Reuters: A group of five or six Slovak hang-glider enthusiasts has been detained in Iran on suspicion of espionage, the Slovak news website www.sme.sk said on Friday.
Iran detains Slovak hang-glider group: Slovak media
Ore. jury convicts doctor of breaking Iran embargo
AP: An Oregon jury has convicted a Texas urologist and his attorney wife of defrauding the government in a scheme prosecutors allege also violated a U.S. trade embargo with Iran.
Iraq Shiites fighting in Syria: Zebari
AFP: Iraqi Shiite Muslims are fighting in Syria alongside troops of President Bashar al-Assad, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said on Friday, while insisting this was not the policy of the Shiite-led Baghdad government.
Iranian official signals no scaling back in nuclear activity
Reuters: Iran will press ahead with its uranium enrichment programme, its nuclear energy chief said on Friday, signalling no change of course despite the victory of a relative moderate in the June 14 presidential election.
Syria won’t be Iran’s quagmire
Washington Post: Over the past two years, Syria’s descent into civil war has provoked alarm and horror in Washington. While officials have argued over the extent to which the United States can and should intervene, everyone agrees that the conflict poses a humanitarian catastrophe and a threat to U.S. interests across the Middle East.
Sony reports tech sales to Iran that may violate sanction
Bloomberg: Sony Corp. said it sold almost $13 million in video and medical equipment to dealers in Dubai that resold the gear in Iran. The recipients included groups under U.S. sanctions.
Ali Safavi: Stop appeasing Iranian mullahs
Clarion Project: Ali Safavi is the U.S. spokesperson for the National Council of the Resistance of Iran, which describes itself as “a broad-based coalition of Iranian opposition personalities and groups committed to a democratic, secular and non-nuclear republic in Iran.”
Oil imports from Iran double in Japan despite Western sanctions
Bloomberg: Japan’s crude imports from Iran more than doubled in May from a year earlier despite sanctions against the Persian Gulf country. Crude imports rose to 1.09 million kiloliters, or about 222,000 barrels a day, up from about 523,000 kiloliters in May 2012, according to data today from the Ministry of Finance.
UN envoy voices sectarian worry on leaving Iraq
AFP:he UN’s special envoy to Baghdad voiced worry over rising levels of violence and worsening sectarianism in Iraq in an interview with AFP, warning in particular of a deterioration in security.
How close is Iran to having a nuclear bomb?
The Economist: Iran is putting up with sanctions that damage its economy rather than accept a deal limiting its nuclear programme. It has developed the capacity to enrich far more uranium than it needs for generating nuclear power or for medical research. And its outgoing president has talked about wanting to wipe Israel off the map.
