AFP: Celebrated Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi, who was freed on bail in May after three months in jail, is to attend the world premiere of his latest work “The Accordion”, the Venice Film festival said Friday.
Iranian film-maker Panahi to present film in Venice
Slogans mark Iran’s Constitutional Movement
Iran Focus: Tehran, Aug. 06 – From the Grapevine… Simultaneous with the anniversary of Iran’s Constitutional Movement of 1906, pro-democracy activists in Tehran’s Charsad Dastgah and Jalalieh districts wrote a series of slogans on public walls.
Protest in Tehran cinema
Iran Focus: Tehran, Aug. 06 – From the Grapevine… As the lights came on at the end of a movie in Tehran’s Esteghlal cinema on Wednesday evening, those in the theatre saw extensive graffiti on seats, walls and corridors, eyewitnesses claim.
S.Korea mulls sanctions on Iran; crude, trade at stake
Reuters: South Korea is weighing the impact of a move against Iranian entities as part of U.S.-led pressure to force Tehran to drop its nuclear ambitions, and whether shutting the door on them will endanger a major source of oil.
Obama’s briefing on Iran: It’s about pressure, not diplomacy
Washington Post: The White House called in a small group of journalists this week to listen to President Obama and his top advisers give a briefing on the state of the sanctions regime against Iran.
Iranian lawyer, seeking asylum, surfaces in Turkey
Wall Street Journal: A prominent Iranian human-rights lawyer, Mohamad Mostafaei, has fled to Turkey and applied for asylum after Iranian authorities issued a warrant last week for his arrest and detained his wife and brother-in-law.
Iran brings forward plan for manned space flight
Reuters: Iran plans to launch a manned spacecraft in seven years’ time, two years earlier than its previous target, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday.
Saddam Hussein deputy Tariq Aziz calls for US forces to stay in Iraq
The Guardian: Saddam Hussein’s most loyal deputy, Tariq Aziz, has accused Barack Obama of ‘leaving Iraq to the wolves’ by pressing ahead with a withdrawal of combat troops in the face of festering instability and a surge in violence.
US Senate OKs James Jeffrey as Iraq ambassador
AFP: The US Senate has unanimously confirmed career diplomat James Jeffrey to be ambassador to Iraq, replacing Christopher Hill, as the president has vowed to end combat operations there.
Iran pays 25 pct more for gasoline
Reuters: Sanctions on Iran’s fuel imports are forcing the Islamic Republic to pay well above the market rate for its gasoline, figures from the Turkish government seen by Reuters showed on Thursday.
