AFP: Hardline Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed on Wednesday the holding of direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, saying the negotiations will fail to resolve conflict in the Middle East.
Iran’s Ahmadinejad dismisses Mideast peace talks
Turkey exports less gasoline to Iran in July -data
Reuters: Turkey’s gasoline exports to Iran dropped by a hefty 74 percent in July after U.S.-led sanctions against the Islamic Republic came into force, figures obtained by Reuters from Turkey’s statistics office showed on Wednesday.
Obama aims for Mideast deal to block Iran by stabilizing region
Bloomberg: President Barack Obama leads Israel and the Palestinian Authority into direct talks starting tomorrow aiming for a big prize: a peace deal that will help stabilize the region and thwart Iran’s bid to expand its influence.
US spies worry about Iraq’s political deadlock
AFP: US spy agencies view political stalemate in Iraq as the biggest threat to security in Iraq as the American military scales back its mission in the country, a senior official said on Tuesday.
Obama: Time to turn the page in Iraq
Reuters: President Barack Obama declared an end to the seven-year U.S. combat mission in Iraq on Tuesday and promised recession-weary Americans “my central responsibility” now is to repair the U.S. economy.
Japan set to toughen sanctions on Iran – Nikkei
Reuters: Japan is set to toughen sanctions against Iran as early as this week over its disputed nuclear programme, the Nikkei business daily said, following the United States and European Union’s leads in pressuring Tehran.
The Great Dictator
Iran Focus – Editorial: Last week, Iran’s madcap president made a series of pompous claims about his regime’s potentials and objectives while warning the international community to “sit like polite children and talk”.
Interview with a veteran official of the Iranian Mojahedin
Iran Focus: London, Aug. 31 – Mr. Mehdi Baraie is a senior official of the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI) in Camp Ashraf in Iraq. He signed a ceasefire and mutual understanding agreement with US forces in April 2003. Mr. Baraie was a political prisoner under the Shah’s regime for six years. Iran Focus conducted an interview with him by email on the latest developments related to Camp Ashraf.
Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani subjected to mock execution
The Guardian: Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning, was told on Saturday that she was to be hanged at dawn on Sunday, but the sentence was not carried out, it emerged tonight.
IRAN: Courts confirm two more stoning sentences on adultery charges
Los Angeles Times: Amid the controversy and international outcry sparked by the stoning sentence handed down to a 43-year-old Iranian mother of two, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, Iran’s supreme court reportedly has sentenced two more people to stoning on charges of adultery.
