New York, NY – On Sept. 20, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hosted more than 200 peace and anti-war activists, religious leaders and journalists for a discussion to mark the eve of the International Day of Peace.

New York, NY – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met here, September 21, with 100 leaders and representatives of anti-war, labor, alternative media and Iranian and Palestinian solidarity organizations. Among the participants were Sarah Martin, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Margaret Sarfehjooy, board member of the Minneapolis-based Women Against Military Madness, former attorney general Ramsey Clark, former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, Sara Flounders from the International Action Center, Brian Becker of the ANSWER coalition, Ramona Africa of the Free Mumia Coalition and Amiri Baraka, poet and activist.

Tehran, Iran – Millions of Iranians rallied on Feb. 11 to commemorate the 31st anniversary of the revolution that overthrew the hated U.S.-backed Pahlavi monarchy. In Tehran a massive crowd of 5 million took to the streets, while rallies were held in 800 other cities around the country.

Bush's speech at the UN, resolutions put before Congress to authorize an illegal first-strike attack, and a slow but steady military buildup in the Gulf region all make it clear that the Bush administration is moving toward war. Already in the region, there are 30,000 U.S. troops, 400 warplanes, and equipment to outfit an invasion force of 15,000. Bombings in the no-fly zones have stepped up – one operation in September included 100 planes attacking southern Iraq. The path to war seems certain.

The Bush administration is still threatening Iran, and a wider war in the Middle East. The U.S. government has made much of Iran’s nuclear energy program. Iran says it is developing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and now U.S. intelligence agencies agree with that characterization. But this makes little difference to Bush and Cheney. They are still talking about turning up the heat on Iran and looking to impose more sanctions – which are in and of themselves a form of war, and as we saw with Yugoslavia and Iraq, a buildup to open military action.

A struggle has broken out over the results of Iran’s presidential elections, held Friday June 12, which resulted in the apparent landslide victory of incumbent President Ahmadinejad. On Friday night, before the results had been announced, the main opposition candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, declared himself the winner. The following day, Iran's election commission announced that Ahmadinejad had won with 62% of the vote. Mousavi responded with allegations of vote-rigging. This set into motion a chain of events that has resulted in hundreds of thousands coming out to the streets in protest. Some of the protests turned into riots, with protesters attacking police, government offices and banks and burning cars. 19 people are reported to have died in clashes with the government.