reports suggested that 14 of the 50 systems delivered to Damascus were earmarked for shipment to Iran.

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Iranian ‘Mossad’ ring broken

Iran claimed to have broken a Mossad spy network that was seeking information about its nuclear programme and planning to carry out bombings and assassinations.

Last week, businessman Ali Ashtari was executed after being accused of spying for Israel. The semi-official Fars agency put out a story saying that the 45-year-old had been arrested two years ago and confessed to spying for Israel using security and telecommunications equipment. Israel denied all claims.

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Blogger accused of spying for Israel

An Iranian nicknamed "The Blogfather" and credited with starting the country's blogging revolution has been arrested and accused of spying for Israel.

Hossein Derakhshan, who holds joint Iranian-Canadian citizenship, returned to Iran three weeks ago, having left for Canada in 2000 with his wife.

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