Iran Focus

Reuters: Leaders of the Group of Eight major economies raised the pressure on Iran on Saturday, signaling their readiness to tap into emergency oil stockpiles quickly this summer if tougher new sanctions on Tehran threaten to strain supplies.

Bloomberg: Iran has discovered its first oilfield in the Caspian Sea for more than a century, the state-run Fars news agency reported today.

CNN: Iran's finance minister believes oil prices could rise as high as $160 a barrel thanks to sanctions over its nuclear program, a prediction that comes just as the chief of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency headed to Tehran on Sunday for high-level talks.

New York Times: The international community has not had much success trying to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions. For years, it was split on how much pressure to apply, and Tehran deftly exploited that division.

UPI: A visit by the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog to Tehran is a chance to reset negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, an official said Saturday.

Chicago Tribune: The United States is ready to respond to an escalation in tensions with Iran but will continue working with its allies on an approach that includes military preparedness and economic sanctions, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told the Tribune on Friday.

Associated Press: President Barack Obama and leaders of other major industrial powers grappled Friday with options to solidify world resolve against development of an Iranian nuclear bomb and encourage a more forceful response to worsening violence in Syria.

AFP: The Republican-led House of Representatives approved Friday the use of US force against Iran if the Tehran regime threatens the United States and its allies with nuclear weapons.

AP: Opposition to Iran obtaining nuclear weapons is widespread around the world, including in neighboring countries Egypt, Jordan and Turkey, and support for tough economic sanctions is high, according to poll released Friday.

Reuters: Late last year, Iran issued a series of not-so veiled threats to the West, suggesting it could use its "oil weapon" to show displeasure over toughening sanctions by halting exports or disrupting the Strait of Hormuz.

Bloomberg: E.A. Gibson Shipbrokers Ltd. comments today in an e-mailed report on how the market for very large crude carriers hauling 2 million-barrel cargoes of oil will react to sanctions against Iran.

AFP: The head of the UN atomic agency will visit Iran Monday, the IAEA said in a surprise announcement that raised hopes of a deal on closer cooperation just days ahead of major talks with world powers.

Los Angeles Times: The United States and five other countries have agreed to offer a joint proposal to Iran at a high-level meeting next week in an effort to open a path for negotiations to curtail Tehran's disputed nuclear program and to ease the threat of war.

AP: Iran has summoned Bahrain's top diplomat in the country to relay its concerns over the unrest in the tiny island nation.

Bloomberg: The word “breakthrough” has been uttered hopefully in anticipation of the meeting May 23 in Baghdad of officials from six world powers and Iran to resolve the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program.

AFP: US lawmakers on Thursday adopted a sharply worded resolution warning about the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran and urging President Barack Obama to increase diplomatic and political pressure against Tehran.

AFP: Iran rejects Western pressures over its nuclear activities and will never give up its rights, Tehran's chief nuclear negotiator said Thursday ahead of crunch talks with world powers in Baghdad next week.

Press Association: Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claims he has been blocked by the UK authorities from attending the Olympic Games in London.

AP: Iran says it will sue Google over dropping the name of the Persian Gulf on Google Maps.

Reuters: U.S. plans for a possible military strike on Iran are ready and the option is "fully available", the U.S. ambassador to Israel said, days before Tehran resumes talks with world powers which suspect it of seeking to develop nuclear arms.

New York Times: An American advocacy group that has successfully pushed for strict sanctions against Iran joined with a prominent European research organization to press for further economic penalties against Iran over its disputed uranium enrichment program.

AP: Iran's top negotiator says his country is seeking "cooperation" from world powers in next week's nuclear talks in Baghdad and has warned against pressure by the West.

AFP: A Japanese bank has halted transactions by the Iranian government after a US court ordered a $2.6 billion asset freeze over the 1983 bombing of US barracks in Beirut, a bank spokesman said on Thursday.

Wall Street Journal: The regime is hurting. Fully cutting off its access to international business, especially banking and shipping, could be the solution to its bomb program.