Reuters: These should be prosperous days for Ali Pasha, who owns a tourism company in Dubai that arranges holidays for those seeking a break in the sunny Gulf emirate.
Hard times weigh heavily on Iranians on New Year’s holiday
Ukraine says private firms mull more food sales to Iran
Reuters: Ukrainian private companies are considering an increase in their food exports to Iran despite payment problems caused by international sanctions against Tehran, Ukraine’s agriculture minister said.
Offer to Iran adds tension to U.S.-Israel talks
Los Angeles Times: Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials say the United States and five other nations may have offered too much to Tehran in nuclear negotiations.
Saudi arrests 18 spies including Iranian: ministry
AFP: The Saudi authorities have arrested 18 suspected spies, including an Iranian and a Lebanese, on charges of espionage for a foreign country, the interior ministry said on Tuesday.
Iranian envoy sees possible breakthrough on nuclear deal
Bloomberg: Iran for the first time sees the “possibility for a breakthrough” in negotiations next month over its disputed nuclear program, the Islamic Republic’s ambassador to the United Nations said.
Iran’s influence ‘waning’ in Latin America: US general
AFP: Iran is “struggling” to cultivate ties with Latin American countries that are wary of the United States, and Tehran’s influence in the region is on the decline, a top US general said Tuesday.
Nuclear talks: Iran unmoved by world powers’ latest proposal
Christian Science Monitor: World powers and Iran met in Istanbul yesterday to follow up on last month’s talks in Kazakhstan. Despite high hopes, the two sides didn’t find enough common ground.
Iran releases ex-president’s daughter
AP: A lawyer for the daughter of influential Iranian ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani says she has been freed from jail after serving a six-month sentence on charges of making propaganda against the ruling system.
Iran protests Saudi diplomat’s deadly ‘drink driving’
AFP: Iran said Tuesday it has protested to the Saudi embassy about a deadly accident involving one of its diplomats who reports alleged had been “drink driving” when he crashed his vehicle into another.
Khamenei mobilizes loyalists to swing Iran’s election
Reuters: Iran’s supreme leader may have helped Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to win two presidential elections, but he is now bent on stopping his turbulent protege from levering his own man into the job.
