World

Australia today said it will impose its own sanctions against Iran to persuade and pressurise it to reverse its nuclear programme, on the heels of fresh penalties imposed by the UN Security Council.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Australia will impose sanctions on a bank, a shipping line, and an individual involved in a construction company — all entities somehow linked to the nuclear programme.

“These new measures put Australia at the forefront of efforts to persuade Iran to reverse its current path of confrontation with the international community,” Smith said.

In an official statement, the minister said Resolution 1929 reflected the international community’s deep concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme, in particular its failure to comply with previous UN Security Council and International Atomic Energy Agency resolutions.

US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have mourned the death of Grand Imam Mohamed Sayyid Tantawi, the head of al-Azhar University in Cairo.

“As the grand sheikh of Al-Azhar University, he was a voice for faith and tolerance who was widely respected in Muslim communities in Egypt and around the globe, and by many who seek to build a world grounded in mutual respect,” the White House said in a statement.

“Sheikh Tantawi graciously hosted President Obama last June in Cairo, and we remember well his hospitality,” it said.

Noting that Imam Tantawi was a highly respected cleric and the leader of one of the most important institutions of Islamic learning in the world, Clinton said Al-Azhar had stood in Cairo last summer as a beacon of Islamic learning for over a thousand years, and it continues to play a dynamic role today.

Gates noted that he had a public exchange of barbs with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this week over which country is doing harm in Afghanistan. He had accused Tehran of undermining US and NATO efforts by helping the Taliban.

“I have talked about Iran playing a double game in Afghanistan, wanting a good relationship with the Afghan government and wanting to make our lives harder,” he said.

Two Australian teenagers have been arrested on charges of brutally assaulting a wheelchair- bound Canadian tourist with a metal bar in Sydney, an attack reminiscent of the spate of incidents against Indians here.

The 35-year-old man, whose identity was not released, was punched, stomped and beaten up at Mount Druitt train station on Tuesday night. He is still in hospital and has had surgery for a fractured skull.

New South Wales police said he was waiting at the station in Sydney’s west after watching a friend’s band play a concert when the two teens approached and punched him in the face while he attempted to roll into a station lift.

He fell out of his wheelchair, was stomped on and bashed on the head with a metal bar wrenched from his wheelchair, causing a depressed skull wound and severe cuts, police said.