According to press reports, Washington is planning strikes on nuclear sites.

The United States is considering restrictions on imports of pistachios and carpets if Iran does not give up its nuclear program. John Bolton, the US ambassador to the UN, raised the threat Thursday in front of reporters. Unofficially, other options are being examined, military ones. That's according to a long article by investigative reporter Seymour Hersh in the New Yorker. The latter asserts that the Bush administration, "while publicly defending diplomacy to stop Iran in its quest for atomic weapons," has "stepped up its plans for a possible air attack." Famous for his work during the Vietnam War and for his revelations about the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, Hersh is criticized by some for his hostility to Bush. However, his article is supported by a Washington Post investigation published yesterday and based, like him, on "current and former" members of the Pentagon and the CIA.