Free Republic

TEHERAN, Iran — Iran's semiofficial Mehr News Agency on Friday said simultaneous blasts have struck three pipelines near the city of Qom, cutting the flow of gas. Mehr said the blasts, which occurred at 5:50 a.m. locat time (2:20 GMT) outside the town of Salafchegan, 130 kilometers south of Teheran, were felt kilometers away. Local official Majid Bojarzadeh said the blasts were not caused by technical failures, but did not elaborate if officials believed the explosions were acts of sabotage. He said operations were under way to repair the pipelines and restore the gas flow. Iran's oil and gas sector...

NEWS ANALYSIS For Bush, a Taste of Vindication in Mideast By TODD S. PURDUM Published: March 9, 2005 ASHINGTON, March 8 - He has gone out of his way not to crow, or even to take direct credit. But not quite two years after he began the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, and not quite two months after a second Inaugural Address in which he spoke of "ending tyranny," President Bush seems entitled to claim as he did on Tuesday that a "thaw has begun" in the broader Middle East. At the very least, Mr. Bush is feeling the glow...