News stories by Mohammed A. Salih, page 3

One day before the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, Iran is a country divided, with pro-government groups and Green Movement supporters each presenting their own narratives of what the highly symbolic day means and whom they represent.

If there were any doubts about what exactly U.S. President Barack Obama meant when he warned Iran of 'growing consequences' during his State of the Union address last month, they seem to be dispelled by recent statements from top administration officials, who are beating the sanctions drum loud and clear.

Amid growing concerns here over the threat posed by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a consensus is emerging among U.S. experts that Washington and other donors to Yemen must place at least as much or greater emphasis on promoting sustainable development in the Arab world's poorest country as on counterterrorism.

The declaration by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that his country is ready to exchange low-enriched uranium for nuclear fuel has been met with a mostly cautious reaction by Western leaders.

The president of Iraq's Kurdistan region, Massoud Barzani, has expressed indirect support for the removal of Salih al-Mutlak and possibly other Sunni Arab politicians from a list of candidates banned from running in the March parliamentary elections.

A decision by Iraq's controversial Accountability and Justice Commission (AJC) Monday to remove 59 candidates from a list of over 500 candidates banned from running in the March parliamentary elections appears to be a sign that the AJC is softening its stance following widespread domestic opposition and a visit by U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden to Baghdad last week.

The recent diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Israel has raised questions about the future of relations between the two closest allies of the United States in the region and the direction of the markedly independent foreign policy agenda that Turkey has pursued in recent years.

Opinion polls by two major U.S. television networks show that the majority of the country's citizens have faith in President Barack Obama's ability to protect them from 'future acts of terrorism'.

A draft constitution passed by the parliament of Iraqi Kurdistan has drawn divided reactions, with some questioning the very legitimacy of a lame-duck parliament to pass the single most important legal document of the Kurdish region and others touting it as a positive step forward.