AFP: Iran’s role in flashpoints like Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan is proving a headache for the West as it tries to normalise ties with Tehran without a trade-off on its contested nuclear drive.
Iran nuclear push, flashpoints role has West in a bind
Iran’s Khamenei says big election turnout will frustrate foes
Reuters: Iran’s supreme leader urged voters to turn out in big numbers for a presidential election on Friday, saying such a show of strength would frustrate Tehran’s enemies.
Bankrupt Iran ‘plans drastic taxes to keep afloat’
AFP: Iran is bankrupt and the regime is mulling drastic measures to keep the economy afloat, an official from an opposition movement said Wednesday, citing what he claimed were leaked documents.
Ayatollah Khamenei is Iran’s supreme investor
Bloomberg: The best way to understand Iran’s elections this week is to think of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the regime’s supreme investment manager.
Iran’s crude exports rise as China port blockages ease, IEA says
Bloomberg: Iran exported 66 percent more crude oil in May than in April, helped by an increase in purchases by China after congestion eased at the Asian nation’s ports, the International Energy Agency said.
France says Syrian army must be stopped before Aleppo
AFP: France on Wednesday urged the international community to stop the progression of Syrian troops, backed by Hezbollah fighters and Iran, towards the strategic northern town of Aleppo.
Iran: New briefing reveals crackdown on dissent ahead of election
Amnesty International: Iran’s authorities have intensified the clampdown on dissidents ahead of the country’s presidential election on 14 June, Amnesty International said in a new briefing published today.
Iran gets ‘verbal invitation’ to Syria conference: report
Reuters: An Iranian deputy foreign ministry said his country had been invited to a planned international peace conference in Geneva aimed at ending the war in Syria, Iranian state television reported on Wednesday.
Preview: Iran election offers choice, but little change
Reuters: Friday’s presidential election in Iran is unlikely to bring significant change to the Islamic republic, whose supreme leader has ensured hardline candidates dominate the field. But the sole moderate could yet upset the race.
Khamenei’s diplomatic adviser Velayati eyes Iran’s presidency
Reuters: With the ear of Iran’s supreme leader as the “real foreign minister” behind the scenes, Ali Akbar Velayati has long tended to the Islamic Republic’s prickly relations with the West and now hopes to put his diplomacy to use as president.
