Wall Street Journal: Two U.S. senators have requested that the Pentagon’s inspector general broadly investigate a contract awarded to a Dubai company that the lawmakers believe may have violated U.S. sanctions by using Iran as a route to ship goods to Afghanistan.
Senators want probe of contractor for possible Iran sanctions violations
U.N. envoy says Iran human rights record should not be overlooked amid overtures
Reuters: Iran’s human rights record should not be overlooked amid overtures to the West by new President Hassan Rouhani, a U.N. envoy said on Wednesday as he criticized Tehran for executing 724 people in 18 months, including dozens just after Rouhani was elected in June.
Iran warns Malaysia against hanging Iranian women
AFP: “The execution of two Iranian women in Malaysia will have negative effect on our bilateral ties,” Hassan Ghashghavi, deputy foreign minister in charge of consular affairs, was quoted as saying by official news agency IRNA.
Saudi Arabia warns of shift away from U.S. over Syria, Iran
Reuters: Upset at President Barack Obama’s policies on Iran and Syria, members of Saudi Arabia’s ruling family are threatening a rift with the United States that could take the alliance between Washington and the kingdom to its lowest point in years.
Iran nuke overture: More a promise than an offer
AP: Tehran’s willingness to engage is a big step, but diplomats familiar with the meeting also say significant gaps remain between what the Iranians offered and what the six negotiating powers seek in order to reduce fears Iran wants to build nuclear weapons.
Any US-Iran nuclear deal faces hard sell in Congress
AFP: With nuclear talks between Iran and western powers gathering steam, the Obama administration will likely face an uphill battle to convince Congress to back any deal rolling back its tough sanctions regime.
Netanyahu to prod Kerry on Iran after Vatican visit scrapped
Bloomberg: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, mistrustful of warming ties between world powers and Iran, flies to Rome today to discuss Iranian nuclear talks and Middle East peace efforts with Secretary of State John Kerry.
MP visits Iranian hunger strikers
Times Series: Finchley and Golders Green MP Mike Freer visited members of Barnet’s Anglo-Iranian community as they took part in a hunger strike outside the US Embassy. The Conservative politician spent time speaking to the protestors.
Iran claims it’s reverse-engineered ‘captured’ U.S. spy drone
UPI: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps reportedly gave Russia an unmanned aerial vehicle it claims is a copy of a U.S. Navy ScanEagle allegedly reverse-engineered from a craft they claimed to have captured in December.
West needs to heed Iran’s ‘kill, kill again’ message
UPI: When Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was elected, the U.S. media labeled him a “moderate” with whom rational discussions on the issues were plausible. After the Oct. 14-15 talks — surprise, surprise, surprise — no breakthrough was achieved.
