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Pakistan has stressed its commitment to complete the joint gas pipeline project with Iran within the agreed timeframe, praising the Islamic Republic’s flexibility toward the terms of the deal.

An Iranian Oil Ministry official has dismissed media reports that Tehran is engaged in negotiations with Moscow to launch a south-north reverse oil swap project.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has stressed the Islamic Republic’s key role in the region, saying regional crises cannot be settled without Iran’s cooperation.

Head of Iran's Judiciary Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani is due to meet the country’s President-elect Hojjatoleslam Hassan Rohani.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has set out on a three-nation tour of the Persian Gulf region for talks on bilateral and regional issues.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi says Tehran is prepared to further upgrade its mutual relations with Rome and discuss with the Italian government regional developments, including the crisis in Syria.

Analysis: Iran's shock election result sets a challenge to Israel
NBCNews.com (blog)
The election of Hassan Rowhani as the new president of Iran seems to have stunned everyone – his supporters and staff, and analysts and decision-makers around the world. No-one expected that the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei would allow a ...

Iranian woman fiction writer Fahimeh Rahimi has passed away due to gastric cancer at the age of 61 in the capital city of Tehran.

Saudi Arabia, India and Tunisia have extended congratulations to Iran's President-elect Hojjatoleslam Hassan Rohani on his victory in the country’s June 14 election.

The Guardian
Supreme court quashes Iran bank sanctions and criticises secret hearings
The Guardian
The government's enthusiasm for secret courts has been set back after the UK's most senior judges quashed anti-terrorist sanctions imposed on an Iranian bank and dismissed the intelligence involved as insignificant. In two related judgments, the ...
UK Lifts Sanctions against Iran's Mellat BankFars News Agency
Iran bank victory in UK Treasury sanctions caseFinancial Times

all 14 news articles »

Treasury ordered to lift sanctions against Bank Mellat, as critics warn open justice and rule of law are casualties of secret courts

The government's enthusiasm for secret courts has been set back after the UK's most senior judges quashed anti-terrorist sanctions imposed on an Iranian bank and dismissed the intelligence involved as insignificant.

In two related judgments, the supreme court ordered the Treasury to remove sanctions against Bank Mellat and said that in future, appeal courts should go into closed session "only where it has been convincingly demonstrated to be genuinely necessary in the interests of justice".

The Tehran-based bank has been fighting to have the sanctions lifted since 2009. The UK Treasury alleged that the bank had financed firms involved in Iran's nuclear weapons programme.

In order to justify the allegations, the Treasury asked the supreme court to go into a secret session for the first time this spring.

In the first judgment, read out by Lord Neuberger, the president of the supreme court, the justices said: "Having held a closed hearing, it turned out that there had been no point in the supreme court seeing the closed judgment [which related to the secret intelligence], because there was nothing in it which could have affected [our] reasoning in relation to the substantive appeal.

"A [closed hearing] should be resorted to only where it has been convincingly demonstrated to be genuinely necessary in the interests of justice. If the court strongly suspects that nothing in the closed material is likely to affect the outcome of the appeal, it should not order a closed hearing."

Liberty intervened in the case. Corinna Ferguson, legal officer for the human rights group, said: "Proud principles of open justice and the rule of law are the casualties as the secret justice disease infects the highest court in the land. Today's chilling judgment brutally exposes the government's claims and lays bare its willingness to overstate the importance of secrecy to serve its own ends.

"Given recent revelations of spying and snooping it really does seem that it's one rule for the state, another for everyone else – no scrutiny for them; no privacy for us."

Sarosh Zaiwalla, of Zaiwalla & Co Solicitors, who represented Bank Mellat, said: "Today's ruling is a victory for the rule of law as much as it is for Bank Mellat. The judgment will put enormous confidence in the independence of the British judiciary and sets an example that even controversial disputes can be resolved by applying the principle of rule of law through the British courts." Bank Mellat has always denied supporting Iran's nuclear weapons programme.

• UK supreme court
• Open justice
• Iran
• Middle East and North Africa
• Banking
• UK security and counter-terrorism
• Counter-terrorism policy

Owen Bowcott
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Two Iranian artists Abbas Akhavan and Kamrouz Aram have garnered awards at the 2014 annual festival of Abraaj Group Art Prize held in Dubai.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has described as significant the presence of Iran and Saudi Arabia in the international conference on Syria in Geneva.

French President Francois Hollande says he will welcome the presence of Iran’s President-elect Hojjatoleslam Hassan Rohani in the Geneva conference on Syria “if he can be constructive.”

US To Test The Waters With Iran's New President Rohani
NPR
Iran's newly elected president is signaling he might take a more pragmatic, moderate approach to nuclear negotiations with major world powers. But there's a lot of debate in Washington policy circles about what Hassan Rohani's election might mean for ...

Yahoo! News
S.Korea media blame Iran for angry World Cup scenes
Fox News
SEOUL (AFP) – South Korean media blamed Iran Wednesday for angry scenes at a tense World Cup qualifier which ended with fans pelting debris on to the pitch and the visiting coach under fire for a rude gesture. Local newspapers said Iran's players had ...
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China has called on Iran and the group of six major world powers of the P5+1 to hold another round of negotiations as soon as possible following the Islamic Republic’s presidential election.

Telegraph.co.uk
Rohani once approved of hiding Iran atomic work
Reuters
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Years before he became Iran's president-elect, Hassan Rohani spoke approvingly about concealing his nation's nuclear program and said that when Pakistan got atomic bombs and Brazil began enriching uranium, "the world ...
How to End the Stalemate With IranNew York Times
A Glimmer of Hope in Iran's Nuclear Posture, Even Before Rouhani's StunnerTIME
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Press TV
Syria crisis: France open to Iran attending Geneva talks
The Guardian
In one sign of change, however, France's François Hollande said he believed that Iran's moderate president-elect, Hassan Rouhani, could be invited — a signal of goodwill towards Tehran. Otherwise, the predictable failure in Enniskillen shows there has ...
Russia urges presence of Iran, Saudi Arabia in Geneva talks on SyriaPress TV
G-8 urges Syria peace conference, France says Iran's Rouhani could attendAl-Monitor
Russia Underlines Iran's Constructive Presence in Geneva II Talks on SyriaFars News Agency

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France's willingness to involve Iran at the proposed Geneva conference on Syria represents one of the few progress points to emerge G8 summit

Matthew WeaverGuardian readers