Iran Focus

AP: Iran's foreign ministry has dismissed the new U.S. sanctions on Tehran, saying they are part of a "psychological war" meant to sow discontent among Iranians.

Reuters: Iran's parliament said on Tuesday it was ready to impose a ban on oil exports to some European states, the country's English-language Press TV reported.

BBC: Reports from Iran say several people have been detained for alleged links to the BBC's Persian Service, which is banned in the country.

Bloomberg: Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi has ordered five European companies, including Royal Dutch Shell Plc, to be put on a blacklist for failing to meet their commitments in the nation’s refinery projects, Mehr reported.

AP: Targeting Iran's economy, the U.S. ordered tough new penalties Monday to further pinch the country's financial system and encourage Israel to give sanctions more time before any military action against Iran's nuclear program.

Reuters: Iran is believed to be expanding uranium enrichment activity deep inside a mountain, diplomatic sources said on Monday, a move likely to add to tension with Western powers that suspect Tehran is seeking nuclear weapons capability.

AFP: President Barack Obama on Monday ordered new sanctions into force on Iran, including its central bank, seeking to tighten a choke hold on Tehran's economy as a nuclear showdown deepens.

UPI: An Iranian military official said his forces wrapped up a war games exercise in southern Iran meant to deter a hypothetical ground invasion.

Reuters: President Barack Obama tightened sanctions on Iran another notch, the White House said on Monday, targeting its central bank and giving U.S. banks new powers to freeze assets linked to the government.

Bloomberg: A U.S. proposal to sanction Iran’s state-owned oil company and its main tanker fleet may ensnare any person or business in the world involved in purchasing or shipping Iranian oil.

AFP: President Barack Obama on Sunday sought to reassure Americans over the threat posed by Iran, saying the United States was working "in lockstep" with Israel to bring Tehran to heel over its suspect nuclear program.

AP: A German reporter says he was beaten by guards during his nearly five months of imprisonment in Iran and that he heard constant, "horrible cries" of other inmates being tortured.

AP: Arab and Turkish officials slammed talk of a military strike against Iran, saying Sunday it would be a disaster for the region and calling for renewed negotiations, while also urging the international community to keep pressure on Syria to end the bloodshed there.

Reuters: Iran will attack any country whose territory is used by "enemies" of the Islamic state to launch a military strike against its soil, the deputy head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards told the semi-official Fars news agency on Sunday.

AFP: The Iraqi central bank has enacted measures to identify those who buy dollars, as some are believed to be front men at a time when Iran and Syria are facing foreign currency shortages due to sanctions.

AFP: Iranian naval ships docked on Saturday in the Saudi port city of Jeddah on a mission to project the Islamic republic's "power on the open seas," the Fars news agency reported.

AFP: Iran has asked OPEC members not to raise oil production to compensate for a European Union embargo against the Islamic republic, Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said on Saturday.

AFP: Iran has begun mass production of an anti-ship cruise missile, state television's website said on Saturday.

AP: Iran says its powerful Revolutionary Guard is starting naval exercises near the Strait of Hormuz, the critical Gulf oil tanker route that Tehran has threatened to close in retaliation for tougher Western sanctions.

Miami Herald: Latin America rarely comes up as a major issue in U.S. presidential races, but this time it will: there are growing signs that Iran’s rising presence in the region will become a contentious election topic.

NYT: American and European officials said Friday that a mission by international nuclear inspectors to Tehran this week had failed to address their key concerns, indicating that Iran’s leaders believe they can resist pressure to open up the nation’s nuclear program.

Reuters: The organization that provides the world's banks with a system for moving money said on Friday it is working with officials in the United States and European Union to address concerns about the services it provides to blacklisted Iranian banks.

AFP: Iran banned its citizens on Friday from travelling to Syria by road following the abduction of nearly 30 Iranians in the escalating uprising in its key Middle East ally, state media reported.

UPI: Increasing pressure on Iran's energy sector is a way to coerce the regime in Tehran to abandon its nuclear ambitions, a U.S. Senate banking committee said.