Daily Telegraph: Iran warned America and Israel last night that it was ready to launch pre-emptive strikes to stop them attacking its nuclear facilities.Ali Shamkhani, the Iranian defence minister, said the presence of American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan was not a threat to Teheran. On the contrary, American soldiers were now “hostages” to Iran.


Iran Focus: A new budget amendment adopted by the dominant ultra-conservative faction in the Iranian parliament is set to concentrate enormous powers over the mass media in the hand of a former general of the Revolutionary Guards who now heads the Voice and Vision of the Islamic Republic, the state-owned broadcasting monopoly in Iran.
AFP: Iran’s conservative-dominated parliament voted down a bid by its reformist predecessor to support women’s rights and enforce gender equality, press reports said Wednesday.
Iran Focus: Irans Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and the Islamic Propaganda Agency have been waging an extensive campaign in recent days to undermine the position of senior Iraqi Shiite clerics who have been reluctant to tow Tehrans line in Iraq, targeting in particular Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani.
Iran Focus: The editor of the influential state-owned daily, Kayhan, made a clear link between the current turmoil in Iraq and the developments on the internal political scene in Iran, noting that mounting problems facing the U.S. in Iraq have silenced those who were hoping for regime change in Iran.
Reuters: A bus and a truck collided in southeast Iran killing 15 people and injuring 20 others, the official IRNA news agency reported on Wednesday.
Los Angeles Times: A California aircraft parts supplier, Interaero Inc., pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to illegally shipping $40,000 of missile and jet fighter equipment to a supplier in China who planned to forward the shipment to Iran.
Washington Post: Iran told British, French and German officials last month that it could produce enough weapons-grade uranium for a nuclear bomb within a year, Undersecretary of State John R. Bolton said yesterday in arguing the case for international pressure on the Islamic Republic.
AFP: Iran is determined to proceed with its nuclear programme despite international concern, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has insisted, the state news agency IRNA reported Monday.