AFP: US Attorney General Eric Holder has appointed prosecutors to lead two criminal investigations of high-profile leaks of classified national security information to the media.
US attorney general investigates newspaper leaks
Empowering Iran’s opposition
Haaretz: To facilitate regime change from within Iran, it is critical to remove the terrorist designation from the MEK, and to protect and resettle its members.
IAEA disappointed as Iran fails to agree to wider atom probe
Bloomberg: The United Nations nuclear agency said it was disappointed that Iran failed to agree on a deal that would allow wider inspections of alleged nuclear facilities inside the Persian Gulf nation.
6 powers, Iran, remain split on nuclear issues
AP: Iran and six world powers seeking to coax Tehran into curbing its nuclear activities appear to be coming to talks later this month without resolving the differences that scuttled previous rounds, according to recent letters exchanged between the two sides.
Iran seen drawing fewest tankers since October as sanctions loom
Bloomberg: The fewest supertankers in at least eight months were headed for Iran as the deadline neared for a Europe Union embargo against the nation’s oil, ship-tracking data showed.
Iran ‘not part of Syria solution’
PA: International attempts to find a solution to the violence in Syria would be “unworkable” if they involved Iran, a UK Foreign Office minister has said.
China’s Hu urges Iran to be ‘flexible’
FP: China’s President Hu Jintao called on his Iranian counterpart Friday to be “flexible and pragmatic” ahead of talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme, the state Xinhua news agency said.
Russia seeks Iranian aid in ushering out Syria’s Assad
Bloomberg: Russia is seeking to enlist Iran in a bid to engineer a political transition in Syria, a move that drew a hostile U.S. reaction even as the Obama administration asks for more pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
More Iran nuclear talks ahead but obstacles loom
AP: The most tangible accomplishment from the last meeting between Iran and world powers was simply an agreement to talk again about Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
Iran doubts P5+1 willingness for success in nuclear talks
AFP: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused major world powers on Wednesday of looking for ways to “find excuses and to waste time” in talks over Tehran’s controversial nuclear programme.
