Prosecutors say Karroubi faces legal action as charges of rape against protestors dismissed; Clinton in Russia, Moscow opposes economic sanctions against Iran;
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    • Prosecutors in Tehran stated that opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi would face legal action over his charge that several of the protesters who took to the streets after Iran’s June election were raped. The judiciary panel which looked into these allegations came to the conclusion that they were baseless and “made without any proof and … aimed at distracting public opinion.”1

    Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that threatening Iran with more sanctions would be counterproductive. Clinton on her part told reporters that negotiations will be “very vigorously” pursued but added that the US was looking at potential sanctions in the event that those negotiations fail.2

    The US Senate meanwhile approved legislation that will punish foreign oil companies that export gasoline to Iran, the first time that both chambers of Congress cleared the same bill imposing economic sanctions on Iran as a result of its nuclear programme. President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law. The bill seeks to block US Energy Department from awarding contracts to companies that deliver oil to the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve if the companies sell or ship gasoline to Iran. While Iran holds some of the world’s biggest oil reserves, it still imports 40 percent of its gasoline to meet domestic demand.3

    More than 30 people including top military officers were killed in a suicide attack at a meeting of the elite Revolutionary Guards in southeastern Iran. Iran blamed “foreign elements” linked to the US for the attack, and also accused Britain of complicity. State media blamed the Jundollah, linked to the Taliban in Pakistan, as being responsible for the attack. Among those killed included the deputy head of the Guards’ ground forces, Gen. Nourali Shoushtari, and the Guards’ commander in Sistan-Baluchestan province, Gen. Mohammadzadeh. Shoushtari was also a senior official of the elite Qods force.4

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