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 oil shipping to resume as insurers step in: Corporate India
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.
Iran completes cleanup of suspect nuclear site, group says
Bloomberg: Satellite images show that Iran has completed cleanup activity at a suspected nuclear weapons- related site, a Washington-based research group said today.
US lawmaker compares Iranian exile camp to Auschwitz
AFP: Lawmakers in Washington accused US and Iraqi leaders Wednesday of perpetuating appalling conditions for Iranian exiles housed near Baghdad, with one Republican comparing the facilities to Auschwitz.
Libya militia interrogates Iran Red Crescent team
AFP: Seven Iranian Red Crescent workers who were abducted by an armed group in the Libyan city of Benghazi are being held and questioned by a local militia, a security official told AFP on Wednesday.
Obama tightens sanctions on banks helping Iran sell oil
Reuters: President Barack Obama announced new U.S. sanctions on Tuesday against foreign banks that help Iran sell its oil and said the measure would add pressure on Tehran for failing to meet its international nuclear obligations.
