Reuters: He is believed to top the list of elusive Iranian officials the U.N. nuclear watchdog wants to query. Exiled foes of the Islamic state cite him as the mastermind of clandestine efforts to design an atomic bomb. Tehran is mum about him, while denying having any nuclear arms agenda. Western officials and experts think the shadowy military figure played a pivotal role in suspected Iranian nuclear work.
Enigmatic Iranian military man at centre of U.N. nuclear investigation
Questioning Iran’s nuclear program lands professor 18-month sentence
Reuters: Iran has sentenced a prominent academic to 18 months in prison for “spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic” after he questioned the utility of its disputed nuclear program. He questioned the wisdom of vast state spending on a nuclear power programme that the West suspects is a front for developing weapons technology.
U.s. Treasury secretary reassures Israel on Iran sanctions
Wall Street Journal: U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew on his first official visit to Israel this week discussed bilateral economic trade between the allies, while heaping praise on Israel’s economy. But he also touched upon a point of contention between the two countries: nuclear negotiations with Iran and sanctions relief.
Obama sends advisers to give Iraq time to form government
Bloomberg: President Barack Obama is deploying military advisers and reconnaissance planes to help repel a Sunni insurgency in Iraq for at least several weeks and give the country’s Shiite leaders time to form a new government that can command support across sectarian lines. Maliki, an Iran-allied Shiite who took power in 2006, has resisted years of U.S. urging to make the central government more inclusive.
India bets on easing Iran oil curbs as fighting engulfs Iraq
Bloomberg: India spent the past five years cutting its Iranian oil imports to comply with international sanctions. Now, Asia’s second-largest energy user needs the curbs to ease as fighting threatens its supply from Iraq. Tougher U.S. sanctions on Iran meant India was obliged to halve purchases from the Persian Gulf nation since 2009.
Factions in Iraq work to oust Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
UPI: Iraqi political leaders are actively seeking a replacement for Prime Minister Nouri Kamal al-Malik. The political maneuvering comes as Iraqi leaders grow increasingly concerned by Sunni insurgencies in northern Iraq, and what they regard as American approval of removing Maliki in favor of a thus far unidentified candidate acceptable to Iraq’s Sunni and Kurdish minorities and its Shiite majority.
Iran digs in heels on nuclear centrifuges at Vienna talks: envoys
Reuters: Iran is refusing to significantly cut the number of centrifuges it intends to keep to produce nuclear fuel, making it hard to imagine a compromise at this week’s talks with six powers. The remarks from diplomats close to the talks came after the initial rounds of meetings in the Austrian capital between Iran and the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia plus Germany.
Obama plan leaves Iraq mostly on its own
AP: The restrained American military aid now being offered to defend Baghdad against a ferocious Sunni insurgency reaffirms the Obama administration’s mantra that Iraq is still largely on its own. Al-Maliki’s Shiite allies in neighboring Iran have signaled they are willing to fill Iraq’s security void – a move that all but certainly would enforce crackdowns on Sunnis and further push the country into civil war.
Iraq crisis: Prime Minister Maliki refuses to stand down as Isis militants advance on oil refinery
The Independent: Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has refused calls for his resignation as government forces continue to battle Sunni militants attempting to take control of the biggest oil refinery in the crisis-hit country. Mr Maliki’s spokesman, Zuhair al-Nahar, said the west should support the Shia-led government’s military operation against al-Qa’ida splinter group Isis instead of calling for a change in government.
Obama distances U.S. from Maliki as Iraq strikes debated
Bloomberg: Obama administration officials publicly urged Iraq’s leaders yesterday to make their Shiite-dominated government more inclusive as part of a broader strategy to roll back gains by the Sunni militants. The calls were made as Maliki warned that the violence could spill into neighboring countries and as militants attempted to seize a major oil refinery.
