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Reuters: "Japan is set to toughen sanctions against Iran as early as this week over its disputed nuclear programme, the Nikkei business daily said, following the United States and European Union's leads in pressuring Tehran. The unilateral measures, which go beyond sanctions imposed by the United Nations, include banning new investments in energy-related industries and imposing a limit on trade insurance, the Nikkei reported on Wednesday." http://bit.ly/bh9ipG

Reuters: "The European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Thursday she had pressed China to ensure that Chinese companies did not fill the void left by other firms leaving Iran due to U.N. sanctions. U.S. officials said in July that Chinese companies had been pursuing trade with Iran despite the threat of U.S. sanctions and a June United Nations Security Council resolution imposing more punitive measures on Tehran over its nuclear programme." http://bit.ly/cbY9bu

Reuters: "Turkey's gasoline exports to Iran dropped by a hefty 74 percent in July after U.S.-led sanctions against the Islamic Republic came into force, figures obtained by Reuters from Turkey's statistics office showed on Wednesday. Turkey sold 35,444 tonnes of the fuel to Iran in July, equivalent to roughly one standard cargo tanker or 301,272 barrels, which is down from exports of 138,673 tonnes in June." http://bit.ly/9I3gC6
 

Nuclear Program
 
Radio Farda: "Mojtaba Zolnour, deputy representative of Iran's supreme leader in the Revolutionary Guard, has said that 'Zionists' are waiting for the Hidden Imam to appear to kill him. Hojatoleslam Zolnour made the comments earlier this week at Qom University." http://bit.ly/9u7Fz1

Human Rights

AFP: "Prominent Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, barred from attending the screening of his short film 'The Accordion' at the Venice film festival, on Wednesday decried his 'mental imprisonment.' 'Although I have been released from prison now, I am still not free to travel outside of the country,' Panahi, 50, said in a statement read out before the screening of 'The Accordion.'" http://bit.ly/dkc0pX

Domestic Politics

FT: "The wife of one of Iran's opposition leaders pleaded with the country's supreme leader on Wednesday to protect her family from the regime's militias. Fatemeh Karroubi, whose husband Mehdi Karroubi contested last year's disputed presidential election, said members of the Basij militia and the Revolutionary Guard Corps had been outside the family home in Tehran for three days. The men had shouted abuse at Mr Karroubi, insulted his neighbours and vandalised property, she said. They chanted that the 'illiterate Karroubi' was an agent of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service." http://bit.ly/ag1pQN

AFP: "Hardline 'thugs' surrounded the home of opposition Iranian leader Mehdi Karroubi, pelting the building with rocks to prevent the cleric from attending a rally, his website said. In the latest such incident, members of the Islamist Basij militia 'violently attacked' the building where the opposition cleric lives, the sahamnews.org website said." http://bit.ly/dg4Yw4

Radio Farda: "Iran's opposition Green Movement has officially launched a new satellite TV channel, RASA TV (Resan-e Sabz-e Iran or Iran's Green Media), RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports. Ebrahim Nabavi, one of the channel's organizers, said their aim is to break the state-controlled broadcasters' monopoly on the flow of information, fight against censorship in Iran, reflect the views of all Iranian people, and frankly discuss all issues related to Iran." http://bit.ly/bZF3VY

Foreign Affairs

NYT: "In the political arena, Iran versus the United States is a matchup that gets attention. In a basketball arena, that wasn't the case on Wednesday. 'For me, it's a normal game,' said Mahdi Kamrany, Iran's captain for the world championships in Turkey. The United States won easily, 88-51, in Istanbul to earn a top seed in the knockout round in the first meeting between two countries with a history of contentious relations." http://nyti.ms/cwzXSr    

LAT: "The United States, including Lakers star Lamar Odom, blew out Iran score-wise in the basketball game between the two teams in the FIBA World Championship in Istanbul on Wednesday with an 88-51 victory over the Islamic Republic But Iran may have won a smaller victory. It may have prompted the otherwise lightly clad Ukrainian cheerleaders to dress a little more conservatively for the game." http://bit.ly/d8VfmL

AFP: "Egypt said Thursday it has postponed a visit to Cairo by Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki over comments criticising the role of some Arab leaders in facilitating Middle East peace talks. The head of the Iranian interests section in Cairo was summoned to explain comments attributed to Mottaki in which he criticised 'the participation of certain Arab leaders in the relaunch of direct peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis in Washington,' the foreign ministry said." http://bit.ly/bDfXP5

AFP: "President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to make a brief visit on Sunday to Qatar, Iran's closest ally among the Gulf Arab states, the Iranian ambassador in Doha, Abdollah Sohrabi, said. Ahmadinejad will hold talks with Qatari emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, on issues including the Palestinian question and the devastating floods in Pakistan, Sohrabi told reporters on Thursday." http://bit.ly/dihw5X