AFP: The last US combat brigade pulled out of Iraq and crossed into Kuwait almost seven and a half years after the US-led invasion, US media reported Wednesday.
Last US combat brigade pulls out of Iraq: US media
MTN says no immediate plan to list Iran unit
Reuters: MTN Group has no immediate plans to list its Iranian unit or lower its stake in the unit, the head of Africa’s largest mobile operator said on Thursday.
Talks with US only if sanctions are dropped: Iran’s Khamenei
AFP: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that any talks with arch-foe the United States would take place only if Washington drops “sanctions and threats” against Tehran.
Texans have opportunity to deter Iran’s enablers
Houston Chronicle: In the coming weeks, the State Department will provide President Obama with recommendations on how to implement Washington’s tough new sanctions on Iran. The law imposes severe financial penalties on Tehran in hopes of preventing it from acquiring a nuclear weapon, but it could also have an outsized impact on Houston.
US Treasury official ‘explains’ Iran sanctions to Lebanon
AFP: A senior US Treasury official on Wednesday concluded two days of talks in Lebanon with financial leaders and bankers on US and UN sanctions slapped on Iran, the US embassy said.
CIA forms new center to combat nukes, WMDs
AP: The CIA is opening a counterproliferation center to combat the spread of dangerous weapons and technology, a move that comes as Iran is on the verge of fueling up a new nuclear power plant.
Three farmers killed in central Iraq attack
AFP: Three farmers were killed and leaflets pinned to their bodies Wednesday, warning against cooperation with American and Iraqi forces in a brutal act of intimidation as thousands of US troops leave.
London blasts Iran over stoning case
AFP: London said Iran had showed an “unwillingness” to follow even its own standards in recent judicial cases, after a junior foreign minister met Iran’s ambassador on Wednesday.
Soldier: 300 hanged in a week
Iran Focus: Tehran, Aug. 18 – A soldier who is a prison guard at Vakil-Abad Prison in the city of Mashhad, in Khorassan Razavi Province, northeast Iran, has emailed Iran Focus alleging that some 300 prisoners have been hanged there in the past week.
Analysis: Iran gas ambition requires China to crack LNG secret
Reuters: Iran is unlikely to become a big exporter of natural gas unless China — a crucial partner as international sanctions scare others off — can develop tricky technology to liquefy the country’s massive gas reserves.
