McClatchy Newspapers: The U.S. Embassy sought Saturday to distance itself from a highly contentious “fact-finding mission” to Baghdad led by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., that led Iraq to demand the entire congressional delegation leave the country.
U.S. congressional delegation sets off political IED in Iraq
Iraq bars U.S. visit to Iranian camp
Washington Post: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told a visiting U.S. congressional delegation Friday that it could not visit a camp of Iranian dissidents where 34 people died in clashes with Iraqi security forces in April, the delegation’s head said.
Iran nuclear progress report
Wall Street Journal – REVIEW & OUTLOOK: For six months, global attention has fixed on the historic upheavals roiling the Arab world from Tunisia to Bahrain. But the biggest Middle Eastern story continues to be the steady progress Tehran has made toward acquiring the components of a deliverable nuclear weapon. The most recent news is disquieting, to say the least.
U.S. lawmakers, Iraq’s Maliki clash over killing of Iranians
McClatchy Newspapers: After a “very frank” exchange with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, a prominent House Republican announced Friday his subcommittee is investigating whether forces under Maliki’s command had committed a “crime against humanity” when they killed 35 Iranian dissidents at a camp north of Baghdad on April 8.
Factbox: U.S., EU, and U.N. sanctions against Iran
Reuters: Following are details of sanctions imposed against Iran in recent years by the United States, the United Nations and the European Union.
Iran oil export to China up 32 percent
Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Jun. 10 – The first four months of 2011 saw Iran export over 8.5 million tonnes of crude oil to China, a 32 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
Iran to support Venezuela, Belarus, Ecuador
Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Jun. 09 – Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said it was the strategic policy of the Islamic Republic to support and increase ties with Venezuela, Belarus and Ecuador.
Tehran, Moscow seek to promote economic ties
Iran Focus: Tehran, Jun. 09 – Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi and Russian Minister for Information and Mass Communication Igor Shchegolev met in Tehran on Wednesday to discuss further expansion of ties between the two countries specifically in commerce and economic fields.
Iran says it will speed up uranium enrichment
New York Times: Iran declared Wednesday that it planned this year to triple production of its most concentrated form of nuclear fuel, expanding its manufacturing efforts to a mountainous, once secret nuclear site buried deep underground.
Iran summons British diplomat over Syria accusation
Reuters: Iran summoned Britain’s top diplomat in Tehran on Thursday to protest against accusations it was helping Syria crush anti-government protests.
