AP: Iranian authorities have arrested a Ukrainian national suspected of sabotage at the country’s sole nuclear power plant, an Iranian newspaper reported on Sunday. The report in the Hamshahri daily said the “Ukrainian expert” was affiliated with a Russian contractor that works in Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, which went online in 2011 with Russian aid.
Iran arrests suspected nuclear plant ‘saboteur’
Chartered commercial jet carrying Americans makes unplanned landing in Iran
Washington Post: A military-chartered aircraft carrying about 100 Americans from Afghanistan to Dubai landed unexpectedly in Iran on Friday after Iranian officials questioned its flight plan and ordered it down, U.S. and regional officials said. Officials said the pilots landed of their own accord in the city of Bandar Abbas after being warned that the plane would be intercepted if they did not land.
Iran looking to recruit British Shi’ite jihadists
Gatestone Institute: The horrors perpetrated by ISIS, captured on camera and propagated through social media, distract the West from the threat posed by the Iran and its proxies. Iran’s attempts to woo British Shi’ites should not be dismissed, but monitored and fought. Iran and ISIS are two sides of the same coin.
Iran receives $1 billion under extended nuclear deal – IRNA
Reuters: Iran’s central bank has received a total of $1 billion (608 million pounds) of previously frozen oil revenue from Japan under the terms of an extended nuclear agreement with six world powers, state news agency IRNA reported on Thursday. Iran and the United States, China, France, Germany, Britain and Russia agreed in July to extend a six-month interim accord until Nov 24 .
Iran nuclear talks to continue in New York
Wall Street Journal: A new round of talks to seal a comprehensive nuclear deal between Iran and six major world powers will start Sept. 18 in New York, Western diplomats said on Wednesday. The two sides had said negotiations would resume ahead of the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York. For the past six months, the talks have taken place in Vienna.
A really bad bargain: A U.S.-Iranian “strategic relationship”
National Interest Online: We could thus lose on two fronts. The Iranians get a green light to pursue their nuclear program while at the same time enjoying U.S. approval for their rising preeminence inside Iraq and the region. We’ve made enough mistakes already. Let’s not double down and make another one by trying to work with Iran.
UN’s Iran nuclear probe stalls again
AP: A new and seemingly promising U.N probe of allegations that Iran worked on atomic arms has stalled, diplomats say, leaving investigators not much further than where they started a decade ago and dampening U.S. hopes of reaching a deal with Tehran by a November deadline. Expectations were high just two weeks ago, when chief U.N. nuclear inspector Yukiya Amano emerged from talks in Tehran.
Iran denies pulling out of Sudan cultural centers
AP: A semi-official news agency in Iran reported Wednesday that the Islamic Republic has denied pulling out of its cultural centers in Sudan after the government there ordered them closed. The report by the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Iranian deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahaian as saying Sudan’s leaders will thwart any attempt to damage relations between the two countries.
Iran oil minister vows to bypass sanctions after new U.S. curbs
Reuters: Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said Tehran would continue to bypass sanctions after the United States penalised a number of companies for violating sanctions imposed on Iran, mostly in connection with its nuclear programme. On Friday, the United States imposed a fresh round of curbs on a number of Iranian and foreign companies, banks and airlines.
Commerzbank said near $650 million settlement on Iran
Bloomberg: Commerzbank AG, Germany’s second-largest lender, will probably agree in coming weeks to a settlement of at least $650 million with U.S. regulators over allegations of sanctions violations involving Iran. The resolution of Commerzbank’s case is likely to involve a deferred-prosecution agreement, similar to other settlements involving sanctions violations reached in recent years.
