Wall Street Journal: The engineering arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said Friday it was pulling out of projects in a giant Iranian natural-gas field, blaming mounting sanctions from the West.
Sanctioned Iran group pulls out of gas project
Iran denying medical treatment to prisoners: rights groups
AFP: More than a year after a crackdown over a disputed presidential election Iran is still holding more than 100 political prisoners and denying them basic rights such as medical treatment, two international rights groups said on Friday.
Court tells State Dept. to reconsider terrorist label for Iran opposition group
Washington Post: A federal appeals court Friday ordered the State Department to review its decision to label an Iranian opposition group as a foreign terrorist organization, strongly suggesting the designation should be revoked.
Iran opposition leader welcomes US court ruling on PMOI’s status
Iran Focus: London, Jul. 16 – Maryam Rajavi, who heads the main Iranian opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) welcomed a United States appeals court verdict Friday casting doubt on the terrorist status of the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI), the principal group within the NCRI.
Iran Guard firm pulls out of gas development deals
AP: Iran’s Oil Ministry says the powerful Revolutionary Guard’s engineering arm, recently hit by U.N. sanctions, has partially withdrawn from developing the giant South Pars natural gas field.
Tehran plans to attend Kabul talks
Wall Street Journal: Iran will send its foreign minister to an international conference in Kabul next week, a senior British official said, after snubbing an earlier round of multilateral talks aimed at revitalizing Afghanistan’s stability efforts.
U.S. says scientist aided C.I.A. while still in Iran
New York Times: The Iranian scientist who American officials say defected to the United States, only to return to Tehran on Thursday, had been an informant for the Central Intelligence Agency inside Iran for several years, providing information about the country’s nuclear program, according to United States officials.
Iran’s medieval justice system
Wall Street Journal Europe: The international community has more leverage over Iran’s internal conduct than commonly assumed.
Strike at bazaar spreads beyond Tehran
New York Times: A strike at the traditional bazaar in Tehran continued into a second week on Thursday, spreading beyond the original gold and garments sectors and to at least two other major cities, news Web sites reported.
Fraud gets ex-Obama, Clinton fundraiser 12 years
AP: A wealthy Manhattan investment banker and former top Democratic fundraiser was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in prison for defrauding banks of $292 million, some of which he donated to politicians including Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Al Gore.
