AP: An international banking clearinghouse crucial to Iran’s oil sales said Friday that it is preparing to discontinue services to Iranian financial institutions, an unprecedented and potentially devastating blow to Tehran as the West ramps up a campaign to stop its nuclear program.
Global clearinghouse ready to evict Iranian banks
Still shocked and surprised by Iran?
Fox News: Twenty-three years ago this week, Iran’s self-appointed supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, broadcast a religious edict declaring that author Salman Rushdie and his publishers were “hereby sentenced to death.” The fatwa also called for “all the intrepid Muslims in the world” to “execute them quickly, wherever they find them.”
US Navy fears small Iranian boats, confident of own capabilities
Reuters: Nerves were strained as an Iranian patrol boat approached the USS Abraham Lincoln at speed.
Ashton ‘cautious, optimistic’ about prospect for Iran talks
AFP: EU Foreign Policy chief Cathy Ashton said Friday she is “cautious and optimistic” about the prospect for Iran to return to nuclear talks with world powers, following a letter she received from Tehran.
Ban to Iran: Prove peaceful nuclear plans
UPI: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Iran Friday to prove to the international community its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
Bank telecommunications group moves closer to expulsion of Iran
New York Times: A potentially crippling sanction against Iran moved a step closer on Friday when a telecommunications network vital to the global banking industry said it was prepared to expel Iranian banks.
Iran, Hezbollah ‘plotting new anti-Israeli attacks’
AFP: Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia are planning to carry out new anti-Israeli attacks around the world, a senior Israeli official involved in counter-terrorism warned on Friday.
Thai cops: Iranian suspects dined with prostitutes
AP: The three Iranian men detained for allegedly plotting bomb attacks in Bangkok on Israeli diplomats had more than terror on their minds in Thailand. Police said Friday they had also cavorted with prostitutes at a beach resort.
Mission impossible? U.S. wants sanctions to hurt only Iran
Reuters: U.S. President Barack Obama hopes the toughest sanctions ever imposed on Iran will squeeze its oil exports – all without scaring markets, crimping growth, impoverishing ordinary Iranians or antagonizing allies.
Iran president complains of outside interference in region
Reuters: Iranian President Mahmound Ahmadinejad said on Friday foreign powers were interfering in regional affairs.
