Top Stories
AP: "From the Afghan badlands to the Mediterranean, evidence of Iran's reach is easy to spot: a mix of friend and foe for Kabul leaders, a power broker in Iraq, deep alliances with Syria and a big brother to Lebanon's Hezbollah and Hamas in Gaza. Tehran's proxy portfolio suddenly has a bit more aura after Hezbollah's political gambit - bringing down a pro-Western government in Lebanon and moving into position to pick its successor. To those keeping score, it would appear that Iran is winning some important points around the Middle East at the expense of Washington and its allies. But such gains have potential built-in costs, experts say. With Iran's extended family increasingly joining the ranks of power - first in Gaza, then Iraq and now Lebanon - there also comes pressure to moderate and make other compromises often required from those in charge." http://uani.com/gUiblm
AFP: "Iran's state-run news channel Press TV has had its British bank account frozen, a report said on Thursday. The English language channel, which is headquartered in Tehran but also has an office in London, has seen its main trading account at the National Westminster Bank suspended, Britain's Times newspaper reported. The bank will shortly close the account, the paper reported. A spokesman for the bank declined to tell the paper why it was taking the action. Lauren Booth, the sister-in-law of former British prime minister Tony Blair who works for Press TV and recently converted to Islam, blasted the move as a 'politically motivated act,' in comments to the paper." http://uani.com/hCeqsp
Reuters: "Russia said on Wednesday that NATO should investigate last year's computer virus attack on a Russian-built nuclear reactor in Iran, saying the incident could have triggered a nuclear disaster on the scale of Chernobyl. Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's ambassador to NATO, said the virus that hit the computer system at the Bushehr reactor had caused centrifuges to spin out of control. 'This virus, which is very toxic, very dangerous, could have very serious implications,' he said, describing the virus's impact as being like explosive mines." http://uani.com/g8PPPS
Nuclear Program & Sanctions
Reuters: "Brazil will not make any new attempts to mediate between world powers and Tehran over its nuclear programme for now but still regards diplomacy as the best approach to solve the row, Brazil's foreign minister said. Antonio Patriota, who took office on Jan. 1 in the new government led by Dilma Rousseff, said it was debatable whether sanctions imposed by the United Nations, the United States and the European Union, were having an impact on Tehran or would ultimately change its stance on uranium enrichment. 'I am in favour of diplomacy, of dialogue,' Patriota told Reuters in an interview late on Wednesday during a visit to Brussels to discuss foreign policy and trade. 'It is debatable whether (sanctions) are producing a desirable effect.'" http://uani.com/hjdnId
Human Rights
WashPost: "A sentence of death by stoning has propelled an illiterate Iranian woman convicted of adultery to international fame, with Hollywood stars, French intellectuals and Western governments calling for her release. But inside the Islamic Republic, many government critics, activists and artists say the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani is diverting attention from the fate of dozens of imprisoned dissidents. 'Our political prisoners are the main issue here,' said Leili Rashidi, a well-known Iranian actress who campaigned for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's challenger in 2009. 'I am sad that Mohammadi was given a death verdict, but in the present-day circumstances of my country Iran, her issue just is not a main priority for me,' Rashidi said." http://uani.com/gdaTle
AFP: "Iran on Thursday hanged 10 drug traffickers in the northwestern city of Orumieh and Karaj near the capital, state media reported. The seven men hanged in a prison in the city of Karaj were identified only by their initials and had been convicted of trafficking various amounts of heroin, opium and cannabis, state television reported. Three unidentified smugglers were also executed in prison in Orumieh, the state news agency IRNA said, without giving further details. The latest hangings bring the total number of executions so far this year to 65 -- on average more than two a day -- according to an AFP count based on media reports. Most of those executed have been drug traffickers. In 2010, Iran hanged at least 179 people, according to media reports." http://uani.com/hdW66Y
Foreign Affairs
BBC: "Some newspapers in Iran retouched a photograph of EU foreign policy chief Baroness Ashton to make her outfit less revealing, an Iranian website reports. Asriran.com showed Iranian press pictures of Lady Ashton next to Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, with her black top raised higher than in the original. They had held talks in Istanbul on Iran's controversial nuclear programme. Iranian papers often retouch images, a BBC Persian Service journalist says." http://uani.com/eVMWYb
Guardian: "The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, tried to persuade a Palestinian businessman to contribute millions of dollars to a radio station for the Iranian opposition after the country's disputed presidential elections in 2009, according to leaked documents. Abbas's move was cited by Saeb Erekat, the PLO's chief negotiator, in a meeting with the US Middle East envoy George Mitchell as evidence of the Palestinian Authority's support for US strategic goals in the region, in particular its attempts to counter the influence of Iran, which finances the armed resistance movements Hamas and Hezbollah. 'It's the moment of truth in the Middle East,' Erekat told Mitchell in October 2009. 'Ahmadinejad is in Gaza and Lebanon. Pakistan is going failed. The Arab states are doing nothing. You know AM [Abu Mazen/Mahmoud Abbas] had to convince a businessman to pay for Mussawi to have [a] radio station.'" http://uani.com/h9jIUN
Opinion & Analysis
Scott Peterson in CSM: "One issue was expected to be a centerpiece of Iran's nuclear talks with world powers in Istanbul last weekend: a fuel-swap deal billed as a critical 'confidence-building' measure. But the two days of talks ended in stalemate. Negotiators from the so-called P5+1 nations - US, Russia, China, Britain, France, and Germany - could not move beyond Iranian preconditions that the group recognize Iran's 'right' to enrich uranium and agree to drop sanctions before substantive talks could begin. So what happened to the nuclear fuel-swap deal? And how did the P5+1 revise the deal first put to Iran - and rejected by it - in October 2009? In that proposal, Iran would have exported the bulk of its homemade low-enriched uranium (LEU) for further refinement in Russia, then made into fuel rods in France, for a small research reactor in Tehran. The short answer is that the deal was barely discussed. But the 'upgraded' version of the deal, which was laid out for the Iranians at the Istanbul talks, requires that Iran export a 'greatly increased quantity,' according to Western diplomats engaged in the talks. The long answer depends on whom you ask. After the talks ended Saturday, Iran's chief negotiator Saeed Jalili made no mention of the fuel-swap proposal in lengthy comments to journalists until asked specifically about it. Speaking in the future tense, Mr. Jalili said a fuel deal 'could be one of the most important areas for cooperation,' and that during talks in Istanbul on this point 'we very openly put forward what we want.'" http://uani.com/gKFZYl
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