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The Financial Times reported that "Britain and France are seeking to persuade financial and energy companies to stop doing business with Iran in what officials say is an attempt to increase pressure on Tehran's nuclear programme." Read More

The Telegraph reported that "fresh links between Iran's Revolutionary Guards and al-Qaeda have been uncovered following interception of a letter from the terrorist leadership that hails Tehran's support for a recent attack on the American embassy in Yemen." "In the letter al-Qaeda's leadership pays tribute to Iran's generosity, stating that without its 'monetary and infrastructure assistance' it would have not been possible for the group to carry out the terror attacks. It also thanked Iran for having the 'vision' to help the terror organisation establish new bases in Yemen after al-Qaeda was forced to abandon much of its terrorist infrastructure in Iraq and Saudi Arabia." Read More

The AP reported on comments by the chief U.S. delegate to the I.A.E.A. that "The chief U.S. delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday that the change in administrations in Washington would be a good opportunity for Iran to enter new negotiations to end its uranium enrichment program." Read More

The New York Times reported on the former Iranian President Rafsanjani comments at Friday Prayer on last week's I.A.E.A. report. "'Unfortunately, Mr. ElBaradei always talks ambiguously,' Mr. Rafsanjani said. 'We expect the agency to be fair and impartial.' Dr. ElBaradei said in the report that Iran needed to provide the agency with substantive information to support its claims that the country's nuclear program was intended to produce only nuclear power, not nuclear warheads." Read More

Reuters covered Iran's public denial of reports that it had enriched enough uranium for an atomic bomb. "Iran rejected Friday U.S. reports it had enriched enough uranium to make an atom bomb, saying this would require steps it had ruled out like ejecting U.N. inspectors and leaving the Non-Proliferation Treaty ... 'This information has no technical basis and gives a wrong and misleading information to the public," Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh told reporters ... 'In Natanz (main enrichment plant), all material produced goes into a closed container sealed by IAEA seals and watched by cameras. As soon as anyone wanted to touch the seals, the next second the whole world would know.' Read More

The Guardian previewed British Foreign Secretary David Miliband's Monday remarks about the "immediate threat" Iran's nuclear activities pose to Middle East stability. "The foreign secretary, David Miliband, will warn in a speech today that 'the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran poses the most immediate threat to the stability' of the Middle East. But he also explicitly states that the British-backed EU and UN sanctions 'are not an attempt at regime change. And nor are they a precursor to military action. We are 100% committed to a diplomatic resolution of this dispute. We will work closely with the new US administration on this issue.'" Read More

Reuters reported that "French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner warned U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on Sunday of the potential dangers involved in his plans to deal more directly with Iran and send more troops to Afghanistan." "Kouchner, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, said he welcomed Obama's plans but urged him to be careful when dealing with the Iranians, who have been negotiating with major powers for years. 'We have negotiated at great length. People came to France, we sent people to Iran, we met them and unfortunately this dialogue produced nothing. And so, one must be careful,'" Read More

The International Herald Tribune reported on European expectations regarding President-Elect Obama's Iran policy. "Iran could now credibly claim to have produced the nuclear elements necessary to make a single atom bomb. It's a new and accelerating situation that's giving life to apprehension in Europe about how Barack Obama will handle trying to stop the Iranian drive.... In all, it's asking a lot of Obama: to accept Security Council constrictions on the American approach to Iran, to use allies as trade bait, and sitting still as the French argue that Vladimir Putin's real position isn't so far away from joining the West's. That means swallowing his official stance - Russia sees nothing to contradict the mullahs' 'peaceful intentions' - which continues to whack credibility on the head." Read More

CNN reported that "Iran's navy is planning to launch two new ships and a submarine later this week." "All three vessels were made in Iran, the semi-official Fars News Agency quoted Cmdr. Habibolalh Sayyari as saying. 'On the occasion of Navy Day [November 27], two missile-carrying ships named Kalat and Derafsh, as well as a light submarine, will be launched,' he said." Read More

Reuters reported that "An Iranian militia held civil defense drills on Sunday to prepare for any hostile air strikes and the military said it could close a waterway crucial for world oil supplies if Iran was attacked." Read More

Bloomberg quoted Ahmadinejad's remarks that Iran's economy could survive even if oil was $5 per barrel. " 'We have in the past managed with oil at $9,' Ahmadinejad was cited as saying by the Islamic Republic News Agency in Tehran today. 'Some believe today the decline in oil prices can result in economic crisis in the country, but in the same way that the global financial crisis did not impact Iran's economy, the fall in oil prices can not have much influence on our nation's economy.'"  Read More

AP reported that "Iran is courting Latin America's leftist bloc with active diplomacy, joint business projects and aid while gathering support for its much-criticized nuclear program." Read More

AFP previewed Lebanese President Michael Sleiman's Monday visit to Iran. "Lebanese President Michel Sleiman begins on Monday a two-day visit to Iran for political and economic talks at the invitation of Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a government official said. 'The president will discuss everything: political and economic issues, bilateral relations, the situation in the Middle East, the peace process,' the official, who declined to be named, told AFP on Sunday." Read More

The Miami Herald reported that Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) "is calling on Congress to press Iran to divulge more information about Robert Levinson, a retired FBI agent who went missing in 2007 from an Iranian island in the Persian Gulf." Read More

AP covered the Iraqi government's announcement that the Iranian recently detained by the U.S. at the Baghdad airport has been released. "The U.S. military said earlier this week that it suspected the man was a senior member of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds force, which it suspects of funneling weapons into Iraq. But Deputy Foreign Minister Labid Abbawi said the Iranian was released Friday. 'We contacted the Americans and asked them to release him because his presence in Iraq is legitimate,' Abbawi said. The U.S. military declined to comment on the release, referring questions to the Iraqi government." Read More

The Washington Post covered Iran's execution of Ali Ashtary, who was charged with spying for Israel. "Iran has executed a man convicted of spying for Israel in an 'intensifying intelligence war' between the two countries, a high-level Iranian security official announced Saturday at a rare news conference. Ali Ashtary, a businessman who sold communication and security equipment to Iranian security organizations, was arrested in 2007 and found guilty in June of spying for the Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, the semiofficial Mehr News Agency quoted the official as saying. " Read More

Frederick Kagan of A.E.I. wrote in the NY Times on the challenges President-Elect Obama has regarding the Middle-East. "America and Iraq also have common interests vis-a-vis Iran. Iraqis want to remain independent of Tehran, as they have now demonstrated by signing the agreement with the United States over Iran's vigorous objections. They want to avoid military conflict with Iran, and so does America. Iraqis share our fear that Iran may acquire nuclear weapons, which would threaten their independence. And they resent Iran's efforts to maintain insurgent and terrorist cells that undermine their government." Read More