CNN: Sailors from the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman rescued eight Iranian mariners in the Arabian Sea on Wednesday, the U.S. Navy said Thursday.
U.S. rescues 8 Iranian sailors
Germany: 2 men charged over Iran arms embargo
AP: German federal prosecutors say they have charged two men with violating an arms embargo by working to export equipment that Iran wanted for its missile program.
Locals in oil-rich city contemplate Iran’s economic future
Iran Focus: Ahvaz, Iran, Aug. 19 – On a recent sunny afternoon down south in Iran’s oil heartland, Majid, an engineer in his 30s gives a bleak assessment of his outlook for Iran’s energy industry and the blistering effect of global sanctions on the regime over its controversial nuclear projects.
Cleric smuggles narcotics into Iran prison
Iran Focus: Tehran, Aug. 19 – From the Grapevine… Cleric Massih Mottalebi, congregation leader of Gohardash Prison in Karaj, west of Tehran, is responsible for the entry of narcotics into the prison.
Man hanged in south-west Iran
Iran Focus: Tehran, Aug. 19 – A young man, Makki Jaradi, was hanged earlier this week in Ahvaz, in the south-western province of Khuzestan.
Last US combat brigade pulls out of Iraq: US media
AFP: The last US combat brigade pulled out of Iraq and crossed into Kuwait almost seven and a half years after the US-led invasion, US media reported Wednesday.
MTN says no immediate plan to list Iran unit
Reuters: MTN Group has no immediate plans to list its Iranian unit or lower its stake in the unit, the head of Africa’s largest mobile operator said on Thursday.
Talks with US only if sanctions are dropped: Iran’s Khamenei
AFP: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that any talks with arch-foe the United States would take place only if Washington drops “sanctions and threats” against Tehran.
Texans have opportunity to deter Iran’s enablers
Houston Chronicle: In the coming weeks, the State Department will provide President Obama with recommendations on how to implement Washington’s tough new sanctions on Iran. The law imposes severe financial penalties on Tehran in hopes of preventing it from acquiring a nuclear weapon, but it could also have an outsized impact on Houston.
US Treasury official ‘explains’ Iran sanctions to Lebanon
AFP: A senior US Treasury official on Wednesday concluded two days of talks in Lebanon with financial leaders and bankers on US and UN sanctions slapped on Iran, the US embassy said.
