Top Stories
AP: "President Barack Obama will sign legislation
Thursday imposing tough new sanctions against Iran as further punishment for
the country's unwillingness to give up its ambitions of becoming a nuclear
power." http://bit.ly/cNuJWn
WSJ: "Iran has sent Syria a sophisticated radar system
that could threaten Israel's ability to launch a surprise attack against Iran's
nuclear facilities, say Israeli and U.S. officials, extending an alliance aimed
at undermining Israel's military dominance in the region." http://bit.ly/cHwcCp
Daily Telegraph: "Officials have accepted for the first
time that the country is being used as a transit point for smuggling both money
and illegal goods. The admission comes
as part of a drive to crack down on underground trade ties with Iran." http://bit.ly/bnQROk
Nuclear Program
WSJ: "A new American law aimed at ratcheting up financial
pressure on Iran could hit a handful of Japanese energy and financial firms. Reports issued by U.S. researchers attempting
to document activity by multinational companies in Iran have named oil-and-gas
producer Inpex Corp. and units of Japan's three largest banks-Mitsubishi UFJ
Financial Group Inc., Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial
Group Inc.-as doing business that could possibly run afoul of the new U.S.
rules." http://bit.ly/dpfyDv
LAT: "The director general of the International Atomic
Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, flatly stated in a recent interview with the Los
Angeles Times that a once much-touted deal between Iran and the international
community on Tehran's nuclear program wasn't going to happen without big
changes." http://bit.ly/9ZcuEL
LAT: "Manouchehr Mottaki, the foreign minister of Iran,
says the U.S., England and France all deserved to be eliminated before the
World Cup quarterfinals because the three countries supported a new round of
sanctions against his nation over its nuclear program. We thought they deserved to eliminated
because the other teams were simply better. Hmmm. Well, glad to have that
cleared up." http://bit.ly/cNlRjk
AFP: "Syrian President Bashar al-Assad voiced support
Wednesday for the efforts of Brazil and Turkey to broker a diplomatic solution
to the international tensions over Iran's nuclear program. Under a May accord,
Iran agreed to send some of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in return for
higher grade nuclear fuel from Russia and France for a medical research
reactor." http://bit.ly/cIFjNS
Commerce
Dow Jones: "Inpex Corp.'s (1605.TO) top official said
Thursday that the Japanese energy producer will await developments stemming
from a new U.S. sanctions bill that targets companies dealing with Iran that
President Barack Obama is expected to sign later in the day. Meanwhile, Inpex has no plans to sell its
stake in the Azadegan oil field in southwestern Iran, Inpex President Toshiaki
Kitamura told Dow Jones Newswires." http://bit.ly/aLUynz
Human Rights
AP: "The mothers of three Americans held in Iran marked
11 months of their captivity Wednesday with a letter to the country's supreme
leader pleading for their release. The
letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was signed by the mothers of Shane Bauer,
Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal. Iranian officials have accused the three of
espionage after they were taken into captivity along the Iran-Iraq border last
July during what their families say was a hiking trip." http://bit.ly/bHtvY0
AP: "An Iranian military court has convicted and
sentenced to death two suspects charged with torturing and killing three
anti-government protesters in prison, the country's judiciary said Wednesday. The announced verdicts were the first in a
case that significantly embarrassed Iranian authorities and drew some of the
fiercest criticism against the government over its treatment of protesters in
the turmoil following last June's disputed presidential election." http://bit.ly/9li2cj
Radio Farda: "Some 50 houses owned by members of Iran's
Baha'i religious minority have been demolished in a village northeast of
Tehran, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports. The
incident took place on June 26 in Ivel, not far from the city of Sari in
Mazandaran Province." http://bit.ly/c1vEQ3
Opinion
Dr. Michael Swaine for the Carnegie Endowment: "In
dealing with the Islamic Republic of Iran, as with the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea, China confronts yet another exquisite dilemma, albeit of a
somewhat different type. Unlike Pyongyang, Tehran is not a long-time ally and
critical security buffer along the Chinese border. It is, however, a major
political and economic player in a region of increasing importance to Beijing,
a significant source of vital oil supplies, and a close friend among developing
nations." http://bit.ly/bBlanb
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