AFP: US National Security Advisor Tom Donilon will travel to Israel on Saturday for talks with senior Israeli officials on a range of issues, including Iran and Syria, the White House announced.
Top US aide heads to Israel for talks on Iran, Syria
Britain fears new Cold War over Iran
AFP: Iran’s nuclear ambitions could trigger “a new Cold War” more perilous than that between the West and the Soviet Union, the British Foreign Secretary warned on Friday.
Obama administration takes back seat on Iran sanctions
Los Angeles Times: Despite the Obama administration’s vows to cripple Iran with economic sanctions, it is leaders in Congress and Europe who have seized the lead in the West’s long-running campaign to punish Tehran for its suspected nuclear weapons program.
Searches delay Iran exiles’ exit from Iraq camp
AFP: Searches of Iranian opposition members have delayed their departure from a camp in Iraq for a UN-approved site near Baghdad, an Iraqi army officer and a legal adviser to the exiles said on Friday.
Global clearinghouse ready to evict Iranian banks
AP: An international banking clearinghouse crucial to Iran’s oil sales said Friday that it is preparing to discontinue services to Iranian financial institutions, an unprecedented and potentially devastating blow to Tehran as the West ramps up a campaign to stop its nuclear program.
Still shocked and surprised by Iran?
Fox News: Twenty-three years ago this week, Iran’s self-appointed supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, broadcast a religious edict declaring that author Salman Rushdie and his publishers were “hereby sentenced to death.” The fatwa also called for “all the intrepid Muslims in the world” to “execute them quickly, wherever they find them.”
US Navy fears small Iranian boats, confident of own capabilities
Reuters: Nerves were strained as an Iranian patrol boat approached the USS Abraham Lincoln at speed.
Ashton ‘cautious, optimistic’ about prospect for Iran talks
AFP: EU Foreign Policy chief Cathy Ashton said Friday she is “cautious and optimistic” about the prospect for Iran to return to nuclear talks with world powers, following a letter she received from Tehran.
Ban to Iran: Prove peaceful nuclear plans
UPI: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Iran Friday to prove to the international community its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
Bank telecommunications group moves closer to expulsion of Iran
New York Times: A potentially crippling sanction against Iran moved a step closer on Friday when a telecommunications network vital to the global banking industry said it was prepared to expel Iranian banks.
