ZARRINABAD, Iran WhenIransRevolutionary GuardsCorps took over the nations telecommunications monopoly in 2009, the move was denounced as another dark step in the hard-line military groups seizure of the levers of power. Its not just a matter of the Guards dominating the economy, but of controlling the state, Alireza Nader, an expert onIranand the ...

[caption id="attachment_134196" align="alignright" width="177"] A view of a petrochemical complex in Assaluyeh on Iran's Persian Gulf coast.[/caption] Falling oil prices don't endanger Iran's budget for now, but crude's plunge could weaken the country's position in ongoing nuclear talks. Iran and other oil producers lobbied top OPEC producerSaudi ...