Iran Focus: Tehran, Oct. 28 – The “Mohammad Rassoul-o Allah Garrison” of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has been recruiting among villagers in various regions, in particular in the oil-rich southwestern Province of Khuzistan.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards recruiting “terrorists”
BP, Statoil’s Shah Deniz gas field exempt from EU Iran sanctions
Bloomberg: BP Plc and Statoil ASA’s Shah Deniz natural-gas field off the coast of Azerbaijan was exempted from European Union sanctions on Iran, clearing the way for a project designed to reduce the continent’s reliance on Russia.
Iran allowed to keep Namibian uranium mine stake, Rio Tinto says
Bloomberg: Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third- largest mining company, said Iran can maintain a 15 percent stake in its Rossing uranium operation after a United Nations ruling barred the country from investing in mines of the fuel.
After mending leak, Iran begins loading fuel into nuclear plant
Washington Post: Iran started to fully load fuel into its only nuclear reactor Tuesday, after a leak in the Russian-built reactor’s basin delayed the process for months, state media reported.
U.S. tries restart of talks with Iran
Wall Street Journal: The Obama administration is pushing to revive a failed deal for Iran to send some of its nuclear stockpile overseas in exchange for assistance with peaceful nuclear technology, according to senior U.S. officials. The aim is to try to reduce Tehran’s ability to quickly produce an atomic weapon.
EU’s sanctions on Iran hit BP
Wall Street Journal: BP PLC will likely have to shut down a natural gas field in the North Sea that it jointly owns with Iran, a sign that tough new European sanctions are beginning to affect the Islamic Republic’s oil and gas sector.
U.S. targets front companies for Iran shipping line
Reuters: The United States on Wednesday named five Iranian individuals and three dozen companies that it said were helping Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines in trying to avoid sanctions.
China’s cut in Iran oil imports is ‘warning,’ Petromatrix says
Bloomberg: A reduction in China’s imports of crude oil from Iran may be a “warning sign” regarding the Middle Eastern country’s pursuit of nuclear technology, according to consultants Petromatrix GmbH.
In Brief: Opposition to crackdown in Iran
Iran Focus: Tehran, Oct. 26 – From the Grapevine… The atmosphere in the Iranian capital Tehran, Shiraz (southern Iran) and Isfahan (central Iran) and motorways leading to these cities has become more repressive as police checkpoints and searches have increased.
Sanctions making Europe firms review Iran oil buys
Reuters: Some European oil companies are considering whether to keep buying Iranian oil in 2011, industry sources said, citing sanctions that have made financial transactions with the Islamic Republic more difficult.
