AP: The price of crude fell Tuesday as the swearing-in of a new leader in Iran raised hopes for less tension between the oil-producing Islamic republic and the West.
Oil dips toward $106 after Iran gets new president
US, Azerbaijani defense chiefs discuss Iran
AFP: US defense chief Chuck Hagel, meeting with his counterpart from Azerbaijan, said Monday it was imperative Iran quickly resolve concerns about its nuclear program.
Iran proposed oil chief attacked by newspaper close to Khamenei
Bloomberg: The head of an Iranian newspaper appointed by the country’s supreme leader attacked President Hassan Rohani’s choice of oil minister, citing “dark spots” in his record.
EU calls for ‘rapid progress’ on Iran nuclear issue
AFP: The European Union urged Iran’s new president today to make “rapid progress” towards resolving concerns over the country’s disputed nuclear programme after he struck an apparently more conciliatory stance.
US senators urge Obama to toughen Iran sanctions
AFP: Seventy-six US senators have urged President Barack Obama to impose tougher sanctions on Iran, saying Washington must stress its military option even as new President Hassan Rowhani urges dialogue.
Iran’s Rouhani pulls off cabinet balancing act
Reuters: Mostafa Pourmohammadi, Rouhani’s nomination for justice minister, is accused by Human Rights Watch of being one of a three-man committee that ordered prisoners in Tehran’s notorious Evin jail to their summary executions in 1988.
Ahmadinejad gets post-presidency seat on top Iran council
AFP: Iran’s supreme leader on Monday appointed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the Expediency Council, the country’s top political arbitration body headed by an avid critic of the outgoing president.
Iran arrests man on charges of spying for Israel
AP: Iranian authorities have arrested a man on charges of spying for Israel. The semiofficial Mehr news agency says the unidentified man had allegedly passed on intelligence to a security officer at the Israeli embassy in Thailand.
Iran seen trying new path to a bomb
Wall Street Journal: Iran could begin producing weapons-grade plutonium by next summer, U.S. and European officials believe, using a different nuclear technology that would be easier for foreign countries to attack.
Iran, U.S. signal will to engage as new president sworn in
Reuters: Iran and the United States signaled a fresh will on Sunday to seek to end the dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program after Hassan Rouhani was sworn in as president and called for dialogue to reduce “antagonism and aggression”.
