AP: New signs are emerging that international sanctions are taking a deepening toll on Iran’s economy – putting billions of dollars in oil money out of the government’s reach. Yet there is no indication the distress is achieving the West’s ultimate goal of forcing the Islamic Republic to halt its nuclear program.
Sanctions biting but Iran not budging
Man accused of brokering uranium deal for Iran
AP: Federal officials in Miami say a man from Sierra Leone has been charged with brokering a uranium deal intended for Iran. Patrick Campbell was arrested Wednesday in Queens, N.Y.
I was lucky to escape with my life
The Independent: Social media has made it harder for governments to cover up their abuses. For me this realization has poignant implications. Perhaps the lives of thousands of innocent people, many of them my close friends, could have been saved in my native Iran.
Iran oil minister vows to revive output as he eyes price war
Bloomberg: In his first few days as oil minister in President Hassan Rohani’s new government in Tehran, the 61-year-old initiated plans to revive oil production to pre-2005 levels, hinted at a price war to win old customers and brought back managers sidelined by the previous administration.
1988 massacre in Iran – 25 years later
The Hill: In late July 1988, the Iranian government began the massacre of political prisoners that continued for several months and resulted in the slaughter of more than 30,000 political prisoners, the overwhelming majority of them activists of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
US Institute: Iran asphalts possible nuke site
AP: A U.S. institute tracking Iran’s nuclear program says recent satellite images it has analyzed show further major alterations of a military site that the U.N. has long tried to access to follow up suspicions that Tehran may have used it in attempts to develop atomic arms.
The truth about the new Iranian president
Roll Call: Among the ways of measuring a new leader are his approach to the people he is beholden to and the choices he makes for roles of great responsibility. In the case of Hassan Rouhani, the new president of Iran, the signs are not encouraging.
Thai court jails Iranian pair over Bangkok bomb plot
AFP: Two Iranian men were sentenced to between 15 years and life Thursday for their parts in a botched bomb plot last year in Bangkok that ended with one of them having his legs blown off.
Iran’s envoy to U.N. nuclear agency to leave post
Reuters: Iran’s envoy to the U.N. atomic agency will leave his post next month, in what may be a further sign of new President Hassan Rouhani’s desire for a fresh start with the outside world over its disputed nuclear program.
Iranian jailed for distributing Bibles: Vatican media
AFP: An Iranian Christian convert has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for distributing Bibles in his home country, the Vatican missionary news agency Fides reported on Wednesday.
