AP: The German newspaper Bild am Sonntag reports that a man caught last month trying to enter Germany with a cheque worth about $70 million was Iran’s former central bank chief.
Report: German cheque bust man is ex-Iran bank head
Iran’s exiled opposition urges June election boycott
AFP: An exiled Iranian opposition group called in Paris on Saturday for a boycott of the June presidential election that will choose a successor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Biden: US would hold direct talks if Iran serious
AP: The United States is prepared to hold direct talks with Iran in the standoff over its nuclear ambitions, Vice President Joe Biden said Saturday — but he insisted that Tehran must show it is serious and Washington won’t engage in such talks merely “for the exercise.”
Ahmadinejad unveils Iran’s newest fighter jet
AP: Iran unveiled on Saturday its newest combat jet, a domestically manufactured fighter-bomber that military officials claim can evade radar.
The ironies of Hagel’s ‘no’ vote on Iran’s Revolutionary Guards
Washington Post: Former senator Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) had many rocky moments during his confirmation hearing Thursday as he tried to explain some of his previous positions and statements.
Vatican shoots down claim that Iran backed John Paul assassination attempt
Washington Post: The Vatican on Friday (Feb. 1) dismissed a claim by the man who tried to kill Pope John Paul II that the assassination attempt had been ordered by Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Iran escalating efforts to destabilize region – Panetta
Reuters: Outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta accused Iran of an intensified campaign to destabilize the Middle East by smuggling anti-aircraft weapons to militant allies, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
Biden warns Iran: time for talk not unlimited
AFP: US Vice President Joe Biden on Friday warned Iran that opportunities for diplomacy over its disputed nuclear programme were not unlimited but offered direct talks between Washington and Tehran.
On Iran, Hagel muddles the message
New York Times: Dealing with Iran is complicated, but President Obama’s policy on the question of whether a nuclear-armed Iran could be successfully “contained’’ – the way the Soviet Union was during the cold war – is simple.
Nuclear diplomacy and Iran – Where’s the deal?
The Economist: On the face of it, all that is needed at this stage of Iran’s nuclear diplomacy with the United States and other world powers is for the Iranians and the so-called P5+1 to agree on a time and a place for their next meeting.
