Philadelphia Inquirer – Editorial: Sarah Shourd turned 32 in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison this week. It’s her second birthday in captivity.
Iran’s pawns
US ‘deeply concerned’ with Iran religious persecution
AFP: The United States is “deeply concerned” with Iran’s treatment of religious minorities, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday after seven Bahai leaders were sentenced to 20-year jail terms.
NY-bound tanker may have been diverted from Iran
Reuters: A gasoline tanker, which shipping sources said was forbidden by its owner to carry gasoline from Turkey to Iran, was expected to arrive in New York on Aug. 16, according to sources and Reuters data on Thursday.
AP Interview: US. contractor recounts kidnapping
AP: A U.S. Army contractor kidnapped in Iraq earlier this year described how his captors easily maneuvered past Iraqi checkpoints as he was held bleeding on the floor of their car.
Brazil’s surprise election issue: Iran
Reuters: For sunbathers on Rio’s famed Ipanema Beach last weekend, the sight was about as odd as an oncoming snowstorm.
Ahmadinejad defends embattled chief of staff
AFP: Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has backed his chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, who has come under fire from conservative clerics for remarks about Islam, media reported on Thursday.
Iran’s Central Bank to reduce euro, dollar reserves
Bloomberg: Iran will reduce the proportion of euros and dollars in its reserves, while maintaining its overseas holdings of the Western currencies in the face of sanctions over the country’s nuclear program, according to a Central Bank official in Tehran.
LUKOIL trading arm Litasco not selling to Iran – CEO
Reuters: The head of the trading arm of LUKOIL said on Thursday his company Litasco was not selling gasoline to Iran, one day after traders said sales had resumed despite U.S. and European Union sanctions.
Iraq tries to play down general’s remarks over US withdrawal
The Guardian: The Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, has made a sudden visit to senior defence officials a day after the country’s most senior soldier declared his forces would not be capable of securing Iraq’s borders until 2020.
British ambassador to Iran hits back after ‘thick’ jibe
The Daily Telegraph: The UK ambassador to Iran has angrily attacked comments by a senior Tehran government minister that the English are “a bunch of thick people”.
