Transcript
1. EU Agrees on New Sanctions Against Iran
EU members agreed today to freeze the assets of one of Iran’s biggest bank, Bank Melli. This is part of new sanctions against Tehran for refusing to stop its uranium enrichment program.
Bank Melli has offices in London, Paris and Hamburg. It is accused of supporting the country’s nuclear activities and financing “terrorist” groups abroad.
The new sanctions also add 20 more individuals and 15 organizations linked to Iran’s nuclear program, to its assets-freeze list and ban them from entering the EU.
2. French President Says Nuclear Iran is “unacceptable”
During his three-day visit to Israel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy addressed the Knesset today, sending a clear message to Tehran:
"The Iranian nuclear plan demands a determined reaction by the international community. Israel should know that it does not stand alone… Iran with nuclear weapons is unacceptable to France.”
“We appreciate your declaration that the security of Israel is not to be negotiated and your strong and determined stand in light of the armament with nuclear weapons by Iran, whose president threatens clearly to erase Israel from the map.”
Sarkozy also called on Israel to stop expanding its settlement activities in the West Bank, which undermine the borders for a potential Palestinian state. He is due to meet the Palestinian President before returning to France tomorrow afternoon.
3. Reports of Iran’s nuclear collaboration with North Korea and Syria
The German weekly Der Spiegel reports today that Iran, North Korea and Syria may have been collaborating to build a reactor capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium.
According to intelligence reports seen by Der Spiegel, Iran planned to use al-Kibar site as a nuclear storage facility. In April, Israel had bombed al-Kibar, which Syria claimed was a conventional military site.
A team of IAEA inspectors arrived in Syria yesterday to investigate that facility.
4. Two Students Commit Suicide at Iran Universities
Iranian media report that two female university students had committed suicide on Saturday in separate incidents tied to the security offices at those universities.
A student at the Islamic Azad University of Lahijan died after reportedly jumping from the fourth story window of the university’s security office.
Another student, at the University of Sistan-va-Baluchistan, was reportedly “under pressure” from the school’s security department, and had died of an overdose of “pills.”
According to Amir Kabir University of Tehran’s student newsletter, each year there are nearly 4,200 suicides or attempted suicides at universities in Iran. Reportedly, three-quarter of the victims are women.
