Reuters: For years, the United States struggled to get foreign bankers to comply with its effort to throttle Iran’s economy – but a couple of billion dollars in fines, not to mention lurid headlines and talk of jail time, has suddenly got their attention.
Years of U.S. fines over Iran loom for foreign banks
Bus crash in Iran kills nineteen
UKPA: At least 19 people were killed in Iran after the bus they were travelling on struck a rock and flipped over, the state news agency has said.
Israeli leader calls for ‘clear red line’ on Iran
AP: Israel’s prime minister is urging the international community to get tougher against Iran, saying that without a “clear red line” Tehran will not halt its nuclear program.
Iran and China suspend $3.3 billion LNG project
Bloomberg: Iran and China suspended a contract to build a liquefied natural gas plant in the Persian Gulf port of Asaluyeh “until further notice,” the Mehr news agency reported, without saying where it obtained the information.
Moderate earthquake jolts eastern Iran
AP: Iran’s state news agency says a 5.2 magnitude earthquake has jolted a sparsely populated district in the country’s east.
Iran, North Korea agree to cooperate in science, technology
Reuters: Iran and North Korea have signed an agreement to cooperate in science and technology, Iranian media reported on Saturday, and Iran’s supreme leader declared that the two countries had “common enemies.”
AP analysis: Iran may be pushing to nuke threshold
AP: They are enriching uranium far beyond what’s needed for their lone energy reactor and preventing inspection, adding to the urgency while repeatedly predicting Israel will be destroyed and actively supporting militancy in the region.
Iran to hold major air defense drill: commander
Reuters: Iran will hold a large-scale military drill involving all its air defense systems next month, an Iranian commander was quoted as saying on Saturday, one of a number of military simulations it has carried out this year.
Russia says Iran’s nuclear power plant fully operational
Reuters: Iran’s first atomic power plant, a symbol of what the Islamic Republic says is its peaceful nuclear ambition, is now operating at full capacity, Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom said on Friday.
Fiji inks ties with North Korea and Iran
Daily Telegraph: AS the Pacific Islands Forum moves to soften its stance on Fiji’s military regime, the pariah state has inked diplomatic ties with North Korea and Iran.
