New York Times: Iran’s state television broadcast a live program in which passers-by were placed in a chair and asked what they would do if they were president. Suddenly, a young woman grabbed the microphone and said. “Those who really sit on this chair are only there to fill their own pockets.”
Prospect of Iran’s election stirs little hope this time around
Senators seek to block Iran from billion-dollar reserves
Reuters: Legislation introduced by a bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Wednesday would block Iran’s access to billions of dollars worth of foreign currency reserves in the latest congressional effort to slow development of the Islamic Republic’s disputed nuclear program.
Iran cracks down ahead of election
Wall Street Journal: The Iranian government has launched a pre-emptive crackdown ahead of presidential elections next month, Iranians say, including disrupting the Internet, creating a cyber-surveillance unit for social media, arresting a prominent editor and canceling university classes.
Senate group pushes new round of Iran sanctions
AP: A bipartisan group of senators are pushing for a new round of penalties on Iran, determined to cripple the regime’s economy and thwart any nuclear ambitions.
Iran hostages see renewed focus on their 17-year bid for compensation
New York Times: When the hostages came home from Iran 32 years ago, after 444 days in captivity, they were heroes, and their release was unalloyed good news, a national triumph, observed with ticker-tape parades, speeches, awards and miles of yellow ribbons.
A President as aloof abroad as at home
Wall Street Journal: If he thought about Iran strategically, he would have backed Iran’s Green Revolution after the stolen 2009 parliamentary elections. He would also not have sabotaged chances for a U.S. military presence in Iraq by insisting on parliamentary approval of a status-of-forces agreement.
Syria’s sectarian civil war endangering Shi’ite shrines
Reuters: Iran has condemned what it called a Syrian rebel attack on a shrine where remains of a 7th-century figure revered by Shi’ite Muslims were dug up and taken away, highlighting how Syria’s civil war is inflaming sectarian anger.
Sudan grants Iranian firm gold exploration licence-media
Reuters: Sudan has granted an Iranian firm a licence to explore for gold in the African country, state-linked media said, a sign of strengthening business ties between Khartoum and Tehran.
Sanctions help to stoke Iran property boom but bubble feared
Reuters: The Iranian property developer leant back in his chair, drew hard on a shisha pipe and looked down at photographs of a Tehran apartment block on his tablet computer.
Report finds Iran among worst violators of religious freedom
Fox News: Religious freedom is in short supply in the Middle East, according to the bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which has issued a report finding Iran chief among the nations where spiritual beliefs can bring prison sentences or worse.
