AMMAN – A request by Syria for international help to build a nuclear power plant has provoked a political confrontation between U.N. nuclear watchdog head Mohamed ElBaradei, and the U.S.-led West, which is opposed to the idea arguing that Damascus is still under investigation after Israel bombed what it alleged was a covert nuclear installation.

AMMAN -- A top U.N. atomic watchdog official has visited Iran Thursday to try to get answers on its nuclear activities, amid Western frustration and international division on how to deal with Tehrans failure to respond to a new set of incentives to freeze uranium enrichment.

As concerns persist that Israel or the United States could attack Iran, the realistic outcomes of such an event must be considered. An American military attack, rather than making the world more secure, could instead provide Iran with greater incentive to harm U.S. interests and allies throughout the region. Principled negotiation, an interest-based approach to problem solving, could provide an alternative to coercive diplomacy to help resolve the current impasse.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- History, language and culture might separate Iran from the rest of the Middle East. But physically and geographically, the Arab world and Iran are very close – closer than they might like to think.

On June 22 a delegation of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived in Syria to inspect a facility destroyed by an Israeli airstrike last September. There are concerns that Israelis target might have been a secret nuclear reactor, and that it only remained to load it with nuclear fuel to make it work. The nuclear watchdogs experts are also expected to evaluate Syrias nuclear capability in general.

A top Greek air force official has revealed that Greece participated in two major military exercises over the Mediterranean Sea with Israel in recent weeks as test runs for possible long-range strikes against Irans nuclear facilities.