KUWAIT CITY - The central bank of Kuwait has asked Gulf emirate banks, investment companies and money exchange firms to start implementing UN sanctions against neighbouring Iran, local media said on Friday. The instructions called for the freezing of assets and financial resources related to "Iran's sensitive nuclear programmes or activities," said Al-Rai newspaper, citing a circular by the central bank.

The paper said the circular was based on a letter by the foreign ministry which stressed that the sanctions were mandatory....The central bank asked Kuwaiti financial institutions to exercise caution while making trade transactions with Iran-based establishments, including those controlled by the Revolutionary Guards and Iran's marine transport company

...
Read More

The Iraqi government has been accused of denying Iranian dissidents living in Camp Ashraf free access to medical treatment.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran claims that officials prevented a woman who has thyroid cancer from going to hospital in Baghdad....The National Council of Resistance of Iran said that the woman, Elham Fardipour, would have had to travel to Baghdad with the same Iraqi soldiers who had in the past taken part in attacks on the camp....

 

The group also called on the United Nations and the American government to end what it alleges has been "the nearly two-year-long inhumane siege of Ashraf".

...
Read More

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) - Nigerian foreign minister is threatening action against Iran if it violated international law and U.N. sanctions in an arms smuggling case....

Iran's foreign minister, who flew to Nigeria amid accusations that his government illegally sent weapons into this country, has authorized local security officials to interview one of the two Iranians implicated in the shipment, Nigeria's foreign minister said Friday....

By shipping arms to the country, Iran may be attempting to "tweak" Western powers by showing it can influence affairs in a country vital to U.S. oil supplies, said David Bender, a Washington-based analyst who studies Iran for the Eurasia Group. "From their perspective, it doesn't cost anything," Bender said. "But it gives the impression that they are a global player."

...
Read More

(Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Friday it protects the confidentiality of information gathered during inspections, indirectly rejecting an Iranian accusation it would feed sensitive information to Washington....

 

The IAEA wants Iran to implement what it calls the Additional Protocol, which permits unfettered inspections beyond declared nuclear sites to ferret out any covert atomic activity.

Ahmadinejad ruled this out, in comments cited by state broadcaster IRIB on its website on Thursday. "The acceptance of the Additional Protocol would be tantamount to placing all of our nuclear activities under the supervision of the IAEA which would in turn pass our information to America," he said.
 ...
Read More

UNITED NATIONS - North Korea is supplying banned nuclear and ballistic equipment to Iran, Syria and Myanmar using "surreptitious" means to avoid international sanctions, according to a UN report released Friday....

 

A UN sanctions committee panel of experts called for heightened vigilance to stop the nuclear trade and for more detailed investigation into the sophisticated means used by North Korea to circumvent sanctions....

 

The experts "expressed concern that certain countries, such as the Syrian Arab Republic, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Myanmar, continue to be associated with the Democratic People?s Republic of Korea in regard to proscribed activities and believes that special attention should be taken by all member states to inhibit such activities.

...
Read More