The Telegraph: When Canadian officials revealed that an al-Qaeda terror cell caught planning to blow up a passenger train was acting on the orders of comrades based in Iran, the allegation was enough to give the Iranian foreign minister a fit of the giggles.
Iran and al-Qaeda: a ‘joke’ with a nasty punchline
Iranian scientist returns after release from US
AP: An Iranian scientist held by the U.S. since late 2011 has returned to Iran. The scientist, Mojtaba Atarodi said U.S. authorities had treated him “generally well.”
Will Iran’s national internet mean no world wide web?
BBC: Eight years ago, when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad first took office, the Iranian government announced plans to develop a national internet network.
EIA: Sanctions cut Iran’s 2012 oil exports to lowest level since 1986
Wall Street Journal: Global sanctions cut Iran’s crude oil exports by 39% in 2012, to 1.5 million barrels a day, the lowest level since 1986, during the Iran-Iraq war, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Friday.
Family of jailed Marine in Iran seeks Kerry’s help
AP: The family of an ex-Marine detained in Iran wants Secretary of State John Kerry to step in and demand his release.
UN calls for restraint in Iraq as over 200 killed
AFP: The United Nations warned on Friday that Iraq is at a “crossroads” and appealed for restraint, as four days of violence, including several attacks on mosques, killed more than 200 people.
Canada train plot suspect traveled to Iran: U.S. officials
Reuters: Investigators believe one of two suspects charged in Canada with plotting to blow up a railroad track carrying passenger trains traveled to Iran within the past two years, U.S. law enforcement and national security officials said on Thursday.
Bulgaria re-enacts bus bombing
AP: Bulgarian investigators on Friday staged a re-enactment of the bus bombing that killed five Israeli tourists, the bus driver and the alleged perpetrator at the Burgas airport in July.
Iranian pair deny Thai bomb plot
AFP: An Iranian man whose legs were blown off during an alleged botched bomb plot last year against Israeli diplomats in Bangkok said Friday he found the explosives and was trying to dispose of them safely when they detonated.
Japan buying less Iranian oil year-on-year
UPI: Japanese crude oil imports from Iran were down more than 150,000 barrels per day in March compared to a year ago, Finance Ministry data show.
