The meeting this week was held at the Treasury Department’s Washington headquarters and initiated by Stuart Levey, the Obama administration’s point man on Iran sanctions. Daniel Glaser, a deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury, headed up the majority of the deliberations, according to participants. A Treasury Department official declined to comment.

Why Iran can’t cut off your oil. BY EUGENE GHOLZ | SEPT. / OCT. 2009 Supertankers carry about 90 percent of Persian Gulf oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz each day, satisfying some 20 percent of worldwide demand. For maximum safety, the International Maritime Organization suggests that the huge, difficult-to-maneuver ships travel within a [...]

President Obama, joined by French President Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Brown, speak to the press on an Iranian nuclear activities during the G20 Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. September 25, 2009. (public domain)

That is why I intend to take action on my bill – HR 2194, the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act – expeditiously and at the most opportune time to accomplish our shared goal, if Iran does not reverse course. Absent some compelling evidence as to why I should do otherwise, I will mark up my bill next month and begin the process of tightening the screws on Tehran.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,druck-643193,00.html The EU and Germany are considering radically tightening sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, SPIEGEL reports. Possible measures include forbidding gasoline exports to Iran. Berlin and Brussels are increasingly prepared to impose massive embargoes on Iran unless Tehran signals soon that it’s ready to compromise in their nuclear dispute. DPA Defying the West: [...]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204251404574342922895240380.html?mod=googlenews_wsj By MICHAEL JACOBSON AND MARK DUBOWITZ After a fraudulent election and its brutal aftermath, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his junta must now be persuaded that their pursuit of nuclear weapons will be unbearably costly. The Obama administration appears poised to implement what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called “crippling sanctions” if [...]

Last night inside the Nokia Theatre: fashionable representatives of LA’s glitterati, enjoying the ESPY awards. Outside the Theatre: determined members of LA’s Persian community, insisting that Nokia answer for contributing to Iran’s fascist panoptic regime. A quick reminder about the scope of the Finnish telecom giant’s craven collaboration with Khamenei, Ahmadinejad, and their ilk: In [...]

Los Angeles to vote on transit contracts Los Angeles Times-July 17, 2009 http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/17/siemens-risks-losses-due-to-iran-ties/ One of the world’s largest engineering firms, Siemens, could lose hundreds of millions of dollars in sales to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) because it sold Iran equipment used to spy on dissidents. California politicians and Iranian human rights advocates [...]

CARACAS (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Washington would call for more sanctions against Iran if the White House policy of engagement with Tehran failed. Clinton said U.S. outreach to Iran may not work given the country’s recent repression of protests after a disputed election. “It may not be possible, in [...]

According to a 25-count indictment made public in Washington yesterday, Sligo-based Mac Aviation shipped some of the parts to an Iranian military firm the US government believes to be “owned or controlled by entities involved in Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programe”.