SHOWDOWN IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Foreign Secretary William Hague urged Iran today to “come to its senses” and resume negotiations on its nuclear program after Britain, America and France sent six warships through the highly sensitive waters of the Strait of Hormuz.

Israel on Monday expressed cautious optimism ahead of a key meeting of EU foreign ministers at which they were to slap an oil embargo on Iran in a bid to force it to halt its nuclear program.

Hezbollah, Iran preparing for ‘day after’ Assad.

European Union ambassadors agreed on Monday, Jan 23, to impose an embargo on Iranian oil imports, but decided to delay the full implementation of the ban until July 1, Reuters quoted an EU diplomat as saying.

The EU is also considered likely Monday to freeze the assets of the Iranian central bank. “The pressure of sanctions is designed to try and make sure that Iran takes seriously our request to come to the table,” EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said.

Brent crude is steady at $109.92 as the market awaits details on Europe’s economic sanctions against Iran, in protest at Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

Iran has stepped back from a threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, but while its softened rhetoric appears to be aimed at de-escalating military tensions, it does not indicate any change of stance on its nuclear program.

Britain has joined the United States and France in sending a flotilla of warships through the sensitive Strait of Hormuz in a pointed message to the Iranian regime.

Chairman of Iran’s Majlis Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy Alaeddin Boroujerdi A senior Iranian lawmaker has warned against anti-Iran efforts, saying the Islamic Republic will draw on all necessary means to defend its sovereign interests.

A U.S. aircraft carrier traveled through the Strait of Hormuz and into the Persian Gulf yesterday, ignoring threats from Iran to shut down the strategic shipping lane.

(CNN)– Flanked by British and French ships, the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier moved through the Strait of Hormuz without incident Sunday despite recent threats from Iran.

Iranian authorities in 2011 carried out more than 600 executions and imprisoned more journalists and bloggers than any other country, Human Rights Watch said today in issuing its World Report 2012 Iran chapter.

Reuters – A U.S. aircraft carrier sailed through the Strait of Hormuz and into the Gulf without incident on Sunday, a day after Iran backed away from an earlier threat to take action if an American carrier returned to the strategic waterway.

AP – Seventeen people have died after a storm capsized a passenger boat off of Iran’s southern coast, the official IRNA news agency reported on Sunday.

The Iranian government has said the country’s nuclear program is peaceful, rejecting remarks by French President Nicolas Sarkozy that Tehran was pursuing a nuclear bomb.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it considers the deployment of U.S. warships to the Persian Gulf part of their routine activity.

An Iranian court has upheld its decision to sentence 35-year-old Saeed Malekpour to death for developing photo-uploading software used by porn websites.

A photo and video of a famous Iranian actress baring her breasts have gone viral this week, igniting a fiery debate among Iranians.

Iranian media reported on Saturday that a 43-year-old Iranian military officer was killed and another soldier was wounded in a shooting incident that occurred early on Saturday morning in the western Iran city of Khorramabad.