ADELAIDE, Australia - Australia will impose new sanctions against Iran, including restrictions for the first time on business dealings with that country's oil and gas sector, the country's foreign minister said Thursday.
Australia's sanctions follow those announced earlier in the week by the European Union and Canada, the latest in a series of measures taken by the international community in an effort to halt Iran's nuclear program.
"In adopting this package, Australia stands at the forefront of international community efforts to have Iran meet its international obligations in relation to its nuclear program, one of the most serious security challenges facing the international community," Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said in a statement.
The sanctions further reinforce a June U.N. resolution against Iran that Australia has already implemented.
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...General Odierno noted that while there are still instances of violence in Iraq, there "has been steady, deliberate progress," in both the political and security environments. But General Odierno did warn of threats to U.S. and Iraqi security forces emanating from extremists with ties to Iran: "It's very difficult to say they're directly connected to the Iranian government. But what we do know is that many of them live in Iran, many of them get trained in Iran, and many of them get weapons from Iran. And they get them from various sources, and it's difficult sometimes to track the exact chain of command; it's difficult to track the funding. But it's clearly being done inside of Iran."
General Odierno said he believed the Qods Force, a branch of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, is involved in training and funding these militants: "So obviously there is some connection. Kata'ib Hezbollah specifically - we had significant threat warning from them about attacks on U.S. forces for varying reasons. I think they also, by the way, have conducted attacks against Iraqi security forces as well, and this is to create, I believe some type of instability and lack of confidence in the government of Iraq."
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Rights group Amnesty International has accused Iran of persecuting a lawyer involved in the high profile case of a woman sentenced to death by stoning.
Mohammad Mostafaei, who is defending the woman, was called in on Saturday for questioning at Tehran's Evin prison. Amnesty says he appears to have gone missing after his release.
The authorities have since detained his wife and brother-in-law, it says.
Mr Mostafaei is a known critic of Iran's judicial system.
He has defended many juvenile offenders, political prisoners and others sentenced to stoning.
Among his most high-profile clients is Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who was sentenced to death by stoning following a conviction for adultery.
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British Foreign Secretary William Hague challenged Iran today to resume talks on its nuclear plans after the EU agreed tough new sanctions hitting Iran's energy needs, banks and businesses.
Mr Hague said Iran's refusal to co-operate with the West over its nuclear programme left the EU no option but to tighten the sanctions screw...
Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, said even the extended sanctions fell short of "a comprehensive and effective sanction to include complete oil, trade, technological and political boycott of the regime".
She said: "Foreign trade and the oil industry in Iran are basically in the hands of the Iranian regime's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and a very limited section of the regime's officials and their families."
She said the willingness of the EU to resume talks with the Iranian regime sent the "wrong signals" and would be seen in Tehran as a sign of weakness, "thus encouraging them further to continue their nuclear project".
Mr Hague was more optimistic: "Iran is a country with the potential for success and prosperity, and of being an influential voice in the international community. We stand ready to respond to Iran choosing to discuss its nuclear programme and grasping the successful future such a choice would bring."
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