New York Times: Moktada al-Sadr, the anti-American cleric in exile with a sizable bloc of followers in Iraq’s new Parliament, took his first direct public step into the country’s protracted political impasse on Monday, meeting in Syria with Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s top rival to lead a new government.
Sadr calls for new Iraqi government
Iran’s parliament adopts bill against inspections
AP: Iran’s parliament has adopted a bill authorizing tit-for-tat retaliation against countries that inspect Iranian ships and aircraft as part of the latest set of U.N. sanctions slapped on Tehran.
Germany probes Iranian bank’s dealings
Wall Street Journal: The German government is investigating the activities of an Iranian-owned bank in Hamburg for its alleged work in support of Tehran’s controversial nuclear program, officials said.
Europe considers new penalties for Iran
New York Times: The European Union is considering tough new sanctions against Iran to protest its nuclear program, including banning investment in the oil and gas sector and tightening restrictions on shipping and finance.
INTERVIEW – Iraqi Kurds to clamp down on oil smuggling
Reuters: Iraqi Kurdistan’s cabinet approved stricter measures including stepped-up border surveillance on Monday to stop any illegal trade in crude oil across the borders of the semi-autonomous northern region, regional prime minister Barham Salih said.
Iran Guards pull out of giant gas field
Reuters: Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards will not be involved in developing Tehran’s part of the world’s largest gas field, said a senior gas official on Monday.
Reports from the capital
Iran Focus: Tehran, Jul. 20 – From the Grapevine… Sabz-e Meidan (Vegetable Wholesale Market), Shoemakers Bazaar and Jewelers at Tehran’s grand Bazaar have been reported to be on strike. Only a handful of shops were open on Monday.
Four men hanged in Iran
Iran Focus: Tehran, Jul. 19 – Three men were hanged Sunday in a prison in the city of Kerman, south-eastern Iran, according to an announcement on the website of the judiciary in Kerman Province. A fourth man was reportedly hanged in public in Khuzestan Province on Monday.
Allawi, Sadr hold talks in Damascus
AFP: Two figures at the centre of efforts to form a new Iraqi government, former premier Iyad Allawi and radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, met in Syria’s capital on Monday, an AFP photographer said.
ANALYSIS-Iran’s president angers conservatives, reformists
Reuters: Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seems to relish a fight, which may be just as well for a man who has acquired so many enemies at home and abroad.
