Past Articles by Mike Shuster
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To Combat Sanctions, Iran Buys Up Gold Iran's economy has been hit hard by U.S.-led sanctions that have targeted its oil exports and its banking system. In response, Iran appears to have gone on a gold buying spree as it attempts to halt the downward spiral of its currency. |
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To Combat Sanctions, Iran Buys Up Gold Iran's economy has been hit hard by U.S.-led sanctions that have targeted its oil exports and its banking system. In response, Iran appears to have gone on a gold buying spree as it attempts to halt the downward spiral of its currency. |
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To Combat Sanctions, Iran Buys Up Gold Iran's economy has been hit hard by U.S.-led sanctions that have targeted its oil exports and its banking system. In response, Iran appears to have gone on a gold buying spree as it attempts to halt the downward spiral of its currency. |
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Signals From Iran Indicate Willingness To Talk Reports over the weekend said the U.S. and Iran had agreed to face-to-face negotiations, but both countries deny that's the case. Still, symptoms of economic and social instability may be pushing Iran toward the negotiating table. |
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Russia To Go It Alone On Nuke Disarmament Russia announced this week that it would no longer work to disarm nuclear and chemical weapons under the U.S. program known as Nunn Lugar. This was a very successful program that reduced Russia's stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction over the past 20 years. U.S. money and expertise drove the program, but now the Russians believe they have plenty of both to continue the job on their own. NPR's Mike Shuster reports. |
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Panic Rises In Iran As Currency Plunges To New Lows Crowds of anxious Iranians are flocking to foreign exchange offices as the rial continues to plummet; it lost about one-third of its value in just a day. Tough economic and banking sanctions, and an oil embargo, are at the heart of the crisis. Tehran is blaming outsiders, and seems unable to stop the free fall. |
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As Sanctions Take A Toll, Debate In Iran Heats Up Talks on Iran's nuclear activities appear to be at a halt, but there is action behind the scenes. Iran's public position hasn't changed. But privately, debate is growing over whether the nuclear program is worth the economic pain of harsh banking and oil sanctions that continue to do their work. |
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Report Finds Iran Still Prepping To Enrich Uranium A new report from the International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran has stepped up its program to enrich uranium. It reports the country is installing more centrifuges in a heavily-defended underground site. |
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Another Round Of Iranian Nuclear Talks To Begin The International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran will hold the next round of nuclear talks in Vienna Friday. That will be followed by another set of talks with the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. The talks are unlikely to bring any breakthroughs. But coupled with severe banking sanctions and a growing oil embargo, pressure on Iran is clearly growing. |
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IAEA Suspicious Of Iran's Parchin Military Base The International Atomic Energy Agency believes Iran has something significant to hide at Parchin. The suspicion is that Iran used the site to test explosions involving uranium metal, which is used in developing a nuclear weapon. Talks with Iran on its controversial nuclear program are set to intensify in the coming days. |
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From All Sides, Iran Under Siege Iran is facing its most serious challenge since the war with Iraq in the 1980s. Abroad, the Syrian uprising is threatening to oust the Assad regime, Iran's sole Arab ally. At home, the EU oil embargo and U.S. banking sanctions are hurting the economy. And domestic criticism is growing. |
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In Pakistan, Sounds Of A Different Kind Of Drone The thought of bagpipes usually conjures up images of Scottish men in skirts - not auto-rickshaws and South Asian spices. But no country manufactures more bagpipes than Pakistan, and no place in Pakistan makes more of them than Sialkot, a bagpipe-crazy city near India-administered Kashmir. |
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It's Deja Vu As Pakistan's Political Crisis Deepens Pakistan's Supreme Court has given the prime minister until Wednesday to ask Swiss authorities to reopen an old corruption investigation of President Asif Ali Zardari. The premier has refused, and the court is threatening to find him in contempt of court and remove him - as it did his predecessor. |
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The Cost Of Women's Rights In Northwest Pakistan Earlier this month, a young woman who ran a women's rights group was shot and killed near Peshawar. She'd been warned several times about her work. Her death isn't the first of its kind in northwest Pakistan. Still, despite the dangers, such work continues. |
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'Hard Questions' Remain In U.S.-Pakistan Relations Pakistan reopened border crossings last week for U.S. and NATO convoys heading into Afghanistan, resolving a seven-month-long dispute. But other challenges remain, including disagreement over U.S. drone strikes inside Pakistan and the pro-al-Qaida Haqqani network. |
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Iran's Nuclear Fatwa: A Policy Or A Ploy? Iran's supreme leader has repeatedly cited his own fatwa, or religious edict, that nuclear weapons are a sin and that Iran doesn't want them. Many in the West are skeptical, but U.S. officials are calling on Iran to live up to the fatwa. |
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Planned EU Oil Embargo Looks Set To Squeeze Iran The European Union is set to stop all purchases of Iranian oil on July 1. Exports are already down, and lower prices means less profit on sales that do go through. So far, Tehran refuses to budge on its nuclear activities. But analysts say Iran has no clear way around the boycott. |
