UANI

AP reported that "The Bush administration on Wednesday imposed financial sanctions on an Iranian state-owned financial institution for allegedly providing financial services in support of the country's weapons program." "The Treasury Department's action means that any bank accounts or other financial assets belonging to the Export Development Bank of Iran that are found in the United States are frozen.... 'Iran has adopted a strategy of using less prominent institutions, such as the Export Development Bank of Iran, to handle its illicit transactions,' said Stuart Levey." Read More

Daniel Coates and Charles Robb wrote that stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons requires a strong, quick, and bipartisan effort by the U.S. based on five principles. "It is crucial that, immediately after Election Day, Congress and the president-elect begin to work on the exceedingly difficult policy measures that will be required if the United States is to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons capability. Time may be shorter than many imagine, and failure could carry a catastrophic cost to the national interest." Read More

AP reported that Kazim al-Hosseini al-Haeri, an Iraqi cleric living in Iran, issued a fatwa on Wednesday "condemning" the proposed U.S.-Iraqi security pact. "'We know that this deal will undermine Iraq's national sovereignty and that approving it will mean accepting humiliation and misery,' al-Haeri said." Read More

In the International Herald Tribune, Roger Cohen interviewed former U.S. negotiator for Iran Nicholas Burns and agreed with him that the U.S. should talk to Iran. "Burns, like Obama, believes it's time to talk to Iran. 'The U.S. needs to commit to a more ambitious diplomatic strategy,' he told me. 'We have a responsibility, after Iraq, before we consider the use of force, to demonstrate that every diplomatic avenue has been explored. If they come to the table and balk, we will have more leverage with Russia and China to press for much tougher sanctions.'" Read More

The Guardian reported on Gazprom's record profits and recent business transactions involving Iran. "Gazprom, which supplies a quarter of Europe's gas, announced on Monday that it was establishing a 'big gas troika' with Iran and Qatar. It was described by the Iranian oil minister Gholamhossein Nozari as a 'gas Opec'." Read More

AP reported that "Malaysia has scrapped an invitation for Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi to deliver a speech about Islam because of pressure from Iranian diplomats who warned the event could hurt bilateral ties." Read More

AFP covered continued Pentagon complaints about Iran interfering in U.S.-Iraqi security talks. "Iran is seeking to 'undermine' and 'derail' an almost completed US-Iraqi agreement governing the long-term presence of US troops in Iraq beyond 2008, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said Wednesday. Morrell told a Pentagon press briefing that 'Iranian meddling in Iraq takes on all forms. In its most destructive, devious and deadly ways, it has to do with the flow of arms and weapons into Iraq,' Morrell said, adding that officials had seen a recent decline in that flow." Read More