New York Times: A short midlevel cleric, with a neat white beard and a clergyman’s calm bearing, Mehdi Karroubi has watched from his home in Tehran in recent months as his aides have been arrested, his offices raided, his newspaper shut down. He himself has been threatened with arrest and, indirectly, the death penalty.

AFP: US lawmakers unveiled new Iran sanctions legislation Thursday that could bar major global telecommunications giants that do business with the Islamic republic from lucrative US government contracts.

AFP: Russia on Thursday said it would continue military cooperation with Iran amid widespread unease in the West over Moscow's controversial contract to sell advanced anti-aircraft missiles to Tehran.

METRO: A British nuclear expert who plunged to his death a day before talks with Iran began may have been murdered.

AP: The Obama administration is urging China, Japan and other countries to scale down their Iranian petroleum purchases to put pressure on Iran while the U.S. and others consider toughening economic sanctions on the regime.

Reuters: These are some of the leading stories in Iranian newspapers on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

AFP: Iran has not yet paid Russia in a controversial contract for advanced anti-aircraft missiles, the Interfax news agency reported Wednesday, citing a Russian government source.

AFP: Iran has not yet paid Russia in a controversial contract for advanced anti-aircraft missiles, the Interfax news agency reported Wednesday, citing a Russian government source.