Iran Focus: Tehran, 19 May – Iran announced on Wednesday that it will be unveiling a number of new domestically-produced ballistic missiles next week.
Iran to unveil new ballistic missiles next week
Iran rejects U.S. sanctions as “psychological warfare”
Reuters: Iran accused Washington of engaging in “psychological warfare” after the U.S. Treasury added an Iranian state bank to its list of blacklisted companies, semi-official news agency ISNA reported on Wednesday.
Kuwait and Iran to return ambassadors after spy network row
Bloomberg: Iran and Kuwait are to exchange ambassadors again after a dispute over an alleged spy network operating in Kuwait led to both countries expelling diplomats.
Al-Jazeera journalist who went missing in Syria free: TV
AFP: Al-Jazeera journalist Dorothy Parvaz who went missing on her arrival in Syria last month is free and back in Doha, the news channel said on its website Wednesday.
Iran’s Ahmadinejad to head next OPEC meeting – report
Reuters: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will attend the next OPEC meeting set for June 8 in Vienna, the semi-official Fars news agency quoted a senior official as saying on Wednesday.
2 Belgians accused of smuggling helicopter, aircraft parts to Iran in S. California indictment
AP: Two Belgian men smuggled millions of dollars’ worth of helicopter and aircraft parts from the United States to Iran, according to a federal grand jury indictment.
US slaps sanction on Iranian state-owned bank
AFP: The United States froze the assets Tuesday of an Iranian state-owned bank for its alleged help with Tehran’s suspected nuclear weapons program.
AP Exclusive: Iran backs nuke plans despite risks
AP: The leaders of earthquake-prone Iran have rejected concerns by the country’s top scientists about a plan to build a national nuclear reactor network, according to intelligence shared with The Associated Press.
Cameron says popular uprising is possible in ‘basket-case’ Iran
Bloomberg: U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, praising the Arab Spring of democratic protests across the Middle East and North Africa, said a similar revolt in Iran should not be ruled out.
Iran president’s jobless figures are misleading, Shargh reports
Bloomberg: Unemployment statistics presented by Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are deceitful, according to Ahmad Tavakoli, an economist and head of the parliament’s research center, Shargh reported.
