AP: Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister urged the United States and Iran on Wednesday to show restraint after this weekend’s naval confrontation in the Persian Gulf and warned of the grave consequences of such incidents.
Saudi FM urges restraint by US and Iran
Turkish PM says Iran gas supply to resume by Monday
Reuters: Iran’s supply of natural gas to Turkey, halted this week, will resume on Monday at the latest, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday after talking to Iranian officials.
U.N. watchdog chief seeks nuclear clarity in Iran trip
Reuters: The U.N. nuclear watchdog chief heads for Iran on Thursday to push for full transparency over its past and present atomic activity amid simmering U.S.-Iranian tensions after a naval incident in the Gulf.
Iran’s provocation
Wall Street Journal: “It was a dangerous gesture,” said President George W. Bush about Sunday’s incident that involved five vessels, apparently under orders from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, harassing U.S. naval forces in international waters in the Straits of Hormuz. They broke off moments before the Americans opened fire.
The surge worked
Wall Street Journal: It was exactly one year ago tonight, in a televised address to the nation, that President George W. Bush announced his fateful decision to change course in Iraq, and to send five additional U.S. combat brigades there as part of a new counterinsurgency strategy and under the command of a new general, David Petraeus.
Iran accuses U.S. of faking Persian Gulf video
New York Times: Irans Revolutionary Guard accused the United States on Wednesday of fabricating a video showing Iranian speedboats confronting United States Navy warships in the Persian Gulf over the weekend, according to a report carried by the semiofficial Fars news agency and state-run television.
New penalties set as Bush calls Iran a threat to peace
New York Times: President Bush charged Wednesday that Iran remained a threat to world peace as the Treasury Department imposed strict economic penalties on a top Iranian military commander, a Syrian-based television station and three militants in the region accused of helping the insurgency in Iraq.
Iran airs own video of US ship incident
AFP: Iranian state television on Thursday aired a video taken by Iranian forces of an incident in the Strait of Hormuz with US warships, in a bid to counter footage issued by the Pentagon.
Gulf Arabs chart delicate course between Iran and U.S.
Reuters: President George W. Bush will seek Gulf Arab leaders’ support this week to curb Iran, but may find these traditional U.S. allies more wedded to their own diplomatic drive after long frustration with his policies.
New ammunition for Bush against Tehran
AP: The Persian Gulf confrontation between U.S. and Iranian forces ended without a shot being fired. But it handed the Bush administration new ammunition in its battle to convince allies that the Tehran government is a threat even without nuclear weapons.
