AP: The Iranian government said it will send hundreds of clerics into Tehran’s schools this fall to fight Western influence and the appeal of the political opposition, local newspapers reported Sunday.
Iran clerics to fight West influence in classrooms
Iraq Kurds say to crack down on fuel smuggling
Reuters: Iraq’s northern Kurdish region is cracking down on fuel oil smuggling through the area and across Iraq’s borders, the government of the semi-autonomous region said on Sunday.
Iran Guards profiting from sanctions: Karroubi
AFP: Opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi has said Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards back sanctions against Tehran as they make “astronomical profits” from the punitive measures, a website said on Sunday.
IRAN: Hard-line official insists stoning penalty for adultery stands, but is under a required review
Los Angeles Times: The hard-line chief of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights, the longtime political operator and insider Mohammad-Javad Larijani, says the sentence of stoning against an impoverished mother of two accused of adultery stands, even though it is under a required review.
IRAN: Merchants continue to protest government’s proposed tax hike
Los Angeles Times: All eyes in Iran are on the bazaar, the nation’s traditional marketplaces, where tensions have peaked over a proposed tax hike that has fused with other strains of discontent against the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Iran to review woman’s stoning sentence
CNN: Iran’s top human rights official said the Islamic regime is reviewing a sentence of execution by stoning for a woman convicted of adultery.
Iran cuts crude oil stored in tankers 40% since April
Bloomberg: Iran, the second-largest oil producer in the Middle East, released six supertankers from its fleet of vessels storing crude oil, a 40 percent reduction that may mean more oil heading to Europe, shipping tracking data show.
Ahmadinejad under fire from parliament speaker
AFP: Hardline Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has come under fire from parliament speaker Ali Larijani, a fellow conservative who stood against him when he was first elected in 2005.
Protests simmer among Iran’s powerful merchants
AP: Tehran’s powerful merchants don’t need street protests to make their anger known — the sound of shops being locked up and metal grates clanging shut during a wave of anti-tax strikes this week was enough to unsettle Iranian authorities.
Lloyd’s of London backs US sanctions on Iran
Daily Telegraph: Lloyd’s of London has warned companies it will not longer insure or reinsure petroleum shipments entering Iran.
