Bloomberg: Iran’s budget deficit may widen the most since at least 2007, according to the International Monetary Fund, as sanctions by the U.S. and its allies curb the nation’s oil exports.

AP: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the cyberthreat from Iran has grown, and he declared that the Pentagon is prepared to take action if American is threatened by a computer-based assault.

Reuters: Iran’s vital seaborne trade is buckling under the weight of Western sanctions, deepening hardship for a population deprived of basic imports and heaping intense pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program.

Reuters: Two European insurers have withdrawn cover for tankers involved in the Iranian oil trade, the first such move since tough new sanctions were imposed in July, documents obtained by Reuters show.

AP: Vice President Joe Biden says his administration has the toughest sanctions in history on Iran, even as his Republican rival says the White House has no credibility on the issue.

AFP: The head of Lebanon’s Hezbollah boasted Thursday that his Shiite militant group sent a sophisticated unmanned drone over Israel last week, saying the device was built by the Jewish state’s archfoe Iran.

AFP: An ill-advised Israeli attack on Iran would be less likely if Mitt Romney became the next president because he would shore up strained US relations with Israel, an advisor said Thursday.

Wall Street Journal: With his nuclear brinksmanship and inflammatory public rhetoric, Iran’s firebrand president is accustomed to hogging the international spotlight. But recent days have seen him making news for a different reason entirely.