AFP: Officials from the IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, were scheduled on Tuesday to wrap up a three-day visit to Iran seen as a chance to defuse an intensifying international showdown over Tehran’s atomic activities.
IAEA to wrap up Iran visit, US eyes more sanctions
India defies sanctions, won’t cut Iran oil imports
AP: India has joined China in saying it will not cut back on oil imports from Iran, despite stiff new U.S. and European sanctions designed to pressure Tehran over its nuclear program.
US lawmakers to take up new Iran sanctions
AFP: Frustrated by Iran’s defiance of global pressure to halt its nuclear program, key US lawmakers on Monday unveiled plans for more punishing economic and political sanctions aimed at Tehran.
Senate bill would force SEC disclosure of Iran-related business
Bloomberg: Senate Banking Committee leaders circulated draft legislation that would tighten sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program and its human-rights record.
Iranian arms smugglers using European ship firms – study
Reuters: Iranian traffickers, trying to dodge an embargo imposed by Western nations over Iran’s nuclear program, are smuggling weapons on container ships owned by firms from the countries that imposed the sanctions, a think-tank said Monday.
Iran says it has laser-guided artillery rounds
AFP: Iran has developed laser-guided artillery rounds designed to home in on stationary or moving targets at a distance of up to 20 kilometres (12 miles), Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi told state media Monday.
India mulls using rupee to pay for Iran oil imports
AFP: India said Monday it may use its own currency, the rupee, to pay for oil imports from Iran in the face of a US-led sanctions campaign aimed at forcing Tehran to abandon its nuclear programme.
Pentagon chief sees Iran bomb potential in year
AFP: Iran could develop a nuclear bomb in about a year and create the means for delivery in a further two to three years, the US defense chief said Sunday, reiterating President Barack Obama’s determination to halt the effort.
Iran to place nuclear plate in reactor within month, Times says
Bloomberg: Iran said it will install its first 20 percent nuclear fuel plates at the Tehran Research Reactor within a month, Tehran Times reported, citing Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi.
Pentagon seeks mightier bomb vs. Iran
Wall Street Journal: Pentagon war planners have concluded that their largest conventional bomb isn’t yet capable of destroying Iran’s most heavily fortified underground facilities, and are stepping up efforts to make it more powerful, according to U.S. officials briefed on the plan.
