As the IAEA reported that Iran is building its nuclear capabilities in spite of UN Security Council demands, Ahmadinejad and Rafsanjani said Friday that the US and the West are 'bullying' Iran. Helpful to the Iranian economy, the price of oil rose initially after Iranian threats once again to close the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, made after the USS John Stennis brought to bear the second US aircraft carrier in Persian Gulf waters.

The son of Iraqi politician and SCIRI leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim was reportedly arrested at the Iran-Iraq border as he returned from Iran. In a December raid of his father's offices, the #3 Iranian Qods Force commander was captured and later released. The British pullout from southern Iraq is seen as potentially helpful to Iran's influence there, already dominant with the SCIRI and Badr groups. In the US Congress, there is political movement to craft and pass legislation curtail the President's authority to engage in Iraq, seeking to limit operations to only against al-Qaeda, training Iraqi troops and reconstruction. For the Iraqis' part, they have launched Operation Shurta Nasir to clear Hit of insurgents and terrorists and reclaim the Anbar province city.