Bloomberg: European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton spoke with Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator and failed to set a date for the next round of talks aimed at having Iran give up elements of its nuclear program.
EU’s Ashton Delays Decision on Next Round of Iran Talks
Iran blames ‘interfering countries’ for failure of Annan’s plan: report
Reuters: Iran blamed “some interfering countries” on Friday for the failure of a peace plan by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in Syria, the official IRNA news agency reported, a day after the international envoy said he would leave his role.
Iran agrees to talk with world powers again in August: EU
AFP: Iran’s main nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili agreed in phone talks on Thursday to speak again with world powers before the month is out on Tehran’s contested programme, the EU’s top diplomat said.
Iranian hostages may be freed today: Libyan Red Crescent
Reuters: Seven Iranian relief workers may be freed later on Friday by an armed group that took them hostage on Tuesday in the heart of the Libyan city Benghazi, a Libyan Red Crescent Association official said.
Iran oil shipping to resume as insurers step in: Corporate India
Bloomberg: India, the third-biggest buyer of Iranian oil, will offer state-backed insurance to tankers, helping the nation’s biggest sea carrier to resume cargoes from the Persian Gulf nation hit by international trade sanctions.
Iran loses $133 million a day on embargo as oil buoys Obama
Bloomberg: U.S.-led sanctions against Iran are costing OPEC’s third-largest producer $133 million a day in lost sales without raising global crude prices, handing President Barack Obama an election-year foreign-policy victory.
Panetta: Military a U.S. option on Iran
UPI: Washington is poised with military options to destroy Iran’s nuclear program if economic sanctions don’t work, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said.
US Congress approves new sanctions on Iran
AFP: The US Congress approved punishing new sanctions targeting Iran’s energy and shipbuilding sectors, a day after President Barack Obama unveiled measures to cripple Tehran’s nuclear drive.
U.N. Secretary-General urged countries to give asylum to Iranian dissidents
AP: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday also urged other countries to give asylum to the People’s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran, an exiled Iranian dissident group that had waged a campaign from foreign bases to overthrow Iran’s clerical government.
Iranian boxer disqualified in first round
AFP: Iranian heavyweight Ali Mazaheri was left seething here on Wednesday after he was disqualified in the opening round of his first contest, against Cuba’s Jose Larduet.
