U.S. Intelligence gains in Iran seen as boost to confidence:
The expanded intelligence effort has coincided with a covert campaign by the CIA and other agencies to sabotage Iran's nuclear program and has enabled an escalation in the use of targeted economic sanctions by the United States and its allies to weaken Iran's resolve. Ref. Source 9
Senior Iranian Foreign Policy Official Rejects Bilateral Meeting with US
Chairman of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi dismissed a US request for having a bilateral meeting with representatives of Iran on the sidelines of the negotiations between Tehran and the six world powers in Istanbul, Turkey. Ref. Source 5
Pentagon has military plans ready to prevent nuclear Iran, says Panetta:
The Pentagon has a plan ready for military action to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, but the United States and its allies remain focused on reaching a diplomatic solution, according to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Ref. Source 7
Photos From the Iran You Don't See on TV:
The version of Iran that Americans see in the media can certainly seem like a frightening, hostile place: stern mullahs, clandestine nuclear programs, angry (if often staged) anti-American protests. Yet Iran seen first-hand is very different, and much friendlier Ref. Source 8
Iran's food costs soar and unemployment spirals as sanctions begin to bite:
Iranians are abandoning traditional eating habits, being thrown out of work at alarming rates and face running short of medicines as the nation braces itself for fresh sanctions aimed at forcing its leaders to scrap their suspect nuclear programme. Ref. Source 8