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Planned E.U. Oil Embargo Looks Set To Squeeze Iran The European Union is set to stop all purchases of Iranian oil on July 1. Exports are already down, and lower prices means less profit on sales that do go through. So far, Tehran refuses to budge on its nuclear activities. But analysts say Iran has no clear way around the boycott. |
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To Tap Arctic Oil, Russia Partners With Exxon Mobil Moscow's recent deals with foreign oil companies are designed to maintain Russia as the world's No. 1 oil producer. The biggest deal, with Exxon Mobil, would put billions of dollars toward exploiting vast oil and gas reserves in Russia's Arctic waters. |
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Russia Opposes Iran Acquiring Nuclear Weapons Russian leaders don't want to see Iran with a nuclear weapon any more than the U.S. does. Russian analysts point out that Iran is not far from southern Russia. If Iran acquires nuclear weapons, Russian territory is within range of Iranian missiles. That fact makes many in Russia nervous. |
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In This Russian Trial, The Defendant Is A Dead Man Sergei Magnitsky was a tax lawyer for an investment fund in Russia that was seized by tax police who extracted more than $230 million in illegal refunds for themselves. Magnitsky decided to investigate, was arrested and later died in prison. Now, the government is bringing him to trial "to protect themselves," human rights groups say. |
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For A Third Time, Putin Returns As Russia's President Vladimir Putin was sworn in Monday for a six-year term as president of Russia. In his inauguration speech, Putin said he was committed to democracy. But anti-Putin activists are not convinced and staged protests on the streets of Moscow. |
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For Putin's Third Term As President, A New Russia On Monday, Vladimir Putin will be re-inaugurated as president. Putin has put away the tough-guy image that worked well for him during his earlier eight years as president. That might be because his transition to a third term has been rocked by unexpectedly large and loud protests. |
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A Different Russia Meets Putin's Third Term On Monday, Vladimir Putin will be re-inaugurated as president. Putin has put away the tough-guy image that worked well for him during his earlier eight years as president. That might be because his transition to a third term has been rocked by unexpectedly large and loud protests. |
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Facing Tougher Sanctions, Iran Enters Nuclear Talks Iran meets the U.S. and other countries this weekend to discuss its controversial nuclear program. In the past, such talks have been fruitless. But analysts say this time might be different, because Iran's economy is under severe pressure as the result of the toughest sanctions the country has yet faced. |
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N. Korea May Stage Nuclear Test After Rocket Launch Concern is growing that North Korea may test a nuclear device after it launches a long-range rocket in upcoming days - a sequence of events that occurred three years ago. Experts say the test could involve highly enriched uranium - rather than plutonium bombs, which North Korea exploded twice before. |
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Is North Korea Changing - Or Resisting Change? In February, North Korea agreed to freeze uranium enrichment and missile tests and allow international nuclear inspectors - and then immediately announced a rocket launch. North Korea watchers are puzzled by the mixed messages and wonder who is calling the shots in a country with a new, untested leader. |
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Obama Praises Global Nuclear Summit More than 50 international leaders wrapped up talks Tuesday in Seoul, South Korea, on what needs to be done to secure vulnerable stockpiles of plutonium and highly enriched uranium. President Obama hosted the first such summit two years ago. He praised the achievements since then, but said much more needs to be done. |
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Obama Asks China To Help Halt N. Korean Rocket The U.S. recently agreed to provide North Korea with food assistance, and it was hoped that this would help calm tensions in the region. But under its new leader, North Korea is now planning a rocket launch next month that's making everyone uneasy. |
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Global Nuclear Summit Opens In South Korea In Seoul, South Korea, Monday, President Obama attends a conference on improving nuclear security. Although the question of North Korea's nuclear weapons is not on the formal agenda, it is expected to be a major issue in the bilateral talks Obama will have with other leaders. |
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Obama In South Korea For Nuclear Security Summit President Obama is in South Korea Sunday to take part in a multilateral conference aimed at curbing nuclear proliferation. He arrives in South Korea at a time of considerable tension. North Korea is threatening to carry out a long-range rocket launch in April, an action the U.S. has warned it should not take. |
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N. Korea Tests U.S. Deal Ahead Of Nuclear Summit North Korea's nuclear weapons program is threatening to overshadow the global Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul next week. Last month, North Korea said it would freeze its enriched uranium weapons program and its long-range missile activities in exchange for U.S. food aid. But a few days ago, North Korea announced plans to launch a satellite in April, which the U.S. says is counter to the agreement made last month. Now prospects for the deal are uncertain. |
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Iranians Feel The Bite Of Tougher Sanctions New, tougher sanctions on Iran and its banking sector appear to be making it difficult for Tehran to carry out international transactions, while forcing ordinary Iranians into activities such as smuggling hard currency out. But India and China are still doing business with Iran. |
