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’s oil exports drop in June, stay above Western limits
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.
U.S. No. 2 diplomat expected to attend Iran nuclear talks in Vienna
Reuters: U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns is expected to attend talks between Iran and major powers in Vienna this week that aim to strike a nuclear deal by July 20, diplomats said. The presence of Burns, who led secret negotiations between Iran and the United States that helped yield a November interim nuclear agreement with Tehran, would open up the possibility of bilateral talks between the two long-time antagonists.
Iran wrestles with tough choices in Iraq
Reuters: Iran is wrestling with a complex array of historic alliances and enmities as it tries to develop a coherent response to the swift advance of hostile Sunni Muslim militants in neighbouring Iraq. Despairing of its protege Nuri al-Maliki, Tehran’s Shi’ite clerical establishment has sent mixed messages on working with the Iraqi prime minister’s other sponsor, the United States, with which it shares a goal of averting the country’s break-up.
Kerry: Time running short for Iran nuke agreement
AP: Secretary of State John Kerry says time is running out for Iran to negotiate a comprehensive agreement on its nuclear program. In a Washington Post opinion piece late Monday, Kerry says the July 20 deadline is fast approaching and that Tehran’s leaders face a choice: “They can agree to the steps necessary to assure the world that their country’s nuclear program will be exclusively peaceful … or they can squander a historic opportunity”.
BNP Paribas dollar-clearing ban said to start in 2015
Bloomberg: BNP Paribas SA won a reprieve during final talks to settle a criminal probe into U.S. sanctions violations, giving the bank six months to prepare for a ban on handling certain dollar transactions, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. It involves alleged violations of sanctions against Sudan, Iran and Cuba.
