NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Which countries buy the most Iranian oil and what does it mean for the international community's attempt to stop Iran's nuclear program?

The European Union approved an oil embargo against Iran in hopes that new economic pressures will convince the country to abandon its nuclear program.

As the United States seeks to mobilize international support for a tough new set of sanctions on Iran, some experts are warning that tightening the economic vise could backfire and embolden the ruling regime.

Major powers signaled on Friday their willingness to reopen talks about curbing Iran's suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons but said Tehran must show it is serious about any negotiations.

Oil prices fell on Friday, pressured by economic uncertainty ahead of a possible debt deal in Greece, concerns about China's sluggish manufacturing sector, and weak U.S. petroleum demand.

Just add China to the list of those not supporting Iran's efforts to develop nuclear weapons. Speaking at the end of a six-day visit to the Middle East, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao delivered a firm warning to Tehran against developing nuclear weapons.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday warned against military intervention in Iran, fearing that it would not stop the Islamic Republic's nuclear weapons program, but instead bring more chaos to the region.

Iran's foreign minister warned Arab neighbors on Thursday not to put themselves in a dangerous position by aligning themselves too closely with the United States in the escalating dispute over Tehran's nuclear activity.

The possibility of a war against Iran is no longer in the realm of fantasy.

Lavrov also criticized moves by the West to tighten the economic screws on Iran.

Why would Israel take such a risk to engineer such acts against one of their deadliest enemies, Iran?

Let's from the get-go point out the obvious: Iran does not, even in the slightest, have any intention of quitting its attempts to acquire nuclear weapons. And why should they? No one is stopping them.

Iran said on Sunday it had received a letter from the U.S. government about the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial oil shipping lane that Tehran has threatened to close if sanctions prevent it exporting oil.

Iran's effort to recover some $1.75 billion frozen in a U.S. bank faces a new obstacle due to a law President Barack Obama signed last month, potentially further squeezing Tehran's economy and exacerbating tensions between the two countries.

Iran said on Saturday it had evidence Washington was behind the recent killing of one of its nuclear scientists, state television reported, at a time when tensions over the country's nuclear program have escalated to their highest level ever.

During his Latin American trip this week Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with former Cuba leader Fidel Castro.

Deputy Governor Safarali Baratloo said the killing was similar to previous attacks targeting Iranian nuclear scientists.

Both the United States and Israel have denied involvement in the assassination of a nuclear scientist in Iran on Wednesday. But is the claim enough for Iran?

Almost one-third of Iran’s oil exports go to China. Or, put another way, 11 percent of Chinese oil imports comes from Iran.

The symbolic Doomsday Clock calculated by a group of scientists was moved a minute closer to midnight on Tuesday, with the group citing inadequate progress on nuclear weapons reduction and climate change.

The Doomsday Clock, a symbolic measure of how near the human species is to self-destruction, probably as a result of nuclear weapons programs or climate change, was adjusted, on Jan. 9, to five minutes to midnight - or doomsday!