AFP: Iran’s parliament on Tuesday passed a bill for a free trade agreement with Syria in a show of support for President Bashar al-Assad’s regime beset by protests and international pressure.

AP: Iran’s official news agency says the country’s judiciary has issued indictments against 15 ‘American and Zionist’ spies.

Reuters: Leaders of a U.S. House and Senate negotiating panel on Monday said they had agreed to compromise legislation imposing new sanctions that target Iran’s central bank, despite Obama administration misgivings over the measure. They said they hoped to pass it this week.

AFP: Laid-off workers complaining about unpaid wages disrupted a speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday by shouting and throwing objects, news websites and an agency reported.

AFP: A website the United States touts as a “virtual embassy” for Iran is really an “espionage trap,” the Islamic republic’s spy chief said in media reports Monday.

AP: Iran’s official news agency is reporting that a blast caused by leftover ammunition has killed at least seven workers including foreign nationals at a steel mill in the central city of Yazd.

Reuters: A member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security Committee said on Monday that the military was set to practice its ability to close the Gulf to shipping at the narrow Strait of Hormuz, the most important oil transit channel in the world, but there was no official confirmation.

AFP: President Barack Obama acknowledged for the first time Monday that a US drone was in Iranian hands and said the United States has asked Tehran to return the sophisticated spycraft.

Bloomberg: Iran needs to come up with solutions to face western countries’ punitive measures that target its central bank, Mehr reported, citing Mahmoud Bahmani, the bank’s governor.