AFP: Hassan Rowhani has been a key regime member for years and hopes that Iran’s policies will be more moderate under his presidency are delusional, the main exiled opposition group said Saturday.
Iran exiled opposition sees no hope for change
New US penalties will greet Iran’s new leader
AP: As Iran’s new president takes over, new U.S. penalties against the country appear a done deal. In a letter to President Barack Obama, 76 senators are demanding tougher punishment on Iran’s economy until the Islamic republic scales back its nuclear program.
No optimism on Iran
Townhall.com: Rouhani is not a new figure on the Iranian scene. For 16 years, he served as secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, the chief body responsible for foreign policy and national security.
Israeli ‘wound’ must be cleansed: Iran’s Rowhani
AFP: Iran’s president-elect Hassan Rowhani said on Friday Israel was a foreign body that must be removed, and also cast doubt on efforts to revive peace talks with the Palestinians.
Iran’s Ahmadinejad warns Israel will be ‘uprooted’
AFP: Iran’s outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned arch-foe Israel Friday in one of his last public speeches that a regional storm was brewing that would “uproot” the Jewish state.
Top Iran leader issues edict on Baha’i faith
AP: Iran’s supreme leader is urging Iranians to avoid all dealings with members of the banned Baha’i sect in a possible prelude to further crackdowns on the minority.
Rouhani: ‘Key developer’ of newly revealed Iranian nuke site
Clarion Project: A secret nuclear site in Iran has been identified by the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a Paris-based dissident group that has previously exposed hidden sites.
Iran customs hold four million tons of goods amid dispute
Bloomberg: Four million tons of food and medicines are stranded in Iranian customs because of disagreements between the central bank and the Commerce Ministry over access to a preferential currency exchange rate for importers of essential goods, local media reported.
The forgotten mass execution of prisoners in Iran in 1988
The Diplomat: The massacre of political prisoners by the Iranian regime, which took place in the summer of 1988 has never been acknowledged by Tehran and remains one of the darkest stains in recent history, although it is relatively unknown in the West.
The more things change, the more they remain the same
Roll Call: Dating back to the Carter administration, not long after Ayatollah Khomeini replaced the Shah, the U.S. and other Western governments have been looking for “moderates” in Tehran with whom to negotiate.
