Iran Focus

Reuters: Few Iranian presidential elections have been so unpredictable but the next few days will at least narrow down who will stand in the ballot on June 14, for which candidate registration starts on Tuesday and ends on Saturday.

Reuters: The United Arab Emirates criticized on Monday a visit by Iranian lawmakers to Gulf islands near the Strait of Hormuz at the center of a territorial dispute between the two countries, who are both trade partners and strategic rivals.

AFP: Kuwait's supreme court on Monday upheld life terms on two Iranians, a Kuwaiti and a stateless person on charges of forming a ring to spy for neighbouring Iran.

AP: A journalist for an Iranian news website says its editor has been arrested after reporting that there is an audiotape of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad discussing vote rigging in his disputed 2009 re-election.

Reuters: The United States and its allies are preparing for naval exercises in the Gulf energy export hub that will include minesweeping and escorting commercial ships in a region where Iran is seen as a threat both to trade and security.

AP: Iran says a moderate earthquake rattled a region near the country's main nuclear reactor, but there were no reports of damage or deaths in the surrounding area.

AP: Israeli defense officials believe Iran has stepped up shipments of weapons to Hezbollah through Syria, including accurate longer-range Iranian missiles, as President Bashar Assad's position weakens.

Wall Street Journal: An official briefed on the operation said the strike appeared to target advanced Iranian-made surface-to-surface Fateh 110 rockets that had arrived by air and that Israel suspected were to be driven to Lebanon and given to Hezbollah.

Times of India: As US and European sanctions cripple its economy, Iran on Saturday offered India a new production sharing regime for oil exploration in an attempt to keep its third largest buyer of oil engaged.

AFP: Iran is ready to help "train" the Syrian army if Damascus seeks such assistance, the commander of the Islamic republic's army ground forces, General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, was quoted as saying on Sunday.

AP: Israeli warplanes struck areas in and around the Syrian capital Sunday, setting off a series of explosions as they targeted a shipment of highly accurate, Iranian-made guided missiles believed to be on their way to Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group, officials and activists said.

UPI: Iraq's descent into another sectarian civil war, prompted by Maliki's determined efforts to marginalize the Sunni population, has become an embarrassment to the United States, which regard the Iraqi prime minister as their adopted son.

Reuters: Iran's foreign minister said he believed the detention of a former diplomat linked to the country's reformists was caused by a "misunderstanding" and defended the man's record, Iranian media reported.

Bloomberg: President Barack Obama said he doesn’t foresee circumstances that would require putting U.S. troops on the ground in Syria, where rebels are trying to topple the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

AP: Prosecutors are seeking a 25-year prison sentence for a Texas man who admits he plotted to kill Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, saying he deserves the maximum in part because he didn't care if an explosive he sought to put in a Washington restaurant killed a lot of people.

The Hill: Iranians are going to the polls next June in what will prove to be a defining moment for the future of the mullahs’ regime. High on the supreme leader’s agenda remains the Islamic Republic’s efforts to acquire nuclear weapons.

Reuters: The United States said on Friday that Iran and North Korea were trying to obtain high-tech materials linked to their nuclear programs in violation of U.N. sanctions.

Bloomberg: Supplies of sour, or high sulfur, crude oil in Europe will continue to be tight because of the loss of Iranian and Syrian exports and “strong” refining margins for fuel oil, according to JBC Energy GmbH.

Wall Street Journal: The Pentagon has redesigned its biggest "bunker buster" bomb with more advanced features intended to enable it to destroy Iran's most heavily fortified and defended nuclear site.

Asia Times: Azerbaijan in late April crossed a self-imposed "red line" in its relations with southern neighbor Iran by dispatching Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov to Israel, Tehran's arch-foe. Reasons for the timing of the move are not clear, but, so far, Tehran appears to be biding its time with a response.

The Telegraph: An investment company controlled by Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has been accused of bullying in the takeover of the country's biggest dealer in German cars.

Al-Arabiya: North Korea, Iran and Syria have been named among the top 10 worst countries for press freedom, according to an annual ranking by Freedom House.

Bloomberg: Ashland Inc. (ASH), the biggest producer of specialty papermaking chemicals, said a 50-50 joint venture with Switzerland’s Clariant AG (CLN) sold products to Iran without the approval of the U.S. government.

AP: Iran's foreign minister says authorities have detained a veteran Iranian diplomat, but describes the incident as a potential "misunderstanding." No other details were given in Thursday's report by the semi-official ISNA news agency.