AFP: The United States said Friday that “time is running out”
for Iran to avoid being hauled before the UN Security Council
for possible sanctions by complying with international demands to halt uranium enrichment activities and come
clean on its suspect nuclear program.
US says ‘time running out’ for Iran to comply with nuclear demands
EU considering concession to Iran ahead of nuclear meeting next week
AFP: The European Union is considering making concessions to Iran ahead of a nuclear meeting next week in order to get it to abandon uranium enrichment but the hardline United States is unhappy with such a compromise, a Western diplomat told AFP Friday.
Iran, China sign 100 billion dollar gas deal
AFP: Iran and China have signed a preliminary accord under which China would buy 10 million tonnes a year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for 25 years in a deal worth 100 billion dollars, the student news agency ISNA said Friday. ISNA quoted Deputy Oil Minister Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian as saying the deal could eventually reach 15 to 20 million tonnes a year, taking the total value to as much as 200 billion dollars.
Pope urges Iran to accept nuclear controls
Reuters: Pope John Paul on Friday told Iran it had a duty to comply with international controls on nuclear proliferation.
The 84-year-old Pope made his views known as Tehran faces an ultimatum to freeze its uranium enrichment programme — which Washington says is a front for making nuclear weapons — or face United Nations sanctions.
Iran Focus:Porous border helps Iranian smugglers
The Associated Press: Kurdish Iranians in poor border towns are taking advantage of the porous boundary with Iraq to sneak into the country for coveted items – like alcohol – to sell back home. For the past three years, Farshid Karimi has earned his living smuggling goods – and dodging border guards.
Iran will continue nuclear talks but rejects threats: Rafsanjani
AFP: Influential former president Hashemi Rafsanjani said Friday that Iran would continue talks with Europe over its nuclear activities but reject any threats aimed at depriving the country of peaceful nuclear technology. “We agree to continue negotiations within the framework of international rules but if the Europeans want to use threats, there is no more place for negotiations,” Rafsanjani said on state radio.
EU, Iran to resume nuclear talks next week
Xinhuanet: The European Union (EU) and Iran will resume nuclear talks in Paris on Nov. 5, diplomats said Thursday.
A second round of discussions between Iran and the EU trio — Britain, Germany and France — in Vienna on Wednesday failed to reach agreement but both sides described the meeting constructive.
World Bank approves loan to help reconstruction in Bam, Iran
Xinhuanet: The World Bank approved a 220-million-dollar loan Thursday to the Government of Iran for a project to help restore the living conditions of communities in the southeastern city of Bam which was struck by a powerful earthquake nearly a year ago. The four-year project, the Bam Earthquake Emergency Reconstruction Project, was prepared in response to the Government of Iran’s request to support its reconstruction efforts after the December 28, 2003 earthquake, the World Bank said in a press release.
European parliament condemns human rights abuses in Iran
AFP: The European Parliament expressed alarm Thursday at the deterioration in the area of human rights in Iran, in particular those relating to press freedom and the death penalty. “The situation in Iran with regard to the exercise of key civil rights and political freedom has deteriorated since the parliamentary elections of February this year despite commitments on the part of the government of Iran to promoting these universal values,” according to a motion passed by the parliament.
