Iran Focus: Iran has a new president in cleric Hassan Rowhani. But this cosmetic facelift for a dead beat regime should not dupe the West into thinking that there are fresh prospects for a nuclear deal.
A facelift!
Iran’s Rouhani hints will balance hardline, reformist demands
Reuters: Iran’s president-elect Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday he would appoint ministers from across its political spectrum as Iranian voters had chosen a path of moderation over extremism.
Tough US sanctions on Iran hit Monday
Wall Street Journal: Sanctions on Iran by the U.S. signed into law in January, and implemented and expanded via executive order in early Junecome into effect on Monday.
Iran detains Slovak hang-glider group: Slovak media
Reuters: A group of five or six Slovak hang-glider enthusiasts has been detained in Iran on suspicion of espionage, the Slovak news website www.sme.sk said on Friday.
Ore. jury convicts doctor of breaking Iran embargo
AP: An Oregon jury has convicted a Texas urologist and his attorney wife of defrauding the government in a scheme prosecutors allege also violated a U.S. trade embargo with Iran.
Iraq Shiites fighting in Syria: Zebari
AFP: Iraqi Shiite Muslims are fighting in Syria alongside troops of President Bashar al-Assad, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said on Friday, while insisting this was not the policy of the Shiite-led Baghdad government.
Iranian official signals no scaling back in nuclear activity
Reuters: Iran will press ahead with its uranium enrichment programme, its nuclear energy chief said on Friday, signalling no change of course despite the victory of a relative moderate in the June 14 presidential election.
Syria won’t be Iran’s quagmire
Washington Post: Over the past two years, Syria’s descent into civil war has provoked alarm and horror in Washington. While officials have argued over the extent to which the United States can and should intervene, everyone agrees that the conflict poses a humanitarian catastrophe and a threat to U.S. interests across the Middle East.
Sony reports tech sales to Iran that may violate sanction
Bloomberg: Sony Corp. said it sold almost $13 million in video and medical equipment to dealers in Dubai that resold the gear in Iran. The recipients included groups under U.S. sanctions.
Ali Safavi: Stop appeasing Iranian mullahs
Clarion Project: Ali Safavi is the U.S. spokesperson for the National Council of the Resistance of Iran, which describes itself as “a broad-based coalition of Iranian opposition personalities and groups committed to a democratic, secular and non-nuclear republic in Iran.”
