BRUSSELS/TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran said on Monday it was ready to return to talks on a nuclear fuel swap, a surprise that came shortly after the European Union agreed tougher sanctions, including a block on oil and gas investment.

EU foreign ministers approved a range of extra restrictions on Iran that went well beyond U.N. sanctions agreed last month and included a ban on dealing with Iranian banks and insurance companies and steps to prevent investment in Tehran’s lucrative oil and gas sector, including refining.

BRUSSELS/TEHRAN, July 26 (Reuters) – Iran said unexpectedly
on Monday that it was prepared to return to talks on a nuclear
fuel swap, shortly after the European Union agreed tougher
sanctions including action to block oil and gas investment.

EU foreign ministers approved a range of extra restrictions
on Iran that went well beyond U.N. sanctions agreed last month,
including measures to block dealing with Iranian banks and
insurance companies and steps to prevent investment in Tehran’s
lucrative oil and gas sector, including refining.

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran is ready to return to negotiations on a nuclear fuel swap without conditions, its envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Monday, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Talking of a letter that Iran handed to the IAEA about the proposed nuclear fuel swap, Iran’s envoy to U.N. agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh said: “The clear message of this letter was Iran’s complete readiness to hold negotiations over the fuel for the Tehran reactor without any conditions.”

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iranian planes continue to refuel at airports around the world, an official said on Tuesday, a day after an Iranian news report said aircraft had been denied fuel in Germany, Britain and a Gulf Arab state due to U.S. sanctions.

The Financial Times said oil major BP had stopped refuelling Iranian jets, a move which would add to a growing list of companies shunning trade with the Islamic state amid a U.S.-led drive to isolate Tehran over its nuclear programme.

TEHRAN, July 6 (Reuters) – Iranian planes continue to refuel
at airports around the world, an official said on Tuesday, a day
after an Iranian news report that the country’s aircraft had
been denied fuel in Germany, Britain and a Gulf Arab state.

The Financial Times said oil major BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research) had stopped
refuelling Iranian jets, a move which would add to a growing
list of companies shunning trade with the Islamic state amid a
U.S.-led drive to isolate Tehran over its nuclear programme.

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran is prepared to return to negotiations on its nuclear programme but insists the West drop its “bullying” stance and include friendlier countries in the talks, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday.

In his first news conference since the U.S. Congress approved new sanctions, Ahmadinejad dismissed the CIA’s assertion that Iran has enough nuclear material for two bombs if further enriched.

TEHRAN (Reuters) – A senior Iranian cleric has decreed dogs are “unclean” and should not be kept as pets — a move aimed at discouraging Western-style dog ownership in the Islamic state, a newspaper reported on Saturday.

Dogs are considered “unclean” under Islamic tradition but, while relatively rare in Iran, some people do keep them as pets.

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran is sending aid ships to blockaded Gaza, state radio said on Monday — a move likely to be considered provocative by Israel which accuses Tehran of arming the Palestinian enclave’s Islamist rulers, Hamas.

One ship left port on Sunday and another will depart by Friday, loaded with food, construction material and toys, the report said. “Until the end of (Israel’s) Gaza blockade, Iran will continue to ship aid,” said an official at Iran’s Society for the Defence of the Palestinian Nation.

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran’s opposition on Thursday cancelled a rally to mark the anniversary of last June’s presidential election, due to fears for people’s lives in any crackdown by a government under pressure at home and abroad.

A year after the re-election of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the reformist “green movement” had hoped to bring its supporters back onto the streets to show continued opposition to a government it says won through vote rigging.

TEHRAN, June 10 (Reuters) – Iran’s post-election protests
one year ago posed a bigger threat to the Islamic Republic than
the devastating 1980s war with Iraq, the head of the elite
Revolutionary Guards was quoted as saying on Thursday.

Iranian authorities are preparing for a potential revival of
the unrest on Saturday — the anniversary of the election –
when opposition leaders have asked for permission to hold
peaceful commemorations.