AFP: Tehran’s hardline prosecutors have formally charged two detained US-Iranians with spying after they made “admissions” during interrogation, the ISNA news agency reported on Wednesday.
Iran moderates cry foul over vote date
AFP: A decision to hold Iran’s parliamentary vote just a week before its main annual holiday has sparked protests from moderates who fear the timing could impede their chances, media reported on Wednesday.
Navy works to keep lines open to Iran
AP: Even as Iran and the U.S. face off bitterly, Navy commanders in the Persian Gulf are working quietly to keep communications open with Iran’s military, hoping the contact will avert an accidental stumble into armed confrontation.
Cyclone Gonu weakens to a storm on way to Iran
Reuters: Cyclone Gonu waned into a storm as it passed into a major oil shipping route toward Iran on Thursday, but killed 28 people and left a trail of destruction that halted Oman’s oil and gas exports for a third day.
Three Finns held for entering Iranian waters released
AFP: Three Finnish nationals arrested by Iran at the weekend after entering Iranian waters by mistake during a fishing trip in the Gulf have been released, Finland’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
Iran evacuates thousands as cyclone strikes
AFP: Cyclone Gonu, the worst tropical storm to hit the Gulf in decades, made landfall in Iran on Wednesday afternoon, packing winds of 200 kilometres an hour and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of people, officials said.
Iran summons Spain envoy in Israel remarks row
AFP: Iran summoned the Spanish ambassador to protest the calling in of its envoy to Madrid over the latest anti-Israeli outburst by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Mehr news agency reported on Thursday.
U.S. starts wrapping up war games off Iran’s coast
Reuters: The largest U.S. military flotilla to enter the Gulf since the 2003 Iraq war has begun winding up two weeks of war drills off Iran’s coast, the navy said on Wednesday.
Iran adding attack boats in Persian Gulf, U.S. says
Bloomberg: Iran is increasing its fleet of small attack boats capable of challenging warships and disrupting oil traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, the sea route for two-fifths of the world’s daily supply of crude oil, the U.S. Navy says.
Iran seizes 3 Finns in Persian Gulf
AP: Iran has detained three Finns for allegedly straying into its territorial waters during a fishing trip in the Persian Gulf but is releasing no information on their whereabouts, the Finnish ambassador to Tehran said Wednesday.
