AFP: China and India on Wednesday were again exempted from US sanctions aimed at choking off Iran’s oil exports after significantly cutting back on purchases of crude from the Islamic republic.
US renews exemptions to Iran oil sanctions
A spiritual center of power is a required stop on Iran’s campaign trail
New York Times: Qum, home to some of Iran’s most influential clerics, is not just Iran’s holiest city, but one of its most powerful, a Shiite Vatican in the desert that can make or break any Iranian political career.
Iran presidential candidates debate freedoms
AP: The eight candidates running in Iran’s June 14 election for president took radically different stands on personal freedoms, women’s rights and censorship in the country’s second round of televised debates Wednesday.
Iran funeral turns into political protest
AP: Video clips from Iran show mourners chanting opposition slogans at the funeral of a dissident cleric in the largest political protest in years. The cries of “death to the dictator” do not appear directly related to next week’s presidential election.
Russia, China join West in pressing Iran at U.N. nuclear meeting
Reuters: China and Russia joined four Western powers in pressing Iran on Wednesday to cooperate with a stalled investigation by the U.N. nuclear agency into suspected atomic research by the Islamic state.
Iran accuses Britain of operating spy ring to undermine elections
The Independent: The Iranian government claims it has captured a “spy ring” working for Israel and Britain which had planned to carry out “sabotage and assassinations” to undermine the impending national elections in the country.
Sanctions push Iran’s oil exports to lowest in decades
Reuters: Western sanctions drove Iran’s crude exports to the lowest in decades in May, according to industry sources and tanker-tracking data, even before Washington toughens measures aimed at squeezing oil sales further.
How the U.S. hung a potential Iranian ally out to dry
Baltimore Sun: The plight of the organized resistance to the regime in Iran, particularly the violent persecution of the group known as the Mujahedeen e-Khalq (MEK/PMOI), has been one of the great, untold stories in international politics. It is a story of deadly betrayal, broken promises and political expediency. And that’s just on the U.S. side.
Iran’s reactor said damaged by quakes
AP: Several countries monitoring Iran’s nuclear program have picked up information that the country’s only power-producing nuclear reactor was damaged by one or more of several recent earthquakes, with long cracks appearing in at least one section of the structure, two diplomats said Tuesday.
Iran Guards wield electoral power behind scenes
Reuters: With 10 days until Iran’s presidential election, voters have been able watch the candidates in debate, but many remain unenthused, believing the result will depend not on those on the platform but on powerful men in the background.
