AP: Iran’s Supreme Leader is blaming the U.S. and Israel for the bloody, 19-month civil war in Syria. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also warns Western powers not to intervene in the conflict.
Iran leader blames US, Israel for Syria civil war
Iran filling nuclear bunker with centrifuges: diplomats
Reuters: Iran appears to have nearly finished installing centrifuges at its underground nuclear plant, Western diplomats say, potentially boosting its capacity to make weapons-grade uranium if it chose to do so.
Huawei partner offered U.S. tech to Iran
Reuters: An Iranian partner of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, a Chinese company that has denied breaking U.S. sanctions, last year tried to sell embargoed American antenna equipment to an Iranian firm, according to documents and interviews.
Iran weighs tougher line in stalled nuclear talks
AP: Iran is weighing a more confrontational strategy at possible renewed nuclear talks with world powers, threatening to boost levels of uranium enrichment unless the West makes clear concessions to ease sanctions.
Iran judicial branch chief fires back at president
AP: The head of Iran’s judiciary lashed out at the country’s president Wednesday, the latest salvo in an escalating political conflict that has undermined much of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s political clout.
Iran looks to Silk Road ties in time of sanctions
AP: At one gathering in Azerbaijan, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reminded the president of Kazakhstan about the vision of a railway linking the heart of Central Asia with Iran’s warm ports. At another meeting in Kuwait, he held talks with Tajikistan’s leader about their growing trade ties.
In oil-rich Iran, natural gas turns wheels
New York Times: According to the latest figures from the Natural Gas Vehicle Knowledge Base, Iran, with the world’s second-largest natural gas reserves after Russia, in 2011 became the world leader in natural gas vehicles with some 2.9 million on the road.
Countdown to the red line in Iran
Wall Street Journal: Iran’s oil exports have been halved by economic sanctions, but that still leaves the regime with around $50 billion in oil income this year, according to calculations by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Nevertheless, the Iranian economy has taken a substantial hit from sanctions.
A new president and a new Iran
EurActiv: What is missing from the US presidential discussions is a strategy that acknowledges the Iranian people’s desire for democratic change, whilst at the same time recognising the role that the Iranian resistance will play in the future of the country, says Brian Binley.
Iran’s warning to oil market fails to send prices higher
New York Times: Iran threatened on Tuesday to halt all its oil exports if the West’s antinuclear sanctions on the country are strengthened, apparently in the hope that such a warning would spook the international petroleum market by raising prices and reminding the world of Iran’s potential to wreak havoc with the global economy.
