Reuters: More than 80 artists, academics and politicians including actor Robert Redford, British singer Sting and France’s Bernard Kouchner on Monday called for the release of an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning.
Artists, politicians write letter to free Iran’s Ashtiani
Iran’s president wresting power from parliament
Washington Post: Two years ago, Iran’s parliament blocked several of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s key decisions and impeached one of his top ministers. But today, the leader routinely ignores parliament’s laws and undercuts its authority, leading some politicians and analysts to fear that Iran is slipping toward dictatorship.
Iran’s president fires foreign minister
AP: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has fired his foreign minister and named the nuclear chief to serve as the country’s acting top diplomat.
Iran summons British envoy after rights criticism
AFP: The foreign ministry summoned British envoy Simon Gass on Monday for criticising Iran’s human rights record and calling for the release of a prominent lawyer, and also to protest against what it called violence against students by British police.
Prominent Iranian journalist ‘jailed for 16 months’
AFP: Iran has sentenced a prominent reformist journalist to 16 months in jail on charges of insulting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and undermining the Islamic regime, he told AFP on Sunday.
Woman in stoning sentence ‘confesses’
Scotland on Sunday: An Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery confessed on state television to helping a man kill her husband.
British ambassador’s rights criticism angers Iran
AFP: Several conservative MPs on Sunday slammed British ambassador Simon Gass for criticising Iran’s human rights record on his embassy website and calling for the release of a prominent lawyer.
Iran sees no increase in OPEC quotas
Reuters: The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will not increase quotas at a meeting on Saturday in Quito, Iran’s oil minister said, a view that chimed with other ministers gathering in the Ecuadorian capital.
U.S. and allies plan more sanctions against Iran
New York Times: Three days after the first nuclear talks with Iran in more than a year adjourned with no progress, President Obama’s chief nuclear adviser said on Friday that the United States and its allies planned a new round of sanctions against the country in coming weeks, part of an effort to test “how high Iran’s pain threshold is” and force the country into suspending its production of nuclear fuel.
Total says terms, not sanctions, block Iran deals
Reuters: French oil major Total will not invest in Iran because the financial terms are poor, not because of increasingly tough sanctions, Chief Executive Officer Christophe de Margerie said on Friday.
