HOUSTON, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- Three fishermen missing since Aug. 21 have been found alive nearly 180 miles off the coast of Texas, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- There is no guaranteed policy that can halt the Iranian nuclear program short of war, and even a military campaign may only delay Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons capability. But U.S. policymaking regarding the Iranian nuclear issue inevitably boils down to a search for the least-bad option, and as potentially costly and risky as a preventive war against Iran would be, allowing Iran to acquire nuclear weapons could result in far heavier costs and risks.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- A well-educated group of young reformers does exist in Iran. They were demoralized by President Mohammad Khatami's failure to live up to his promises of reform and by his lack of support for the student uprisings of 1999. However, a growing popular disenchantment with the policies of current Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is likely to re-energize them.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- The incoming Obama administration should warn the Islamic Republic of Iran that continued meddling in Iraq, particularly cross-border support for the "special groups" and other forces hostile to the Iraqi government, will destroy the possibility of better relations with the United States, slow the pace of withdrawal of U.S. combat forces and increase the size of the residual force that President-elect Barack Obama promised to maintain in Iraq to assist the Iraqi government in fighting terrorism.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Iran's continued support for terrorism and its prospective emergence as a nuclear power threaten many countries.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- The Obama administration should plan to lead an international coalition to impose the strongest possible targeted economic sanctions against Iran.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Iran's leaders fear the temptations that the United States can offer their people. They know that two previous Iranian revolutions were aborted by the defection of Westernized elites, and they fear that better relations with Washington will pose a growing threat to their hold on power.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Given Russia's increasingly confrontational behavior and threats to retaliate for international criticism of its invasion of the former Soviet republic of Georgia in the Caucasus, the U.N. Security Council is sure to remain ineffective in addressing the Iranian nuclear issue because of the threat of a Russian veto.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- If President Barack Obama sat down with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad without preconditions, it would hand the Iranian leader an opportunity to practice his own Taqiyyah, strut on the world stage, lecture about the supposed superiority of Iran's Islamic system and assert Iran's claim to leadership of the Muslim world.