AP: The head of the U.N.’s atomic agency is considering visiting Tehran, a spokeswoman said Tuesday, while stopping short of confirming Iranian reports that the trip was set and would coincide with talks on agency efforts to probe suspicions that the Islamic Republic worked on nuclear weapons.
UN nuke agency chief considering Iran visit
Iranian official: Lift social media bans
AP: Iran’s culture minister is urging authorities to unblock social media networks that are widely used by government figures but remain officially banned, the state news agency said Tuesday.
Hardliners assail U.S.-Iran thaw from both sides
Bloomberg: Preparing for Iran’s annual rally to mark the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy, Mostafa Afzalzadeh said he wouldn’t let recent overtures between the countries stop him from attending and chanting “Death to America.”
Tehran rally shakes fist at America and outreach
AP: In Tehran’s largest anti-U.S. rally in years, tens of thousands of demonstrators joined Monday in chants of “death to America” as hard-liners directed a major show of resolve against President Hassan Rouhani’s outreach to Washington.
Iran Revolutionary Guards commander killed in Syria
Reuters: A commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards has been killed in Syria after volunteering to defend a Shi’ite shrine in Damascus, the Iranian Mehr news agency said on Monday.
Iran: TV stars ‘warned not to play clerics’
BBC: Ayatollah Seyyed Hashem Hoseyni-Bushehri, who heads the Qom Seminary, criticised the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) for airing shows that “demean the clerical attire”, according to Rasa news agency.
Iran’s Rouhani not ‘optimistic’ about nuclear talks
AFP: Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani is not “optimistic” about ongoing nuclear negotiations with world powers, the official IRNA news agency reported Monday ahead of a new round of talks this week.
Nobel winner Ebadi urges EU, U.S. to ban Iran from TV satellites
Reuters: Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi on Monday called on the European Union and United States to ban Iran from using U.S. and European satellites to broadcast what she described as the Islamic Republic’s propaganda.
Iran prisoners on hunger strike
AFP: Several Iranian political prisoners have gone on hunger strike in protest at being denied proper medical care in jail, international rights groups said in a statement Monday.
Iraq’s Maliki gets U.S. arms, but no Apache gunships
UPI: Nouri al-Maliki does not appear to be getting the Apache attack helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles he’s pressed U.S. President Barack Obama for to bolster Baghdad’s struggle against al-Qaida insurgents, but he’s still expected to get other weapons.
