AFP: France joined a chorus of nations urging a peaceful solution to the Iran nuclear crisis Wednesday, as French President Francois Hollande urged Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu to favour diplomacy.
Hollande urges Israel to favour diplomacy with Iran
U.S. says sanctions slash Iran’s oil exports
Reuters: U.S. economic sanctions against Iran have slashed the country’s crude exports and oil revenue, the U.S. Treasury said on Wednesday as it vowed to keep up the pressure on Tehran to prevent the Iranian government from getting nuclear weapons.
Insight: Iran parks oil off Malaysia to dodge Western sanctions
Reuters: Iran is using a little-known port off the East Malaysia coast to hide millions of barrels of oil from Western sanctions, according to shipping data, industry sources and officials.
Iran condemns anti-Islam film; anti-US protest planned
AFP: Iran has condemned a film insulting Islam that sparked a deadly protest in Libya killing the US ambassador, while Iranian media reported an anti-US protest over the movie would take place in Tehran on Thursday.
World powers pressure Iran at IAEA
AFP: Russia and China on Wednesday joined Western powers in rounding on Iran at the UN atomic watchdog in a move aimed not only at pressuring Tehran but also persuading Israel that diplomacy must continue.
In unusual snub, Obama to avoid meeting Netanyahu
Reuters: In a highly unusual rebuff to a close ally as tensions escalated over how to deal with Iran’s nuclear program, the White House said on Tuesday President Barack Obama would not meet Benjamin Netanyahu during the Israeli prime minister’s U.S. visit later this month.
Egypt trying to persuade Iran to drop Assad
AP: Newly activist Egypt is trying to convince Iran to drop its unquestioned support of Syria’s embattled President Bashar Assad in order to end that country’s bloody civil war in exchange for help in easing Tehran’s regional isolation at a time of mounting pressure on it over its disputed nuclear program.
If Iran builds bomb, US has a year to act: Panetta
AFP: The United States would have about a year to take action if Iran decided to build a nuclear weapon, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday, despite urgent warnings from Israel that time is running out to prevent Tehran from getting the bomb.
Questions grow over Iran’s influence in Iraq
Christian Science Monitor: The death sentence issued for Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi on Sunday is the latest measure of sectarian division in Iraq, where questions about dictatorial rule and the influence of Iran have grown in the nine months since US troops withdrew.
Israel Presses U.S. Over Setting ‘Red Lines’ for Iran
Bloomberg: The U.S. and Israel are disagreeing publicly over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s push to set “red lines” and deadlines for dealing with Iran’s nuclear activities.
