Bloomberg: China’s imports of crude from Iran rebounded to the highest level in six months in December after the U.S. renewed an exemption from penalties on banks that process payments for the Persian Gulf nation’s oil.
China imports of Iranian crude rebound to highest in six months
Iran’s Obama billboard: what it really means
The Guardian: Tehran’s latest propaganda offensive shows Barack Obama on a huge mural side by side with a seventh-century Shia villain.
Iran resorts to hangings in public to cut crime
New York Times: An eerie silence filled the air as a crowd of around 300 gathered Sunday just before sunrise in a Tehran park. They awaited the arrival of two young men who were about to die.
Iran: Guard criticizes storming of British embassy
AP: A spokesman for Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard has criticized the 2011 storming of the British Embassy in Tehran, saying students and activists should “avoid actions driven by emotion.”
Assad’s overthrow “red line” for Iran: supreme leader’s aide
Reuters: A senior aide to Iran’s supreme leader warned against the overthrow of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, saying his fate was a “red line”, in one of the Islamic state’s strongest messages of support for the Damascus government.
Israel leader says Iran key issue, not settlements
AP: Two days before national elections, Israel’s prime minister on Sunday shrugged off international criticism of Israeli settlement construction, charging instead that Iran’s suspect nuclear program the real threat to regional security.
Iran hangs two in public for machete attack: report
AFP: Iran hanged two men in public, after a video posted on YouTube last month showed them assaulting a man in a Tehran street with a machete, the ISNA news agency reported.
Iran could begin feeling a further squeeze on its oil income soon
Washington Post: Ever since European seaports closed their gates to Iranian oil tankers last summer, Iran has looked to the East to keep its economy afloat. Countries such as China, India and South Korea — some of them critics of Western sanctions — have offered Iran a lifeline of reliable markets and much-needed dollars.
Iran courts restart of nuke talks, but snubs UN
AP: Iran has floated specific dates for reopening talks with the U.S. and other world powers about its nuclear program. At the same time, Tehran has left U.N. nuclear inspectors empty-handed when it comes to addressing Western suspicions that it’s conducting tests related to nuclear weapons.
India hesitant to implement US, EU sanctions on Iran: Report
Times of India: India is hesitant to implement all aspects of US and European Union sanctions against Iran, a congressional report has said, attributing this to New Delhi’s reliance on Tehran with regards to Afghanistan and the historic, cultural and economic ties between the two nations.
