AP: The U.N. atomic agency’s new resolution on Iran criticizes Tehran’s nuclear defiance but, in a concession to Russia and China, does not set an ultimatum for allowing a probe of its alleged secret work on atomic weapons.
APNewsBreak: Russia, West agree on Iran text
Top US senator unveils Iran central bank sanctions
AFP: Looking to heap economic pressure on Iran over its suspect nuclear program, US senators on Thursday introduced legislation aimed at collapsing the country’s central bank with tough new sanctions.
Powers pressure Iran, IAEA chief “alerts world”
Reuters: Major powers closed ranks on Thursday to increase pressure on Iran to address fears about its atomic ambitions, and the U.N. nuclear chief said it was his duty to “alert the world” about suspected Iranian efforts to develop atom bombs.
Iran criticizes Saudi U.N. resolution
CNN: Iran is sharply criticizing a draft U.N. General Assembly resolution because it refers to an alleged Iranian plot against a Saudi ambassador, an assertion the Islamic republic calls “unsubstantiated.”
Turkey: no plans for nuclear cooperation with Iran
Reuters: Turkey has no plans for cooperation with Iran to build nuclear power plants, Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said on Wednesday, a day after a senior Iranian official had floated the possibility.
GOP hopefuls challenge Obama on Iran
AP: Republican presidential hopefuls are focusing on Iran as a weak spot in President Barack Obama’s foreign policy record, and they’re reviving many of the arguments that neoconservative proponents of armed intervention against Tehran lost in the latter years of George W. Bush’s presidency.
Powers make “progress” on IAEA Iran resolution
Reuters: World powers are making progress in narrowing their differences on how to respond to a U.N. watchdog report that aired intelligence suggesting Iran has worked on designing a nuclear weapon, Western diplomats said on Wednesday.
Iran calls for hand cutting for Arab nations ‘meddling’ in Syria
Bloomberg: Iran sees Arab nations ‘meddling’’ in Syria in order to replace President Bashar al-Assad with a government that is “submissive” to Israel, according to an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Pentagon’s new bunker busters not for Iran
Bloomberg: The U.S. military doesn’t have Iran or any particular country in mind as it buys 20 of Boeing Co. (BA)’s new 30,000-pound bunker-busting bombs, the Defense Department spokesman said today.
Don’t abandon Iran opposition
Boston Herald: The just-released International Atomic Energy Agency report on the Iranian nuclear weapons program should be the final warning to the West: Iran must be dealt with now, before its advanced nuclear weapons program is operational, and while the United States still has viable options for changing the regime in Tehran.
