AFP: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday the "new game" of the West in the nuclear standoff with Iran would end in humiliation, days after world powers presented a new offer to end the crisis.
Iran says West’s ‘new nuclear game’ to fail
Bahais detained in Iran contact families
CNN: Seven Bahai leaders detained by Iranian authorities have contacted their families for the first time since their arrest more than a month ago, the Bahai movement said Thursday.
US lawmakers push to stop World Bank loans to Iran
Reuters: U.S. lawmakers considering new funding for the World Bank on Wednesday sought assurances that the development agency will not provide loans to Iran, which Washington accuses of seeking to develop nuclear bombs.
Iran says demand to halt enrichment “illegitimate”
Reuters: Iran will never surrender to an "illegitimate" demand by major world powers that it halt uranium enrichment, Iran's state radio on Wednesday quoted the country's envoy to the U.N. atomic watchdog as saying.
US: Shiites behind deadly truck bombing in Baghdad
AP: The U.S. military blamed a renegade Shiite militiaman on Wednesday for a truck bombing that killed 63 people in a Shiite area of Baghdad, saying he was trying to re-ignite sectarian violence for personal gain.
Iraqi fugitive flees to Iran – U.S. military
Iran Focus: London, Jun. 18 – Coalition forces captured three "suspected outlaws" during operations in the Iraqi city of Kut, the United States military announced on Wednesday.
Iraqi fugitive flees to Iran – U.S. military
Iran Focus: London, Jun. 18 – Coalition forces captured three "suspected outlaws" during operations in the Iraqi city of Kut, the United States military announced on Wednesday.
U-turns on Iran
Los Angeles Times – Editorial: Finally, Europe is ready to step up sanctions. Stonewalling. Obfuscation. Threats. Two years of Iranian intransigence have removed any doubt that the leadership in Tehran is determined to develop the technology for a nuclear bomb — if not the weapons themselves — as quickly as possible.
Iran says will ‘never’ suspend enrichment: report
AFP: Iran said it will "never" suspend its enrichment of uranium, in defiance of demands from world powers to suspend the sensitive nuclear activity, the official IRNA agency reported.
Iran not withdrawing funds from Europe: bank head
Reuters: Iranian banks are not moving funds from Europe, the head of a state bank was quoted as saying, contradicting reports that Tehran was withdrawing assets in the face of tightening sanctions over its nuclear program.
