AFP: A big Iranian trade mission will arrive in India on Sunday to explore commercial opportunities on the same day as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton starts her official visit, officials said.
Iranian traders to visit India as Clinton arrives
Conservative factions dominate Iran’s run-off elections
Reuters: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, now out of favour with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, suffered more setbacks in a run-off parliamentary election seen as a pointer for next year’s presidential race, results showed on Saturday.
Ahmadinejad rivals rout president in Iran runoff
AP: Supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have been reduced to a small fraction in Iran’s legislature, hugely outnumbered by the conservatives who once backed him but then turned against him after he was perceived to challenge the authority of top clerics, according to final results from a runoff parliamentary election announced Saturday.
Iran urges West to help end nuclear dispute
AFP: The West must take concrete confidence-building steps in its nuclear negotiations with Iran, a senior Islamic republic official preparing the next round of talks said Friday, after returning from discussions with China and Russia.
U.N. rights experts decry “mounting repression” in Iran
Reuters: Iran is cracking down on activists and their lawyers, meting out harsh sentences in an effort to quash pro-democracy activities, United Nations human rights experts said on Friday.
Iran may lose 9.5% of oil contracts as Asian buyers cut imports
Bloomberg: Iran is poised to lose at least 192,000 barrels a day of crude-supply contracts, or about 9.5 percent of its global exports, as Asian buyers curb purchases amid western sanctions targeting the nation’s oil trade.
Iran begins runoff parliamentary elections
AP: Iranian voters headed to the polls on Friday for a second round of parliamentary elections that are likely to see conservative opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad consolidate their hold on the legislature.
China’s Zhuhai Zhenrong books May fuel-oil shipment from Iran
Bloomberg: Zhuhai Zhenrong Co., the Chinese company censured by the U.S. in January for trading with Iran, provisionally hired an oil tanker to carry fuel oil from the Persian Gulf nation, shipping data showed.
World powers will stop nuclear Iran: German FM
AFP: German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle vowed Thursday that the international community will block Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, as he underscored Germany’s steadfast support for Israel.
‘This is Not a Film’ really a sly commentary on Iran
Boston Globe: The title of “This Is Not a Film” is itself a bitter joke on the illogic of totalitarian thinking. The acclaimed Iranian director Jafar Panahi is not allowed to make a film. Therefore, this is not a film.
