10 alleged Iranian spies arrested in Saudi

albawaba - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Saudi security forces (AFP) Saudi Arabia's interior minister Major General Mansour Al Turki released a statement of Tuesday announcing that 10 members of an alleged Iranian spy ring had ...

Iranian officials bar prominent candidates from election

General Sources - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

In this picture taken on Saturday, May 11, 2013, former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani waves to media as he registers his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election. (Ebrahim Noroozi/The Associated ...

Iran and Hezbollah’s Support for Syria Complicates U.S. Strategy on Peace Talks

New York Times - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

MUSCAT, Oman -- As evidence grows of increased Iranian support for the Syrian government, the Obama administration's strategy to bring the bitter fighting there to a close faces more challenges than ...

Iranian soldiers fighting for Syria State contends

Tribune Review - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Iran has sent soldiers to Syria to fight alongside forces loyal to President Bashar Assad and those of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militia, a senior State Department official said on ...

RPT-India leads Asian cuts in Iran oil imports ahead of waiver review

Reuters - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Tue May 21, 2013 9:55pm EDT (Repeats earlier story with no change in text) * India cuts Iranian crude imports 17 pct Dec-April vs previous 6 months * China may reduce Iranian imports 5-10 percent in 2013 * U.S. due to review Asia's waiver extensions on Iran sanctions 3rd time By Nidhi Verma and Meeyoung Cho NEW DELHI/SEOUL, May 21 (Reuters) - India has slashed Iranian oil imports by almost a ...

Iran bars Rafsanjani Mashaei from election

The Daily Star - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

This combination of eight pictures shows eight candidates approved Tuesday, May 21, 2013 for Iran's June 14 presidential election to replace Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who cannot run again because of term limits, clockwise from left: Mohammad Gharazi, Mohsen Rezaei, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, Saeed Jalili, Ali Akbar Velayati, and Hasan Rowhani, taken between May 9 and May ...

Iran blocks ex-President Rafsanjani from election race report

Global Post - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (C) arrives to register his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election at the interior ministry in Tehran on May 11, 2013. Reports say Rafsanjani has been blocked from running in the next election. (Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty ...

Rafsanjani a Founder of Irans Revolution Is Rejected as Candidate

International Herald Tribune - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

TEHRAN ...

Key omissions on final Iranian candidate list put riot police on guard in Tehran

Tribune Review - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

TEHRAN -- The final list of candidates approved to run in Iran's June 14 presidential election was announced on Tuesday, generating surprise and tension with the omission of a former president considered one of the founding members of the Islamic ...

New Evidence of Iran Support to Assad

ABC News - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

May 21, 2013 7:43pm The United States has new evidence that Iran and Hezbollah have direct involvement with the Syrian regime, a senior State Department official told reporters traveling with Secretary of State John Kerry in Oman. The official said that, according to the Free Syrian Army, Hezbollah and Iranian fighters have been helping the Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad in Qusayr, ...

Carney says U.S. condemns Hezbollah support of Assad regime

Middle East Times - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Hezbollah 's efforts to help the Assad regime win the civil war in Syria is a concern to the United States and its allies, a White House spokesman said Tuesday. Press ...

Saudis Arrest Ten More Members Of Iranian ‘Spy Ring’

IB Times - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Saudi Arabian officials have arrested 10 more members of an alleged Iranian-linked spy ring, according to the interior ministry, following the detention of 18 other such "spies" in ...

Two Portraits Of Post-Revolutionary Life In Iran

Your Olive Branch News - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Credit: rlygur Hnefill/ flickr ByMaryam Elika Ansari In recent years, there has been a surge in Iranian women's diaspora writing about life in post-revolutionary Iran. I will draw your attention to two such accounts, which portray two very different activities with distinct results, both taking place in Tehran. One entails a private book club with predominantly female students who get ...

Iran bars candidates for presidential election

Reuters - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian authorities on Tuesday barred former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a relative moderate, from running in the June 14 election, along with a protg of the current president, leaving mainly hardliners left to contest the ...

Iran Bars Two Contenders From Presidential Race

The World - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Two well-known candidates who had submitted their registration papers for Iran’s June presidential election won’t be on the ballot. That includes former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s former Chief of Staff, Rahim Mashai. Iranian journalist Shirin Jafaari says the decision might mean that some Iranians stay away from the ...

Disqualification Of Rafsanjani Paves Way For Khamenei To Install Loyalist

RadioFreeEurope - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

The decision by Iran’s powerful Guardians Council to bar former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani from running in next month's presidential election paves the way for the country’s establishment to bring a loyalist to power. It also deals another blow to the credibility of the June 14 poll, analysts say. With his potential appeal to both reformists and conservatives, ...

Former President Rafsanjani Ahmadinejad ally barred from Iran election

Times of India - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani , a relative moderate, from running in the June 14 election, along with a protege of the current president, leaving mainly hardliners left to contest the vote. Rafsanjani and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, a close aide to current ...

Iran bans Hashemi Rafsanjani from running in presidential election

The Telegraph - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Two key challengers in the race to succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president of Iran have been banned from taking part in next month's elections, it emerged on Tuesday ...

Iran Bars Mashaei and Rafsanjani as Candidates

International Herald Tribune - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

TEHRAN ...

Reformist blocked from running for Iranian presidency

The Independent - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

The country's former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was expected to win votes from the centre ground and among Iran's moderates, was blocked along 678 other candidates who had initially put their names forward. Among the others to be told that they cannot stand is Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei - an ally of the current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is barred from taking part in ...

Irans presidential election clearing the path

The Guardian - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Iran 's presidential election in 2009 still hangs heavily over the country. Even though the leaders of the Green movement are today under house arrest, and its membership divided over whether to boycott the presidential elections next month, much of what is happening is a result of the lessons the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, learned then. In preparation for the announcement of ...

Iran candidate list for presidential race

San Diego Union-Tribune - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

COMBO - This combination of eight pictures shows eight candidates approved Tuesday, May 21, 2013 for Iran's June 14 presidential election to replace Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who cannot run again because of term limits, clockwise from left: Mohammad Gharazi, Mohsen Rezaei, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, Saeed Jalili, Ali Akbar Velayati, and Hasan Rowhani, taken between May 9 ...