UPI: Fighter planes from Iran have arrived in Iraq to provide air support in Iraq’s fight against Sunni militants who have overtaken much of the country. After Russia supplied Su-25 jets and the United States provided helicopters, drones and missiles, three Su-25s from Iran have arrived as well, said the International Institute for Strategic Studies, based in London.
Iranian fighter planes are in Iraq
Iran, world powers resume push for nuclear deal by July 20
Reuters: Iran and six world powers resumed talks on Thursday aimed at hammering out an accord later this month to end a long-running dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program, seeking to bridge still wide gaps in their negotiating positions. After informal contacts on Wednesday, chief negotiators from Iran, the United States, France, Germany, China, Russia and Britain began a full plenary session shortly after 9 a.m.
Contractor denied release in Iran documents case
AP: A former defense contractor engineer poses too much of a flight risk to release from prison while he awaits trial on charges that he tried to ship sensitive military documents to Iran, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. Magistrate Judge William Garfinkel denied a bail request by Mozaffar Khazaee, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of transporting property stolen from companies where he’d worked, including jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney.
Iran pushes back against US demands at nuke talks
AP: Iran pushed back Wednesday against U.S. demands for concessions at nuclear talks, declaring it would never “kneel” over what curbs Tehran must accept to win an end to the sanctions choking its economy. Both Iran and the six world powers it is negotiating with want an accord by July 20. But they parted last month without significant progress – and came to the table Wednesday with demands that the other side blink first.
Iran’s oil exports drop in June, stay above Western limits
Reuters: Iran’s crude oil exports dropped in June after a spike in May, yet sales were still above the level allowed by an interim deal aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear programme, according to sources who track tanker movements. Under the agreement signed in November between Iran and six world powers, which came into effect in January, Iran’s exports should average 1 million barrels per day (bpd) through to July 20.
Iran: representatives of Muslim world show solidarity with resistance
PRNewswire: On the first day of the holy month of Ramadan and two days after the annual international gathering of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, members of the United Front Against Islamic Extremism from 17 countries in the Middle East and the World gathered at the NCRI headquarters in Auvers-sur-Oise, France to affirm their support for the group’s struggle against the clerical regime in Iran.
Oil risk flares in Iran nuclear talks amid unrest in Iraq
Bloomberg: Targeting Iranian crude exports to force cuts in the nation’s nuclear program is becoming a riskier strategy for oil markets as violence erupts in neighboring Iraq and supply disruptions persist in Libya. Negotiators from the U.S., Russia, China, Germany, France and the U.K. return to talks with Iranian officials in Vienna today to discuss a deal that would lift sanctions on energy, banking, shipping and other areas of trade.
Iran says ready to provide Iraq with arms to fight ‘terrorism’
Reuters: Tehran has not received a request from Baghdad to supply it with weapons but is ready to do so if asked, Iran’s deputy foreign minister said on Tuesday during a visit to Moscow. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that Tehran had no plans to send troops to back government forces fighting the Sunni “terrorists” of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who have captured swathes of Iraq as well as Syria.
Envoy says Iraq can’t wait for US military aid
AP: Iraq is increasingly turning to other governments like Iran, Russia and Syria to help beat back a rampant insurgency because it cannot wait for additional American military aid, Baghdad’s top envoy to the U.S. said Tuesday. Such an alliance could test the Obama administration’s influence overseas and raise risks for the U.S. as some of its main global opponents consider joining forces.
Former top commander: ‘civil war in Iraq has already begun’
Washington Free Beacon: A former top U.S. commander in Iraq claims that the Obama administration and the State Department have been running an “information deception campaign” aimed at covering up crimes and violent acts committed by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The Obama administration’s efforts to protect and defend the Maliki government created the conditions allowing the terror group, ISIS, to take hold in Iraq.
