AFP: European Union diplomatic chief Catherine Ashton and South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane held talks here Friday on sanctions that have been slapped against Iran and Zimbabwe.
S.Africa, EU diplomat discuss Iran and Zimbabwe
Egypt’s outreach to China and Iran is troubling for U.S. policy
Los Angeles Times: Egypt’s Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, will visit China and Iran and is moving to shift his country’s foreign policy orientation away from the U.S. and the West.
Netanyahu says Iran speeding up nuclear arms quest
AFP: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a visiting US congressman on Friday that Iran was speeding up its quest for nuclear weapons in defiance of international sanctions.
U.S. think-tank says Iran covering building IAEA wants to visit
Reuters: A U.S. think-tank published satellite imagery on Friday which it said showed “pink colored material” covering a building at a sensitive military site in Iran which U.N. nuclear inspectors want to visit.
Iran, UN nuclear watchdog meeting fails
AFP: The UN atomic watchdog said that “intensive” talks Friday with Iran had failed, with no plans for a follow-up meeting to persuade Tehran to address suspected evidence of nuclear weapons research.
Turkey Probes Possible Iran Link in Bombing
AP: Turkey has said it is investigating whether another country, possibly Iran, was involved in an explosion that killed nine people near Syria earlier this week.
Nuke agency forms special Iran team
AP: The U.N. nuclear agency is forming a special Iran team as it seeks to add muscle to a probe of suspicions that Tehran worked secretly on atomic arms, diplomats tell The Associated Press.
Iran expands nuclear capacity underground: sources
Reuters: Iran has installed many more uranium enrichment machines in an underground bunker, diplomatic sources said on Thursday, potentially paving the way for a significant expansion of work the West fears is ultimately aimed at making nuclear bombs.
Iran curbs drive rice exporter to Africa: Corporate India
Bloomberg: KRBL Ltd. (KRB), India’s biggest basmati rice exporter, plans to seek new markets in Africa to counter international sanctions against Iran and revive profit amid sliding grain prices.
Iran leader calls for ‘economy of resistance’
AFP: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told the government Thursday to adopt an “economy of resistance” to confront crippling sanctions slapped by the West on Tehran over its nuclear drive.
