AFP: A member of the elite al-Quds force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has been captured in southern Afghanistan accused of cross-border weapons smuggling, international forces said Friday.
Iranian officer captured in Afghanistan: NATO
India c.bank to stop clearing Iran oil payments
Reuters: India’s central bank will no longer help facilitate payments for imports of Iranian crude, a statement from the Reserve Bank of India said.
GOP leaders criticize Obama’s Iran policy in rally for opposition group
Washington Post: A group of prominent U.S. Republicans associated with homeland security told a forum of cheering Iranian exiles here Wednesday that President Obama’s policy toward Iran amounts to futile appeasement that will never persuade Tehran to abandon its nuclear projects.
Hong Kong holds ship linked to Iran firm: report
AFP: Hong Kong has detained a cargo ship linked to an Iranian shipping firm at the centre of new US sanctions aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear and weapons activities, a report said Thursday.
Nigeria grants bail to Iran arms shipment suspect
Reuters: A Nigerian court granted bail on Thursday to an alleged member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, who along with three Nigerians was charged last month with illegally importing arms into the West African country.
Fears of unrest after Iran cuts food and fuel subsidies
BBC: While President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was outlining his targeted subsidies plan to the people on television on Saturday, riot police were deploying in Tehran’s streets to deal with any protests the lifting of subsidies might trigger.
Iran stops fuel delivery, Afghanistan says, and prices are rising
New York Times: Government officials expressed alarm on Wednesday about what they described as Iran’s unexplained ban on fuel exports to Afghanistan, asserting that at least 1,400 loaded tankers were parked on Iran’s side of three border crossings.
Medvedev says Iran nuclear stance ‘unreasonably tough’
Bloomberg: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Iran’s policy on its nuclear program is “unreasonably tough” and urged inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Energy policy in Iran leaves many gasping
New York Times: One of Tehran’s signature landscapes — the imposing, rugged line of the Alborz Mountains at the city’s northern boundary — has suddenly become an elusive one. Instead, Tehranis’ eyes, and complaints, have turned toward a dense and noxious wall of smog that has only rarely lifted during the past two months.
Berlin slams jailing of Iranian filmmaker
AFP: Germany Wednesday condemned the jailing of Iranian filmmaker and vocal opposition backer Jafar Panahi as “scandalous” and “unacceptable” and called on Tehran to lift the sentence.
