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Seoul moves to minimize damage from U.S. sanctions on Iran

SEOUL, June 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Tuesday announced a set of measures aimed at minimizing expected damages from renewed U.S. sanctions against Iran that are well expected to eat into the country's US$6-billion exports to the Middle East country. The country had significantly reduced the amount of crude oil it purchases from Iran, following the enactment of U.S. sanctions last year under the United States' National Defense Authorization Act.

Iran eyes 30 nuclear bombs a year: Israel minister

Iran is working round the clock to enlarge its nuclear infrastructure with the eventual aim of developing an industry capable of building up to 30 bombs a year, an Israeli minister charged on Monday. Speaking to reporters in Jerusalem, Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said Tehran was "very close" to crossing the red line laid out by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last year. But he said it was biding its time and building uranium-enrichment facilities before making the final push for weapons-grade material.

From US, long-shot Iran candidate urges trust

As Iran heads into an election dominated by hardliners, one would-be future president is campaigning from an elegant, wooded US neighborhood accompanied by his dog, a bouncy bichon frise. Hooshang Amirahmadi, an academic with dual citizenship, acknowledges that he has no chance of winning the June 14 election -- he did not even register after clear signs he would be rejected -- but insists his quest is not quixotic.

U.S. imposes sanctions on Iran's petrochemical industry

By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States blacklisted on Friday eight companies in Iran's petrochemical industry, sending a warning to the Islamic Republic's global customers as Washington strives to cut off funds to the country's nuclear program. Petrochemical companies owned or controlled by the Iranian government that are on the Treasury Department list include Bandar Imam Petrochemical Co, Bou Ali Sina Petrochemical Co and Mobin Petrochemical Co.

Tehran slams Saudi plot jail term for US-Iranian

Iran on Friday condemned the United States for sentencing an Iranian-American citizen for plotting to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington, saying it was in line with "an Iranophobia project". Manssor Arbabsiar, 58, was sentenced on Thursday to a maximum 25 years in prison by a US judge after he pleaded guilty last October to conspiring with Iranian Revolutionary Guards elements to hire assassins from the Mexican drug mafia to kill Riyadh's envoy.

Iranian-born man gets 25 years for Saudi envoy murder plot

By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - An Iranian-born used car salesman from Texas was sentenced to 25 years in a U.S. prison on Thursday after pleading guilty to participating in a plot with an Iranian military unit to murder the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States.

Iranian-American gets 25 years prison in Saudi plot

Iranian-American citizen Manssor Arbabsiar was sentenced Thursday to the maximum 25 years prison by a US judge who said his role in a bizarre plot against the Saudi ambassador to Washington could not be "tolerated." Arbabsiar, 58, pleaded guilty last October to conspiring with Iranian military elements to hire assassins from the Mexican drug mafia to kill the Saudi envoy. New York federal Judge John Keenan told the court that Arbabsiar "fully realized his act. He must learn the lesson. That cannot be tolerated."

Glencore says Iran metals swap deals did not violate sanctions

By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Swiss-based commodities giant Glencore Xstrata <GLEN.L> said on Thursday that it had done nothing wrong when it engaged in metal swaps with Iran, rejecting a suggestion by U.N. experts that such bartering could have been a way of evading sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program.

US House panel backs stiff new Iran sanctions

Iran could face tightened sanctions within months after a US congressional panel Wednesday adopted a measure targeting the nation's auto and mining industries as well as its foreign currency reserves. The House Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously passed the Nuclear Iran Prevention Act, which would extend existing sanctions to the auto and mining sectors and allow the US president to subject other Iranian industries, such as engineering, to similar restrictions.

Exclusive: Glencore, Trafigura deals with Iran may have skirted sanctions - U.N

By Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Metals swap deals with Iran by Switzerland-based commodities giants Glencore Xstrata and Trafigura could have been a way of skirting international sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program, according to a confidential U.N. Panel of Experts report seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
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