AP: Syrian President Bashar Assad made his first appearance on state TV in nearly three weeks Tuesday in a show of solidarity with a senior Iranian envoy, even as the U.S. urged stepped up international planning for the regime’s collapse.
Syria’s Assad returns to public eye with ally Iran
Iran says ‘retired’ Guards among Syria hostages
AFP: “Retired” members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and army are among 48 Iranians taken hostage in Syria by rebels on the weekend, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Wednesday, the ISNA news agency reported.
Top aide to Iran supreme leader in Syria to meet Assad
AFP: Saeed Jalili, a top aide to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, arrived in Damascus on a surprise visit on Tuesday for talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Iranian state television reported.
Iran accusations wipe $15 bln off StanChart shares
Reuters: The market value of Standard Chartered Plc had tumbled $15 billion by early Tuesday after New York’s bank regulator threatened to tear up its state banking licence for hiding $250 billion in transactions tied to Iran.
Iran’s Salehi to visit Turkey over abducted pilgrims
AFP: Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi will pay a snap visit to Turkey late Tuesday for talks on the Syrian crisis and 48 Iranians kidnapped in Syria, officials and the media said.
Syrian rebels: govenment attack kills 3 Iranian captives
Reuters: Syrian rebels said three Iranian captives were killed on Monday during an air attack in Damascus province by government forces, and threatened to kill the remaining Iranians in their custody unless the army stopped its attack.
UK bank accused of Iran money laundering scheme
AP: A British bank schemed with the Iranian government to launder $250 billion from 2001 to 2007, leaving the United States’ financial system “vulnerable to terrorists,” New York’s financial regulator charged Monday.
Time is short for Iran diplomacy
Wall Street Journal: Iran is the world’s leading terror sponsor without nuclear weapons. With them, it can commit incalculable atrocities.
Iran and the next American tragedy
FoxNews: According to Reuters, NYPD intelligence analysts have determined that the Islamic Republic of Iran and its terrorist proxies were behind nine plots targeting Israelis and Jews outside of Israel just in this year alone.
India instructs private firm Gesco to ship Iranian oil
Reuters: India’s shipping ministry has told private company Great Eastern Shipping Co (Gesco) to supply tankers to import Iranian oil for state-run refiner MRPL, which had to slash imports from Iran in July because the shipper was unwilling to carry them.
