Mahmoud Ahmadinejad News

Israel on Thursday criticised Brazil's decision to grant berth to two Iranian warships in the face of U.S. pressure, and urged President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government to send them away.The vessels docked in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday. Reuters reported that Brazil had declined to admit them in January, in a goodwill gesture from Lula as he flew to Washington to meet U.S. President Joe Biden.Israel and Iran have been locked in a Cold War-style conflict for decades, which has included mutual accusations of maritime sabotage…

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called for curbs on the state's involvement in business and an end to Tehran's international isolation on Sunday to help rescue an economy hurt by sanctions, corruption and mismanagement. His appeal in a speech to 1,500 economists appeared to be critical of hardliners who oppose his efforts to deliver Iran from years of erratic economic management by the previous administration of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "Our economy will not prosper as long as it is monopolised (by the government). The economy must be rid of monopoly and see competition," he said. "It must be freed of insider speculation, be transparent, all people must be aware of the statistics.

President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday he wanted Iran to do a better job of explaining its nuclear programme to prevent "evil-minded" people misleading world opinion, two days before Tehran resumes talks with world powers on its disputed atomic activity. Iran and the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia will reconvene in Vienna to try to iron out differences over how to end a long standoff over suspicions that Tehran has sought the means to develop nuclear weapons. Western powers have long demanded greater openness from Iran to address those concerns and head off the risk of a downward spiral towards a new Middle East war, with Israel threatening to attack its arch-foe if diplomacy does not rein it in.

Gasoline prices in Iran leapt by up to 75 percent at midnight on Thursday, as state subsidies were cut, a risky move that President Hassan Rouhani hopes will improve an economy battered by Western sanctions. The price hikes will test Rouhani's support among a population fed up with the high inflation that he has pledged to reduce as he pursues talks with world powers aimed at ending sanctions imposed over Iran's nuclear programme. Iranians rushed to the pumps to fill their cars before the price surge, but there were no immediate reports of unrest, unlike in 2007 when there were riots at some gas stations when cheap fuel was rationed for the first time.

Iran attacked and seized control of a Romanian oil rig working in its Persian Gulf waters this morning one week after the Iranian government accused the European drilling company of hijacking another rig. An Iranian naval vessel fired on the rig owned by Romania's Grup Servicii Petroliere (GSP) in the Salman field and took control of its radio room, a Grup's representative in the United Arab Emirates said. Iran, which holds the world's second-largest oil and gas reserves, is due to respond to a European Union-led offer of incentives aimed at persuading it to halt uranium enrichment activities that are crucial to its nuclear program. Neither the press office of Iran's oil ministry nor the one of Iran's revolutionary guards could be reached for comment when called.

Iran has invited foreign companies to develop its offshore South Pars gas field, the first such call since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took power in August, Iran-Mania.com reported. The Iranian National Oil Company has placed four international tenders for the development of phases 19 to 22 of South Pars, the largest offshore field in the world. Iran has divided the gas field, located on the Iran-Qatar border in the Persian Gulf and shared by the two countries, into 25 phases. The tenders' document said that the most-recent phases will supply 100 million cubic meters (3,500 million cubic feet) per day of natural gas for domestic consumption.