AFP: A fire that broke out at Iran’s biggest petrochemical plant killed at least one person and injured 15 others before it was put out, Iranian media reported on Saturday.
Deadly fire at Iran’s biggest petrochemical plant
Iran says arming Syria rebels will destabilise region
AFP: The arming of Syria’s rebels will have “very bad implications in the region,” Iran’s Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on Saturday, according to state television.
Iran TV: 48 Iranians kidnapped in Syria
AP: In a brazen daylight kidnapping, gunmen snatched a bus filled with 48 Iranian pilgrims from a Damascus suburb Saturday as they headed to visit a shrine holy to Shiites, reported Iranian state television.
Iran’s new space center boosts rocket plan
UPI: Iran is reported to be putting the finishing touches on a secret new space center to launch satellites into orbit, a step Western analysts say will move the Islamic Republic closer to developing intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Commander: Biggest threat to Iran is ‘soft war’
AP: The commander of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard says the biggest threat to Iran is a “soft war” launched by its enemies.
West ‘did not want Annan to succeed’: Iran
AFP: The West, especially the United States, is to blame for the failure of the Syria peace plan worked out by Kofi Annan, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Friday, state media reported.
EU’s Ashton Delays Decision on Next Round of Iran Talks
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.
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.
