Reuters: Iran’s new nuclear negotiator headed to Rome on Tuesday to meet Western diplomats who will try to gauge whether Tehran has hardened its stance on its atomic program.
Iran’s new nuclear negotiator to meet EU’s Solana
Students in Iran protest sentences for 3 activists
New York Times: Students at one of the most politically active universities in Tehran demonstrated Monday amid high security to protest jail terms for three student activists, an Iranian student news agency reported.
White House denies stoking Iran nuclear tensions
AFP: The White House insisted Monday it was still committed to diplomacy with Iran, despite ominous comments from the US president and vice president attacking the Islamic republic’s nuclear drive.
Bush presses Russia’s Putin on Iran
AP: President Bush on Monday prodded Russian President Vladimir Putin to press Iran, through the United Nations, to suspend its nuclear enrichment work in a way that can be verified by the international community.
Bush urges Putin to help keep pressure on Iran
Reuters: U.S. President George W. Bush urged Vladimir Putin on Monday to help keep the pressure on Iran after the Russian leader voiced skepticism about Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
In Iraq, conflict on a second Kurdish front
New York Times: Deadly raids into Turkey by Kurdish militants holed up in northern Iraq are the focus of urgent diplomacy, with Turkey threatening invasion of Iraq and the United States begging for restraint while expressing solidarity with Turkish anger.
Iran students protest over jail sentences
AFP: Iranian students on Monday staged a protest against the jailing of three colleagues, shouting slogans against officials and proclaiming the prisoners’ innocence, Iranian news agencies reported.
Iran defiant on atomic plans
Reuters: Iran will not abandon its right to nuclear technology despite the threat of more sanctions, it told France in a letter published on Monday, a day before talks to try to defuse its row with the West.
Iran to France: sanctions won’t stop atomic plans
Reuters: Iran will not abandon its right to nuclear technology regardless of threats of more sanctions, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said in a letter to his French counterpart issued on Monday by an Iranian news agency.
LUKOIL says US sanctions threaten Iran oil project
Reuters: Russian oil firm LUKOIL said on Monday it would soon have to stop work at the Anaran oil project in Iran because U.S. sanctions meant it could not invest more than $20 million in the huge development.