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Atomic Energy Chief: Iran Hasn't Resolved Questions The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran is still not providing enough cooperation with inspectors. The agency has tried twice to visit one particular Iranian military base and has been rebuffed. |
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In Iran's Election, Not All Candidates Are Welcome There's a battle taking place between various conservative factions in Iran as the country prepares for parliamentary elections on Friday. The candidates seeking broad changes have been barred from running, with many in jail or under house arrest. |
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Iran Ups The Ante With More Nuclear Moves Tehran has unveiled significant developments on two important components of its nuclear program. Iran also announced it was cutting off oil sales to some European countries, but quickly reversed itself. |
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A New Weapon Against Nukes: Social Media A top State Department official wants to unleash the power of Twitter, Facebook and other services to crowdsource the fight to control the world's nuclear weapons. |
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U.N. Atomic Agency To Visit Iran For New Probe Just two months after the International Atomic Energy Agency released a detailed report on Iran's nuclear program, the agency is headed back to Tehran. It plans to look into the highly sensitive question of whether Iran is doing nuclear weapons work. |
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Growing Pressures Prompt Plunge In Iranian Currency Faced with new economic sanctions from the U.S. and Europe, Iran's currency, the rial, seems to be in free fall. Several factors seem to be at work, and analysts say one of them could be government manipulation of the currency market. |
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China Hedges Mideast Oil Bets Amid Iran Tensions Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has been in the Persian Gulf region this week, discussing access to oil in the increasingly tense region. China is the biggest customer for Iran's oil. But Saudi Arabia actually sells China more oil, and the Chinese leaders want to make sure that will continue. |
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South Korea Takes A Political Turn To The Left When the current president of South Korea Lee Myung-bak took office four years ago, he turned a cold shoulder to engagement with North Korea. The conservative wing in South Korea opposed improving relations with Pyongyang. But that has proven to be an unpopular policy, and now Lee finds himself in the difficult position of appealing for closer ties in this unpredictable transition period in North Korea. Lee goes to Beijing Monday to seek Chinese backing for this policy shift. |
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Nations Want Korean Peninsula To Remain Stable The death of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il and the elevation of his son Kim Jong Un could create new strategic policies in the region. China and the U.S. have vital interests in the Korean peninsula, but they are trying to compete and cooperate at the same time - all while worried about North Korea's nuclear weapons program. |
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A New Era In North Korea, Yet Little Has Changed It's been only three days since the funeral for North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. In that time, his son, Kim Jung Un, has been elevated to the rank of supreme commander of the North Korean army. Meanwhile, North Korea has issued a series of scathing attacks on the government of South Korea. NPR's Mike Shuster reports it all looks like business as usual. |
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North Korea Formally Announces Next Leader Ceremonies in North Korea continued into a second day Thursday, following the funeral for Kim Jong Il on Wednesday. While Wednesday's funeral march focused almost entirely on North Korea's former leader, Thursday morning's event was as much about his son and successor: Kim Jong Un |
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How Will A New Leader Handle North Korea's Nukes? Reliable details about North Korea's nuclear weapons are hard to come by, but the country is believed to have between four and 10 nuclear bombs. The country's political transition adds to the uncertainty surrounding the nuclear program. |
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Mysterious Events Leave Tehran Feeling Under Siege Two recent explosions and the unlikely capture of an American stealth drone have left a flood of questions - but very few answers - in Iran. Was it the action of Israel? Has a covert war already begun? Iranians are unnerved, feeling that the country is constantly under attack. |
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U.S., Russia To Raise Differences On Missile Defense Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev has been attacking the U.S. for its missile defense plans in Europe. He even said Russia might reconsider the New START agreement, which limits strategic nuclear warhead deployments. |
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In Iran, Secret Plans To Abolish The Presidency? As a power struggle between Iran's supreme leader and its president escalates, doubts are emerging about whether the country's next presidential election will take place. Recent reports suggest a secret committee has already been convened to recommend constitutional changes to eliminate the presidency. |
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Egyptians See Their Revolution As Mideast Barometer Many Egyptians feel their revolution is still unfinished. But they believe the trial of the former president and efforts to establish democracy will help set the tone for the wider Middle East. |
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U.S. Gropes For Coherent Policy In Egypt Although the U.S. military used its influence to help ease former President Hosni Mubarak out of power, Washington gets very little credit for that. Egyptians of all political stripes distrust the U.S., and want the Americans to stay out of the way of a revolution that they have embraced. |
