Russia: Western sanctions against Iran stifling

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

MOSCOW –  Russia's foreign minister has strongly criticized Western sanctions against Iran, saying they are "stifling" the Iranian economy and hurting the population.

Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday that the European Union's sanctions could stymie efforts to solve the Iranian nuclear standoff through talks.

Lavrov said at a news conference that the EU's sanctions against Tehran were aimed at hurtuing the Iranian economy and provoking public discontent.

Moscow, which built Iran's first nuclear power plant, backed some of the previous U.N. sanctions against Iran, but in recent months has firmly rejected imposing any new sanctions and called for dialogue.

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Series of suicide attacks strike western Iraq

Monday, January 16, 2012

RAMADI, Iraq –  A series of car and suicide attacks struck the western Iraqi city of Ramadi on Sunday as gunmen stormed a police building.

Four car bombs were detonated at a mosque and police building in the city, 60 miles west of Baghdad, and two suicide bombers struck inside the police building.

Gunmen then stormed the police facility, triggering clashes, according to two police officers.

The first two car bombs exploded at around 11:30am local time near the Dawlah Kabir Mosque in central Ramadi, followed by a third car bomb also in the city center.

A short while later, a fourth car bomb went off near a police building in Ramadi, followed quickly thereafter by two suicide bombers blowing themselves up inside the building.

Armed insurgents then stormed the building and clashes were ongoing as of 1:00pm local time.

The number of casualties was not immediately clear.

The attacks come a day after a suicide bomber killed 53 people in an apparent sectarian attack in southern Iraq. The attack -- on the outskirts of the port city of Basra -- left another 137 people wounded.

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Series of suicide attacks strike western Iraq

A series of car and suicide attacks struck the western Iraqi city of Ramadi on Sunday as gunmen stormed a police building.

View the original article here

Series,suicide,attacks,strike,western

Read More | comments