Reuters: Iran will finalize a $5 billion deal with France's Total by March 20 to develop Phase Two of South Pars gas field, the head of the National Iranian Oil Company, Seyfollah Jashnsaz, was quoted as saying by state television.

Reuters: Iran partially floated its second-largest bank on the Tehran Stock Exchange on Wednesday, but only about half of the offered 5 percent stake in Bank Mellat was sold, officials and media said.

Reuters: A sound bomb exploded in a city mosque in a volatile area of eastern Iran near Pakistan on Wednesday, causing minor damage but no casualties, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported.

Washington Post: Seven leaders of the Bahai faith who have been detained for more than eight months in Iran have been officially accused of espionage, a spokesman for the Iranian judiciary said Tuesday.

Reuters: Gulf Arab states are beginning to worry that any U.S. rapprochement with Iran could ultimately lead to their worst nightmare — a nuclear-armed, non-Arab, Shi'ite Muslim superpower in their neighbourhood.

International Herald Tribune: In the aftermath of Russia's recent natural gas cuts to Europe, Iran is trying to position itself as a potential alternative supplier through a variety of overtures to the West – moves, analysts say, based at least partly on a desire to strengthen its hand for a new round of diplomacy over its uranium enrichment program.

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Feb. 17 – Iran and Singapore are exploring ways of boosting ties, the official news agency IRNA reported on Tuesday.