AP: Defense Secretary Robert Gates, seeking to soothe Mideast allies worried about Tehran's reach, said Sunday that efforts to bolster U.S. relations with Iran may still ultimately face what he called "a closed fist."
Gates plans to reassure allies on Iran outreach
Pentagon chief to reassure Saudis on Iran outreach
Reuters: U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Sunday he would reassure Saudi Arabia this week that the kingdom would not suffer from Washington's efforts to improve its relations with Iran.
Israel faces a hard sell in bid to shift policy
New York Times: The new government of Israel is seeking to reorient the country’s foreign policy, arguing that to rely purely on the formulas of trading land for peace and promising a Palestinian state fails to grasp what it views as the deeper issues: Muslim rejection of a Jewish state and the rising hegemonic appetite of Iran.
Nearly 20,000 infected with HIV in Iran
AFP: At least 19,435 Iranians have been infected with the HIV virus, with more than 1,000 new cases recorded since December 2008, the ISNA news agency reported on Sunday, quoting the health ministry.
The Ipsen-Iran connection
Washington Times – Editorial: French pharmaceutical company Ipsen objects to The Washington Times focusing a spotlight on their well-documented relationship with the University of Tehran and Pasteur Institute, both of which are on the U.S. and British lists of organizations with suspected links to terrorism.
Japan says shares concerns on Iran nuclear drive
AFP: Japan said on Saturday it shared the concerns of world powers over Iran's controversial nuclear programme and urged the Islamic republic to take "positive" steps towards resolving the dispute.
Iran helicopters strike Iraq Kurd villages
AFP: Iranian helicopters attacked three Iraqi Kurdish villages in a cross-border raid on Saturday, a border guard official said, the first time Iran has used aircraft against Kurdish rebels.
Clinton frets over Chinese, Iranian inroads in Americas
AFP: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday defended new moves to engage anti-US leaders in Latin America as a way to check what she calls "quite disturbing" Iranian and Chinese inroads in the region.
US bill would bar firms selling gasoline to Iran
Reuters: Foreign companies that sell refined petroleum products like gasoline to Iran would be barred from doing business in the United States, under a bill introduced this week in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Obama ‘concerned’ over US reporters held in Iran, NKorea
AFP: US President Barack Obama said Friday his administration was "especially concerned" about the detention of two US journalists in North Korea and one in Iran.
