AFP: Iran will not back down on its nuclear programme despite the problems caused by Western sanctions, including a dramatic slide in the value of its currency, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said.
Iran says will not retreat on nuclear issue despite woes
Iraq searches Syria-bound Iran plane
AFP: Iraq stopped and searched a Syria-bound Iranian cargo plane for weapons on Tuesday, but allowed it to continue as no prohibited items were found, Iraqi officials said.
US: Iranians blame leaders for deprivation
AFP: The White House said Tuesday that Iranians blame their leaders for rising deprivation caused by US and international sanctions stemming from Tehran’s nuclear program.
U.N. calls on Iran to halt clampdown, release activists
Reuters: The United Nations human rights office called on Tuesday for the immediate release of prominent activists and journalists it said had been arrested or intimidated as part of an apparent clampdown on critical voices ahead of next year’s presidential election.
Iran to enrich uranium to 60 percent if nuclear talks fail
Reuters: Iran would enrich uranium up to 60 percent purity if negotiations with major powers over its nuclear program fail, an Iranian lawmaker said on Tuesday, in comments that may add to Western alarm about Iranian intentions.
Iran rebukes ‘enemy’ on falling rial
UPI: The U.S. dollar’s strength against the Iranian rial drew criticism from Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Tuesday.
Iran’s Ahmadinejad says Syria crisis may engulf region
Reuters: Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday warned that hostilities in Syria could engulf the region and accused some Syrians of trying to use their country’s conflict to settle scores with Tehran.
Muffling the drums of war with Iran
Washington Post: Netanyahu insists that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon to most likely use against Israel. He points to the repellent anti-Semitic and anti-Zionistic statements of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and, most chillingly, to analogous statements made by Adolf Hitler. For a time, few took Hitler seriously, either.
Family of Iranian who defected is out of Iran, hiding for safety, attorney says
CNN: A cameraman who accompanied Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to New York for the U.N. General Assembly has applied for asylum in the United States, and “he’s afraid to return to Iran,” his attorney said Monday.
Iran workers’ petition shows rising economic worries as sanctions bite
AP: For weeks, a manifesto complaining about Iran’s stumbling economy circulated in secret among factories and workshops. Organizers asked for signatures and the pages began to fill up.
