AP: As Iran and world powers prepare for new nuclear talks, letters by Tehran’s envoys to top international officials and shared with The Associated Press suggest major progress is unlikely, with Tehran combative and unlikely to offer any concessions.
AP Exclusive: Iran defiant in nuclear documents
Iran sees regional alliance to counter NATO
Reuters: Iran’s president told the leaders of Afghanistan and Tajikistan on Thursday that the three neighbours could provide a counterweight to NATO in Asia once foreign troops quit the region.
Sanctions on Iran are tough, but how much effect will they have?
Washington Post – Editorial: President Obama is making the case that his Iran strategy is starting to deliver significant returns. In some important ways, he is right. The president said on taking office that if Iranian leaders refused negotiations on their nuclear program, he would seek to raise the pressure on them through multilateral sanctions.
Iran publishes new Holocaust-denying website
AP: A new Iranian website is dedicated to denying and mocking the Holocaust with anti-Semitic cartoon images and has provoked outrage in Israel.
Afghan president heads to Iran
AFP: Afghan President Hamid Karzai left on Thursday for neighbouring Iran to attend a regional conference, his office said.
Tensions in a key shipping route
Wall Street Journal: The strategic Strait of Hormuz has long been the subject of terrorist threats and piracy worries, but has operated free of oil-tanker sabotage since the 1980s.
China rejects U.S. pressure on Iran trade ties
Reuters: China pushed back at U.S. pressure on its business and oil trade with Iran in comments published on Wednesday, while Iran’s oil minister was in Beijing seeking to shore up ties with the big customer.
Obama offers Iran an opening on engagement
Washington Post: President Obama put the issue of negotiating with Iran firmly back on the table Wednesday in an unusual White House session with journalists. His message was that even as U.N. sanctions squeeze Tehran, he is leaving open a “pathway” for a peaceful settlement of the nuclear issue.
Ahmadinejad says Iran building three-stage rocket
AFP: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran is working on a three-stage rocket to carry a satellite 1,000 kilometres (more than 600 miles) into space, Fars news agency reported on Thursday.
Iran denies Ahmadinejad assassination claim
Iran Focus: Tehran, Aug. 04 – Sources in the office of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed, then denied, that the hard-line President’s motorcade convoy came under attack on Wednesday minutes before he gave a speech in Hamedan, western Iran, broadcasted live on state television.
