Bloomberg: Iran has attracted $7 billion in foreign investment in the current Iranian year ending March 20, Fars reported, citing Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar.
Foreign investment in Iran has reached $7 billion, Fars says
Iran says Syria’s Assad will fight 2014 election
AFP: Syria’s close ally Iran said on Saturday that President Bashar al-Assad will take part in next year’s presidential election and that it is up to the Syrian people to choose their own leader.
Seized Chinese weapons raise concerns on Iran
New York Times: An Iranian dhow seized off the Yemeni coast was carrying sophisticated Chinese antiaircraft missiles, a development that could signal an escalation of Iran’s support to its Middle Eastern proxies, alarming other countries in the region and renewing a diplomatic challenge to the United States.
Iran blocks Russian news website
UPI: Iran’s culture ministry cut off Internet access to state-owned Russian news outlet Voice of Russia, the network said. Russian officials said there was no warning or reason given for blocking the outlet’s website.
Iran farmers clash with police over water rights
AP: Hundreds of farmers in central Iran have clashed with police during a protest this week against the government’s decision to divert water from the area to another province.
Obama, Putin discuss Syria, Iran, set June meeting
AP: President Barack Obama has phoned Russian President Vladimir Putin, welcoming Russian cooperation on international efforts to confront Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
How Iran went nuclear
Wall Street Journal: Veteran weapons inspector Olli Heinonen on how the U.N.’s ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ has aided Tehran’s drive for the bomb—and why an unsettling secret may be lurking in the Iranian desert.
Argentina’s about-face on terror
New York Times: ON July 18, 1994, a van filled with explosives blew up outside the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, killing 85 people and injuring hundreds. It was the worst terrorist attack ever in Argentina, which has Latin America’s largest Jewish population, and one of the deadliest anti-Semitic attacks since the Holocaust.
Influencing Iran and Obama
Washington Post: If you thought the president’s lack of seriousness about our fiscal crisis and entitlement reform was worrisome, you should brace yourself for what is going on with national security, specifically Iran.
UNHCR calls for safety and security of Iraq’s Camp Liberty population
UNHCR: UNHCR renews its deep concern about the safety and security of the residents of Camp Liberty in Iraq in light of threats, made this week, by the group claiming responsibility for the 9 February mortar attack that killed seven people and wounded dozens.
