UPI: 2013 saw six world powers negotiate a comprehensive deal with Iran to halt its nuclear program. Some hailed the deal a historic achievement, others, a historic mistake.
At year’s end: Will Iran prove the world wrong?
Turkey’s Halkbank says Iran business complies with law
Reuters: Halkbank, the state-run Turkish lender whose chief executive was arrested in a wide-ranging corruption probe at the weekend, said on Monday it had not faced questioning by the police or judiciary as a corporate entity.
Iran nuclear talks suspended for Christmas
AFP: Iran’s foreign minister and the EU’s top diplomat agreed during telephone call Sunday to postpone until after Christmas talks on implementing a landmark nuclear agreement, the country’s chief negotiator said.
Big Oil sits out lobbying on Iran as Congress stands firm
Reuters: As debate rises in Washington over the first thaw in relations between Iran and the United States in decades, powerful oil companies are opting for an unusual tactic: silence.
US Senate presses Iran on Bahais
AFP: The US Senate has urged Iran to free jailed members of the Bahai faith, raising human rights concerns as President Barack Obama pursues diplomacy to curtail Tehran’s nuclear program.
Iran slams Euro MEPs for meeting dissidents
AFP: Iran has criticised European parliamentarians for meeting leading dissidents during a visit this month to the Islamic republic, media reports said on Sunday.
Members of Italian Parliament call for action on Ashraf hostages
Sacramento Bee: The majority members of the Italian Parliament have made a bipartisan call to urge the Italian government, the EU, US and UN to do everything in their power to implore the Government of Iraq to release the seven Iranian dissidents taken hostage in Iraq.
Indictment against aide taints Iraqi PM Maliki
UPI: News that the Spanish courts have indicted Faleh al-Fayad, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s top security adviser, for “offenses against international community,” is clear confirmation of Maliki’s role in these crimes against humanity.
US not ready to budge on Iran role at Syria peace talks
AFP: Washington is standing firm on its stance that Iran has no place at a long-awaited Syria peace conference in Switzerland next month, a senior US administration official said Friday.
Brahimi says he could work around Iranian absence from Syria talks
Reuters: Iran remains a sticking point in plans for a conference to end the conflict in Syria, international mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said on Friday, with the United States still refusing to agree to Iran’s presence when talks begin on Jan 22.
