Iran

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Trump Sought Options for Attacking Iran to Stop Its Growing Nuclear Program

November 17, 2020

by Maggie Haberman, David Sanger, Helene Cooper, Eric Schmitt, Lara Jakes | The New York Times

President Trump asked senior advisers in an Oval Office meeting on Thursday whether he had options to take action against Iran’s main nuclear site in the coming weeks. The meeting occurred a day after international inspectors reported a significant increase in the country’s stockpile of nuclear material, four current and former U.S. officials said on Monday.

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Iran and Russia Seek to Influence Election in Final Days, U.S. Officials Warn

October 22, 2020

by David Sanger, Julian Barnes | The New York Times

Iran and Russia have both obtained American voter registration data, top national security officials announced late on Wednesday, providing the first concrete evidence that the two countries are stepping in to try to influence the presidential election as it enters its final two weeks.

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Long-Planned and Bigger Than Thought: Strike on Iran’s Nuclear Program

July 11, 2020

by David Sanger, Eric Schmitt, Ronen Bergman | The New York Times

As Iran’s center for advanced nuclear centrifuges lies in charred ruins after an explosion, apparently engineered by Israel, the long-simmering conflict between the United States and Tehran appears to be escalating into a potentially dangerous phase likely to play out during the American presidential election campaign.

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Family concludes former FBI agent Robert Levinson died in Iran

March 26, 2020

by Pete Williams | NBC News

The family of former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who disappeared 13 years ago on an island off Iran, said Wednesday that he died while being held in Iran as the longest-held hostage in American history.

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Senate passes bipartisan bill limiting Trump's military authority

February 14, 2020

with Manu Raju | CNN

The Senate has passed the Iran War Powers resolution, a rare measure that has bipartisan support despite the fact that it is opposed by President Donald Trump and aimed at reining in his ability to use military action against Iran without congressional approval.

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With some GOP support, Senate primed to pass measure restricting Trump on Iran

February 13, 2020

by Karoun Demirjian | The Washington Post

The Senate is expected to pass a measure Thursday limiting President Trump’s ability to act militarily against Iran, in lawmakers’ latest bipartisan attempt to compel the White House to involve them in foreign policy decisions.

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Veterans Differ With Trump Over Injuries From Iran Missile Attack

January 23, 2020

by Nancy Youssef, Michael M. Phillips | The Wall Street Journal

President Trump said the head injuries suffered by American service members in an Iranian missile strike weren’t “very serious,” prompting angry replies from some veterans advocates.

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‘Four embassies’: The anatomy of Trump’s unfounded claim about Iran

January 14, 2020

by Philip Rucker, Josh Dawsey, John Hudson, Shane Harris | The Washington Post

“I can reveal I believe it probably would’ve been four embassies,” he said in an interview Friday with Fox News Channel. Based on what is known so far, Trump’s statement was at best an unfounded theory and at worst a falsehood. At each turn in the commander in chief’s rapidly evolving narrative of why he authorized the Jan. 3 drone strike that killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the machinery of government scrambled to adapt and respond.

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Esper Says He Saw No Evidence Iran Targeted 4 Embassies, as Story Shifts Again

January 13, 2020

by Peter Baker, Thomas Gibbons-Neff | The New York Times

The sharp disparity between the president and his defense secretary only added to the public debate over the Jan. 3 strike that killed Iran’s most important general and whether there was sufficient justification for an operation that escalated tensions with Iran, aggravated relations with European allies and prompted Iraq to threaten to expel United States forces.