Only days after President Obama won reelection, the US rolled out a new round of sanctions against Iran and accused it of attempting to shoot down an American drone in international airspace. ­The US State Department and Treasury announced on Thursday that the sanctions are aimed at senior Iranian officials and several related entities. US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said they are... 

Washington has reportedly decided to ease restrictions on the sale of medicine to Iran in fear that it may lose global support for anti-Iran sanctions, the Los Angeles Times reported. Though US rules have not imposed any bans on American firms to sell medicine and medical supplies to Iran, exporters have been required to apply for special licenses. Besides, as the aftermath of the sanctions, the impossibility... 

Switzerland’s Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter (L) and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, met in Moscow on October 25, 2012. Switzerland’s Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter says his country does not support any unilateral sanctions imposed against Iran over its nuclear energy program. Burkhalter told reporters after a Thursday meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in... 

The US Senate has threatened to impose political sanctions on Ukraine over the jailing of former Prime Minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, urging Kiev to immediately release the opposition leader. The Senate adopted a resolution on Saturday that stressed that the Tymoshenko trial was “politically motivated” and urged her immediate release citing her poor health condition. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry... 

Texas Congressman Ron Paul says the US is “obsessed with” keeping Iran under illegal sanctions, while pushing for furthering the embargoes in, what he calls, an “act of war” against the Islamic Republic. Addressing Congress on Wednesday, Paul accused Washington of “marching into a determination to have another war.” “When you put on sanctions on a country, it’s an act of war... 

Switzerland will continue to purchase Iranian oil in defiance of the European Union sanctions on the Islamic Republic that came into effect on July 1. The Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs stated that Switzerland will not join the oil embargo against Iran, despite pressure from the United States and the EU, IRNA reported on Friday. Switzerland says that any decision on the import, sale,... 

Russia offered Zimbabwe to conclude an intergovernmental agreement about the mutual protection of investments. Russian companies may thus obtain an opportunity to develop one of the world’s largest deposits of platinum. In return, Zimbabwe, which remains under the influence of sanctions from the USA and EU, will receive military hardware from Russia. Moreover, Russia intends to ship a large... 

Japan’s lower house of parliament has endorsed a bill which authorizes the Japanese government to insure shipments of Iranian crude oil imports, in an attempt to counter US-led EU insurance bans against Iran, Press TV reports. The lower house of Japan’s parliament which is mostly comprised of opposition lawmakers passed the bill on Friday to enable Tokyo to provide USD 7.6 billion insurance... 

The Islamic Republic’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said his country is prepared to fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency if the sanctions currently placed on Iran are lifted. Jalili made the statement after a third round of talks on Iran’s nuclear program finished in Moscow. All parties expressed satisfaction with the talks, despite the fact that no breakthroughs... 

An Iranian oil tanker The South Korean Economy Ministry says Seoul and Tokyo have asked the European Union to extend insurance contracts on tankers carrying Iranian crude after the bloc’s oil embargo comes into effect on July 1. “To the EU members, we explained the problems that could be caused to non-EU members by the EU insurance embargo,” the ministry said in a Monday statement. “In close... 

Europeans are concerned about high fuel prices resulting from the Iran oil ban and its negative effects on the economic situation of their countries. A new poll conducted in five European countries shows most people are against imposing sanctions on Iran’s oil sector. A total of 2,100 adults in Germany, France, Austria, Sweden and Poland responded to the poll which was conducted by the German... 

Despite the European Union’s sanctions against Iran’s oil sector, oil and gas companies from 15 European states have thus far put in a request to take part in Tehran’s 17th International Oil, Gas, Refining, and Petrochemical Exhibition. “So far, 1,255 domestic and foreign companies from 44 countries have registered to take part in this international exhibition,” Eshaq Rouyvar, the director... 

US President Barack Obama looks toward North Korea from the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the border between North and South Korea, March 25, 2012. US President Barack Obama has pledged to break North Korea’s “pattern of provocative behavior,” urging Pyongyang to refrain from carrying out a planned satellite launch. During a Sunday news conference in the South Korean capital of Seoul, Obama... 

The Indian government has announced that it is working to continue crude oil purchase from Iran, resisting renewed pressure from the United States to halt buying Iranian oil. The announcement was made by Indian Foreign Minister Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna on Thursday in a written letter to the upper house of Indian parliament, Wall Street Journal reported. “The government is studying the impact... 

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton The United States says it has exempted 11 nations including 10 European Union members and Japan from tough new sanctions on Iran as they have reduced oil purchase from Tehran. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement on Tuesday that the exemption covers financial institutions from 11 nations – Belgium, Britain, the Czech Republic, France,...