Nuclear weapons
In response to Peter Oborne on nuclear Iran
I am pleased that Peter Oborne concedes that his co-author David Morrison was ‘foolish’ and ‘clumsy’ in his statements. Perhaps Morrison was indeed attempting ‘to be as accurate as he… Continue reading
44 Comments
Memo to Iran’s apologists: President Ahmadinejad has denied the Holocaust
Has President Ahmadinejad ever denied the Holocaust? David Morrison, co-author with Peter Oborne of a new apologia on the Iranian ‘government’, appears to think that he has not. In a… Continue reading
167 Comments
At last. Some right thinking on Iran
At last some leadership on Iran. And from the Conservative benches. After last week’s appalling Jack Straw piece in the Telegraph, the Conservative MP James Morris has a brilliant and… Continue reading
77 Comments
Jack Straw’s parting gift
Jack Straw cropped up in the Telegraph yesterday claiming that even if Iran does acquire nuclear weapons it wouldn’t be worth going to war over. This, it will be remembered,… Continue reading
38 Comments
Philip Hammond’s Iranian justification for keeping Trident
The Sunday shows have been dominated today by the aftermath of George Entwistle’s resignation. But Phillip Hammond gave a significant and combative interview on the Sunday Politics. Pressed by Andrew… Continue reading
37 Comments
Trident: political football, folly, or matter of principle? - Spectator Blogs
Philip Hammond is one of those ministers who seems to be held in greater esteem by those inside the Westminster hamlet than those of us who live beyond its boundaries.… Continue reading
12 Comments
Iran keeps saying it’s nuking up – despite what its Western apologists say
The same problem keeps occurring for the megaphones of Iranian propaganda in the West: they keep being let down by their own side. Every time another op-ed appears in the… Continue reading
49 Comments
Encouraging signs from talks with Iran
The weekend’s six power talks with the Iranians about their nuclear programme were more fruitful than many, including I, expected. It seems that the EU sanctions on Iranian oil and… Continue reading
36 CommentsIran Hawks Circling
At National Review, Mario Loyola offers a pretty succinct summary of the conservative (that is, American conservative) case for attacking Iran: [I]n an editorial, the Wall Street Journal makes the same… Continue reading
6 Comments
Hague’s ‘Cold War’ warning
William Hague has gazed into his Middle Eastern crystal ball and doesn’t like what he sees. In an interview in today’s Telegraph, he says of Iran: ‘It is a crisis… Continue reading
54 CommentsFrom the archives: A nuclear Iran
This week there were rumblings that war with Iran may be closer than most people thought. In a piece for the Spectator in 2004, Andrew Gilligan argued that even with… Continue reading
9 CommentsA collision course with Iran?
Are we on the verge of war with Iran? The Guardian’s frontpage today suggests we might well be. Here’s a taster of the article: "Britain’s armed forces are stepping up… Continue reading
27 CommentsIran crosses a line
A flurry of news yesterday evening, among it Slovakia’s rejection of the euro bailout and even more ado about our Defence Secretary. But nothing nearly as striking as the alleged… Continue reading
13 CommentsA reminder that the Iranian threat hasn’t gone away
Today’s news that Nato has intercepted an Iranian weapons shipment to the Taliban shows the threat Iran poses to international order and just how dangerous it would be for this… Continue reading
27 CommentsFox: Iran could have a nuclear weapon by 2012
As Cairo smoulders, it’s easy to forget about one of the most combustible ingredients in the Middle Eastern cocktail – Iran. Yet the threat still exists, as Tony Blair and… Continue reading
23 CommentsHow Iran’s nuclear programme was delayed
Iran’s nuclear programme is the most likely source of a major global conflict. So it is highly significant that the outgoing head of Mossad recently told the Israeli parliament that… Continue reading
8 CommentsChinese burns
The latest cache of Wikileaks has done America no end of good. The Saudis urged the US to bomb Iran – a sign that the Arab world can make common… Continue reading
17 CommentsWhat Wikileaks reveals
The publication of a quarter of a million US diplomatic cables is going to blow the lid on a lot of the world’s diplomatic secrets. So we learn that the… Continue reading
16 CommentsPreparing for a Nuclear Iran
That’s the message of the US’s forthcoming $60bn arms-deal with Saudi Arabia. Or so says David Rothkopf anyway: [T]he reason that the U.S. government — that would not have done… Continue reading
29 Comments