AP: Al-Qaida operatives who have been detained for years in Iran have been making their way quietly in and out of the country, raising the prospect that Iran is loosening its grip on the terror group so it can replenish its ranks, former and current U.S. intelligence officials say.
AP Exclusive: Iran eases grip on al-Qaida
Boeing, Exxon say new Iran sanctions would hurt global sales
Bloomberg: Boeing Co. and Exxon Mobil Corp. are lobbying to fend off tightened sanctions against Iran that business groups say may cost $25 billion in U.S. exports.
EU urges Iran to drop death sentence on two ‘moharebs’
AFP: European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton on Wednesday pleaded with Iran to drop death sentences imposed on two people awaiting execution for being ‘enemies of God’.FACTBOX-Foreign companies stepping away from Iran
Reuters: A growing number of oil companies, trading houses and other international companies have stopped doing business with Iran this year amid a U.S. drive to isolate Tehran and international efforts to impose tougher sanctionsUS, China acknowledge ‘good progress’ in Iran talks: US
AFP: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and a Chinese official acknowledged “good progress” had been made when they talked about efforts to impose new sanctions on Iran, a US official said Wednesday.
Exclusive: Iranian scientists abandon missile program
Iran Focus: Tehran, May 13 – As Iran’s international isolation grows over its failure to forge an agreement with the major world powers on its uranium enrichment, there has been a flurry of resignations among experts working on Tehran’s missile programs in the Iranian Aerospace Organization (IAO).Ahmadinejad: UN sanctions against Iran “worthless”
Iran Focus: Tehran, May 12 – New UN Security Council resolutions imposing tougher sanctions on Iran over its nuclear defiance are “worthless”, Iran’s firebrand President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad bragged on Wednesday.Seven foreign firms in Iran energy got US contracts
Reuters: The U.S. government has obligated almost $880 million in recent years to seven foreign firms that had commercial activity in Iran’s energy sector, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said on Wednesday.Iran may be storing 38 million barrels of oil at sea, IEA Says
Bloomberg: Iran, holder of the world’s second largest oil reserves, may be storing as much as 38 million barrels of crude at sea as demand declines for the heavier, sour grades the Persian Gulf country sells.
France demands release of Iranian filmmaker
AFP: France on Wednesday called on Iran to immediately release jailed filmmaker Jafar Panahi and allow him to take his seat as a member of the jury at the Cannes film festival.
