Reuters: The impact of disrupted Iranian fuel supplies following tough new sanctions is likely to hit gasoline markets after the peak summer season and could also stoke volatility on international futures markets.
ANALYSIS – Iran sanctions could add to gasoline glut
US hikers’ mothers say Iran using them as bargaining chips
AFP: The mothers of three American hikers detained in Iran for a year said Monday that the latest comments from Tehran show Iranian officials are using their children as bargaining chips.
Booming Iran stock market unscathed by sanctions
Reuters: Sanctions against Iran have done nothing to dent a boom in its stock market, as investors bet on a continued rise in company stocks which have been undervalued for years, the head of the Tehran bourse said.
ANALYSIS-Saudi wants bigger role in Iraq to counter Iran
Reuters: Saudi Arabia wants to play a bigger role in Iraq to counter Iran’s growing influence during a political stalemate in Baghdad, and to help Saudi companies to catch up with regional rivals in opening up the Iraqi market.
U.S. urges China not to take advantage of Iran sanctions
Reuters: A U.S. arms control official on Monday urged China, which has always promoted dialogue with Iran over its nuclear programme, to observe sanctions against Tehran aimed at forcing it to drop its nuclear ambitions.
Jailed Iran protesters on hunger strike: websites
AFP: A group of 17 Iranian political prisoners, including journalists and student activists, have been on hunger strike for a week demanding better treatment, opposition websites reported on Monday.
US envoy: Iran, NKorea nukes threaten security
AP: New sanctions against North Korea will target narcotics trafficking, money counterfeiting and other “illicit and deceptive” activities that provide the regime with hard currency used to build nuclear weapons, a senior U.S. envoy said Monday.
Iran guards warn US against attack over nuclear work
AFP: Iran will make the strategic Gulf region unsafe for all if it comes under attack by the United States over it nuclear programme, the deputy head of the elite Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday.
Iran sees ‘positive’ signal over fuel swap
AFP: Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has said Iran was witnessing a “positive” feedback from the Vienna group over a proposal to supply Tehran with nuclear fuel, an Iranian television channel reported.
U.S. nears key step in European defense shield against Iranian missiles
Washington Post: The U.S. military is on the verge of activating a partial missile shield over southern Europe, part of an intensifying global effort to build defenses against Iranian missiles amid a deepening impasse over the country’s nuclear ambitions.
