AP: Video clips from Iran show mourners chanting opposition slogans at the funeral of a dissident cleric in the largest political protest in years. The cries of “death to the dictator” do not appear directly related to next week’s presidential election.
Iran funeral turns into political protest
Russia, China join West in pressing Iran at U.N. nuclear meeting
Reuters: China and Russia joined four Western powers in pressing Iran on Wednesday to cooperate with a stalled investigation by the U.N. nuclear agency into suspected atomic research by the Islamic state.
Iran accuses Britain of operating spy ring to undermine elections
The Independent: The Iranian government claims it has captured a “spy ring” working for Israel and Britain which had planned to carry out “sabotage and assassinations” to undermine the impending national elections in the country.
Sanctions push Iran’s oil exports to lowest in decades
Reuters: Western sanctions drove Iran’s crude exports to the lowest in decades in May, according to industry sources and tanker-tracking data, even before Washington toughens measures aimed at squeezing oil sales further.
How the U.S. hung a potential Iranian ally out to dry
Baltimore Sun: The plight of the organized resistance to the regime in Iran, particularly the violent persecution of the group known as the Mujahedeen e-Khalq (MEK/PMOI), has been one of the great, untold stories in international politics. It is a story of deadly betrayal, broken promises and political expediency. And that’s just on the U.S. side.
Iran’s reactor said damaged by quakes
AP: Several countries monitoring Iran’s nuclear program have picked up information that the country’s only power-producing nuclear reactor was damaged by one or more of several recent earthquakes, with long cracks appearing in at least one section of the structure, two diplomats said Tuesday.
Iran Guards wield electoral power behind scenes
Reuters: With 10 days until Iran’s presidential election, voters have been able watch the candidates in debate, but many remain unenthused, believing the result will depend not on those on the platform but on powerful men in the background.
U.S. blacklists global network of Iranian ‘front’ companies
Reuters: A global network of private companies were blacklisted by the United States on Tuesday for providing revenue to the Iranian government’s leadership and helping it evade the pinch from international sanctions on Tehran’s nuclear program, the U.S. Treasury Department said.
Iran presidential hopeful defends atomic drive
AFP – Ali Akbar Velayati, 67, foreign minister from 1981 to 1997,reiterated Iran’s long-stated position that it is not seeking nuclear arms, arguing that they are “forbidden” under a much-debated religious decree by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
US sanctions go after Iran’s currency, auto sector
AFP: The United States unveiled aggressive new sanctions against Iran, directly targeting the rial currency for the first time and also the auto sector, a key source of jobs and revenue.
