AFP – Iran is ready to join international action against jihadists in Iraq provided the West lifts crippling sanctions, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thursday. His comments followed a call by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Wednesday for all countries in the region, including Iran, to join the fight against Islamic State (IS) fighters who have seized swathes of Iraq as well as neighbouring Syria.
Iran links Iraq role to lifting of Western sanctions
The lioness of Iran
Wall Street Journal: For a lesson in the power of artists to shake despots, consider the Iranian poet Simin Behbahani. The Islamic Republic four years ago imposed a travel ban on her in retaliation for poems she’d written denouncing Tehran’s crackdown on the 2009 Green uprising. She was 82 and nearly blind, yet she was barred from boarding a France-bound plane and interrogated through the night in March 2010.
China’s July crude imports from Iran hold at elevated volumes
Reuters: China’s crude imports from Iran expanded 40.6 percent in July from a year ago, customs data showed on Thursday, as Tehran’s largest oil client stayed with the elevated shipment levels that began late last year. China began stepping up purchases from Iran after a preliminary nuclear deal in November of last year eased some sanctions on Iran.
Iran is the real Middle East threat
The Hill: Images of unrest emerging from Iraq are deeply troubling and concerns relating to the rise of ISIS come from a noble place – an American belief that bullies should be held accountable. But such convictions are misplaced when it comes to the ongoing crisis on the Iraqi street. The real threat to peace and security in the Middle East is the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Simin Behbahani, Iranian poet quoted by Obama, dies at age 87
Bloomberg: Iranian poet Simin Behbahani, whose politically defiant writing was mentioned by U.S. President Barack Obama in a message aimed at improving relations with the Islamic Republic, has died at the age of 87 in Tehran. Behbahani died from heart failure at around 1:15 a.m. local time today at a hospital in the Iranian capital, her son, Ali Behbahani, said in a phone interview.
Standard Chartered fined $300 million over laundering controls
AFP: New York state’s banking regulator hit Standard Chartered Bank with a $300 million fine and restrictions on its dollar-clearing business Tuesday for not detecting possible money laundering. The new punishment came two years after the bank paid US regulators $667 million to settle charges it violated US sanctions by handling thousands of money transactions involving Iran, Myanmar, Libya and Sudan.
Iran kills 16 in mass purge
Free Beacon: Iran reportedly carried out the mass execution of 16 prisoners incarcerated in the Qezel Hessar Prison in Karaj early Monday, prompting outrage from dissident groups and bringing the total number of executions to well over 800 since Iranian President Hassan Rouhani assumed office last August under the guise of being a moderate reformer, according to an Iranian opposition group.
PWC settles with New York regulator for $25 million
New York Times: New York State’s financial regulator announced a settlement deal with the giant consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers. In 2007 the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi hired PWC to conduct a review of transactions with Iran and other countries under sanctions, including some transfers routed through its New York branch. In the settlement, Mr. Lawsky accused the firm of “improperly altering” the report.
Strong quake hits remote area in southwest Iran
AP: A strong, magnitude 6.1 earthquake jolted a sparsely populated mountainous province near Iran’s border with Iraq on Monday, Iranian state television reported. There were no reports of fatalities but a local official said there were injuries and that the temblor had caused damage. The TV said the quake hit the town of Murmuri, about 500 kilometers (310 miles) southwest of the capital.
Obama’s policies prolong life of Iranian regime
Columbia Tribune: Nuclear talks between Iran and the six world powers are in the homestretch as the two sides agreed to an extension of the so-far-fruitless talks for another four months. While U.S. policy in the talks has been directed by the White House, many in Congress, along with independent critics, remain concerned about a deal that might give Iran a long leash.
