Wall Street Journal: The U.S. ratcheted up the financial pressure against Tehran last week, unilaterally slapping sanctions on Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp, three state-owned banks, and a number of key officials for their involvement in the regime’s terrorist financing and WMD-related activities.
How Europe can pressure Iran
UK navy warship to head for Gulf
BBC: A Royal Navy aircraft carrier is to head to the Gulf next spring, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.
Senators warn Bush has no authority on Iran
AFP: Thirty US senators wrote to President George W. Bush Thursday, warning he had no authority to launch military action against Iran, and expressing concern about the administration’s “provocative” rhetoric.
Bahrain’s success at risk as Iran tension rises
Daily Telegraph: The glass skyscrapers dominating Bahrain’s horizon are a glittering emblem of the Gulf kingdom’s booming economy.
Brown considers plan to give Iran limited supply of uranium
The Guardian: Gordon Brown is considering a Saudi plan to limit the supply of uranium to potential nuclear weapons states and will call for new EU sanctions against Iran in the next few weeks, most probably in the form of an end to export credit guarantees.
Iran satisfied as UN nuclear official ends talks
AFP: Iranian officials said on Thursday they were satisfied with the results of their latest talks with a UN atomic agency deputy director general over Iran’s contested nuclear programme.
Gates: Iran assured Iraq on weapons
AP: Iran apparently has assured the Iraqi government that it will stop the flow into Iraq of bomb-making materials and other weaponry that U.S. officials say has inflamed insurgent violence and caused many American troop casualties, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday.
EU should impose fresh sanctions on Iran: British politicians
AFP: A cross-party group of British politicians on Thursday called for the European Union to follow the United States’ lead and impose sanctions targeting Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Rafsanjani warns Iran of ‘unprecedented’ US threats
AFP: Influential former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Thursday warned Iran to be alert in the face of “unprecedented” actions by its arch-foe the United States.
US military sees drop in Iranian-made bombs in Iraq
AFP: The US military has seen a drop in the use of Iranian-made armor piercing explosives in Iraq but is unsure whether Iran has slowed the flow of weapons to Shia groups, a top US commander said Thursday.
