Iran Focus: Tehran, May 21 – Iran hanged a man in the central city of Isfahan, state media reported on Friday.
Man hanged in central Iran
Proposed Iran sanctions are significant, if imperfect
Wall Street Journal: A piece of paper can’t stop a bomb, and a United Nations resolution that hasn’t even been passed yet certainly can’t do the trick. Yet the announcement this week that the U.S. and the other permanent powers on the U.N. Security Council have agreed on a proposed new set of sanctions on Iran represents a significant moment in the tangled, long-running drama over Iran’s nuclear program.
Iran sanctions won’t stop missiles: Russian senator
Reuters: The head of a parliamentary foreign affairs committee was quoted on Friday as saying that sanctions on Iran being discussed by world powers would not stop Russia from delivering S-300 surface to air missiles to Tehran.
American hikers jailed in Iran meet mothers
Wall Street Journal: Three Americans, detained in Iran for the better part of a year after crossing into the country on foot from Iraq, met their mothers Thursday in a stage-managed appearance in Tehran, raising hopes the two men and one woman might soon be released.
Pentagon plan to beef up Afghan base near Iran may rile regime
Bloomberg: A U.S. plan to upgrade its airbase in southwestern Afghanistan just 20 miles from Iran’s border will likely rile the Islamic regime, bolstering suspicions the West is trying to pressure it with military might, analysts say.
Tehran prayer leader urges crackdown on dress code
Iran Focus: Tehran, May 21 – Tehran’s Friday prayer leader, Guardian Council Secretary Ahmad Jannati, urged a crackdown on violations of the dress code for women, calling for its enforcement throughout Iranian society.
Mother thanks Iranians for trying to save son’s life
Iran Focus: Kermanshah, Iran, May 21 – Daye Saltaneh, mother of Farzad Kamangar, the young teacher who was hanged with four other Kurdish activists on 9 May in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison on the charge of acting against state security, in a message thanked all those who worked to try to save her son’s life.
Iran plays for time
Iran Focus – Editorial: A day before a draft sanctions resolution was tabled at the UN Security Council, the Iranian government announced the signing of a trilateral nuclear agreement with Brazil and Turkey. On the face of it, Tehran agreed to send its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in return for nuclear fuel. In reality, this was an underhanded attempt to short-circuit looming sanctions.
Opposition says Iranian filmmaker beaten badly
AP: An Iranian opposition website says that an imprisoned filmaker has been badly beaten and his sight damaged.
Shell trims exposure to Iran crude – sources
Reuters: Royal Dutch Shell and other oil companies are taking less Iranian crude because of poor economics and the difficulty of making financial transactions with Tehran, industry sources said on Thursday.
