TEHRAN, Nov 23 (Reuters) – Iran’s parliament voted on
Wednesday to review relations with Britain after it imposed
sanctions on its central bank, a move described as “vindictive”
by a leading lawmaker who called for the British ambassador to
be expelled.

“Britain’s government once again showed a depth of hatred
and enmity towards the Islamic Republic system worse than that
of the devil and it took another step towards being an enemy …
by announcing sanctions on the central bank,” said a statement
signed by 228 lawmakers and read out in parliament.

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran dismissed a new wave of sanctions on Tuesday, saying the West’s attempts to isolate its economy would only serve to unite Iranians behind their government’s nuclear program.

The United States, Britain and Canada announced new measures against Iran’s energy and financial sectors on Monday and France proposed “unprecedented” new sanctions, including freezing the assets of its central bank and suspending purchases of its oil.

TEHRAN, Nov 20 (Reuters) – Iranian authorities shut
down a reformist newspaper on Sunday after it published a
scathing attack by an aide to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the
president’s rival conservatives, the latest sign of a split in
the highest echelons of the Islamic Republic.

Tehran’s prosecutor’s office ordered the daily Etemad to
close for two months for “disseminating lies and insults to
officials in the establishment,” according to the semi-official
Fars news agency.

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iranian media on Saturday described a resolution from the U.N. nuclear watchdog expressing “deep and increasing concern” about the country’s atomic program as a victory, celebrating the fact it does not call for new U.N. sanctions.

But Washington has already lined up new unilateral sanctions aimed at Iran’s multi-billion-dollar petrochemical industry and will pressure its allies to follow suit, sources told Reuters.

TEHRAN (Reuters) – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has weathered a series of attacks from rivals within the conservative elite that runs the Islamic Republic and is under a renewed threat from parliament to answer questions that could lead to impeachment.

Splits at the top became very visible in April when Ahmadinejad’s move to sack his intelligence minister was overturned by a rare intervention from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. A huge banking scandal has added to the pressure.

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran has complained to the United Nations about a U.S. accusation it tried to assassinate a Saudi diplomat, saying one of the alleged plotters Washington calls an Iranian military official is really a member of an anti-Tehran rebel group.

Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Saturday the plot was part of a multi-pronged U.S. strategy to smear Tehran, a process he said would continue next week when the U.N. nuclear agency publishes a report western diplomats say will contain new evidence about Iran’s nuclear program.

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Could Mahmoud Ahmadinejad be Iran’s last president?

Some Iranians think so after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei suggested scrapping a directly elected presidency, which critics say would weaken Iran’s version of democracy and make the Islamic Republic more Islamic than republican.

TEHRAN, Oct 22 (Reuters) – Iran dismissed on Saturday a
threat by Washington to impose sanctions on its central bank in
response to an alleged assassination plot, saying the United
Nations would block the plan and other central banks would not
accept it.

Central bank Governor Mahmoud Bahmani said allegations that
Iran had plotted to kill the Saudi ambassador in Washington –
already rejected by Tehran as a fabrication — should not be
used as an excuse to further undermine an economy already under
a raft of sanctions over its nuclear activities.

TEHRAN (Reuters) – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday U.S. allegations of an Iranian assassination plot resembled its claims of weapons of mass destruction that formed the basis for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and would prove to be equally untrue.

Ahmadinejad said Washington had fabricated the plot of an Iranian seeking to kill Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Washington in order to cause a rift between Tehran and Saudi Arabia and dominate the oil-rich Gulf.

ALMATY, Oct 13 (Reuters) – South African miner Gold Fields’
joint venture in Kyrgyzstan will suspend drilling after
supporters of its exploration project in the Central Asian state
received death threats only days after a violent attack on its
camp, the company’s chairman told Reuters.

Talas Copper Gold, a joint venture between Gold Fields and
Britain’s Orsu Metals , said it would postpone a
drilling programme due to begin next month until Kyrgyzstan was
able to guarantee the safety of local residents.