Iran Focus – Editorial: The strongest message out of the nuclear talks with Iran over the weekend was that western powers are willing to tolerate even the most egregious violations and intransigence by a pariah state only if it agrees to talk nicely.
Much atalk about nothing
North Korea-Iran link worries analysts
UPI: The audience present at North Korea’s failed rocket launch included Iranian missile and satellite manufacturers and engineers, analysts say.
Iran thanks Saudis for sparing death row citizens
AFP: Iran — a country slammed by international rights groups for its state executions — on Wednesday welcomed Saudi Arabia suspending death sentences against several of its nationals convicted for drug trafficking.
Foreign firms say times tough in Iran’s energy sector
AFP: Foreign firms dealing with Iran’s oil and gas sector admit that severe Western sanctions are taking their toll on business, despite Tehran talking up its ambitions at the opening of an international industry exhibition this week.
Marine insurance: the stranglehold on Iran?
Reuters: Marine insurance, or lack of it, may yet turn out to be the most effective sanction used by Western nations in 17 years of tightening the screws on Iran’s nuclear programme.
S.Africa Engen buys Saudi crude to replace Iran
Reuters: Engen has turned to top oil exporter Saudi Aramco for additional crude after South Africa’s biggest buyer of Iranian crude halted imports from the Islamic Republic, trade sources said on Wednesday.
US Senate looks for path forward on next Iran sanctions
Reuters: U.S. Senate aides were slated to meet on Tuesday to discuss the next steps for a new package of proposed oil- and banking-related sanctions aimed at pressuring Tehran to abandon its nuclear program, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told reporters.
US sympathizes with UAE in Iran island rift
AFP: The United States on Tuesday urged Iran to enter talks with the United Arab Emirates over Gulf territorial disputes as it criticized President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for visiting a contested island.
Iran sanctions hitting Turkish economy, energy costs
Bloomberg: Turkey’s exports to Iran have fallen 20 percent this year and the cost of imported oil has soared after sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, Turkey’s Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan said.
Iran says Saudis can’t replace its oil supply in the long term
Wall Street Journal: Iran’s oil minister late Monday accused Saudi Arabia of trying to replace its oil, a policy he said will fail, as tensions lingers between the two rival producers despite a thaw in relations between Tehran and the West.
