The U.S.and Iran are entangled in a dispute over the Persian Gulf nation's nuclear program, which the United States contends is a cover for developing weapons.

VOA: standard.2009.03.21

China has long been listed as a "country of particular concern" by the State Department for its record on religious freedom, as has U.S.Persian Gulf ally Saudi Arabia.

VOA: standard.2009.10.26

The threat,made on December 31 in a message posted on an extremist Internet Web site, prompted the Naval Criminal Investigative Service to elevate the risk for all U.S.military and commercial ships sailing through an area stretching from Somalia to the Persian Gulf.

VOA: standard.2010.01.07

Ileana Ros Lehtinen is the ranking committee Republican "It should be clear that unless we impose the maximum pressure on Iran, and this bill is a major step forward in that direction, the regime will continue its march toward acquiring nuclear weapons, dominating the Persian Gulf, and expanding its network of radical militants around the world,".

VOA: standard.2009.10.28