Iran Focus

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.

AP: Iran successfully launched a new small satellite into orbit early Friday, state media reported, the latest in the country's ambitious space program that has raised concerns because if its possible military applications.

Reuters: The Iranian government has been intimidating and detaining relatives and friends of foreign-based Persian-language journalists to obtain information or silence them.

AFP: US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta believes there is a "strong possibility" that Israel will strike Iran's nuclear installations this spring, the Washington Post said Thursday in an editorial.

AFP: A key US Senate panel adopted a sweeping package of tough new sanctions Thursday aimed at forcing Iran to freeze its suspect nuclear program amid escalating worries of a military confrontation.

Bloomberg: Turkey’s ties with Iran are under growing strain as the countries split on sectarian lines over Middle East conflicts, depriving the Islamic republic of an ally against western nuclear pressure.

WSJ: Iran denied United Nations inspectors access to a suspected nuclear site, scientists and documents during a visit to Tehran this week, dimming already scant hopes for a breakthrough to end a standoff over Iran's nuclear work, according to diplomats briefed on the International Atomic Energy Agency's mission.

AP: Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said Thursday he has concerns there could be a military conflict with Iran over its disputed nuclear program.

Bloomberg: The International Atomic Energy Agency has wrapped up its visit to Iran, with its chief inspector, Herman Nackaerts, saying “we had a good trip” and announcing plans for another “in the very near future.”

WSJ: Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday submitted a budget that will cut spending by 5.6%, seeking to reduce the country's reliance on oil as it faces potentially stifling new sanctions.

New York Times: Some senior Iranian leaders are now more willing to carry out attacks inside the United States in response to perceived American threats against their country, the Obama administration’s top intelligence official said on Tuesday, pointing to last fall’s suspected assassination plot against the Saudi ambassador to Washington.