Reuters: Three boats approached a U.S. Navy vessel at high speed in Gulf waters on Thursday but stopped after it fired a flare, the U.S. Fifth Fleet said.
Navy approached by unknown boats in Gulf
Navy ship encounters Iranian boat
AP: A U.S. Navy ship encountered a small Iranian high-speed boat in the central Persian Gulf and warned it away by firing a flare, the Pentagon said Friday.
India MRPL sells first diesel cargo to Iran
Reuters: Iran has bought its first cargo of diesel from Indian refiner MRPL, Managing Director R. Rajamani told Reuters, helping fill the void left after Reliance Industries halted sales last year.
Iran’s secret missile launch site pinpointed: report
AFP: The secret site of Iran’s first space centre, opened with a recent missile launch, has been pinpointed by Jane’s, the defence group said Friday, adding that it resembled facilities in North Korea.
New Iran incentives, sanctions unlikely now – Rice
Reuters: The United States will consider both fresh incentives or sanctions to persuade Iran to rein in its nuclear program but major changes are unlikely now, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday.
Gates: Iran boosts support for militias
AP: Iranian support for militias in Iraq has grown, top U.S. defense leaders said Friday, asserting that recent battles in Basra gave the Iraqis an eye-opening view of Iran’s increased negative role there.
Iran triggering Shiite “backlash” in Iraq, US ambassador claims
AFP: Iran can never conquer Iraq and is even stirring a Shiite “backlash” there by backing militias fighting the Iraqi government and US-led troops, the US ambassador to Baghdad said here Friday.
US ambassador in Iraq invites Iran talks
AP: The U.S. ambassador in Iraq says the Bush administration wants to test whether Iran is really interested in talking to the United States about a country of mutual interest Iraq.
Iran boasts hundreds of new centrifuges: report
AFP: Iran has started operating hundreds of new uranium-enriching centrifuges at its main nuclear plant, the official IRNA news agency said on Friday, confirming Tehran is expanding its contested atomic drive.
Iran hangs two members of armed group
Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Apr. 11 Iranian authorities have hanged two men in the volatile south-eastern province of Sistan-va-Baluchistan, state media reported on Thursday.
