UPI: The time line in 2012 begins in early January with the European Union agreeing to join the United Stated in imposing tougher sanctions on Iran that target the country’s economic lifeline, its oil exports, as a means of unmasking and putting a stop to a suspected nuclear weapons program.
Iranian sanctions do little to deter nuclear program
Iran may open military site to UN nuclear watchdog
AP: An Iranian official is saying the country may open a controversial military site to inspectors of the United Nations nuclear watchdog.
Iran president sacks cabinet’s sole woman
AFP: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has sacked the sole woman in his cabinet, Health Minister Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, state television reported on Thursday.
Sasol says Arya polymer sale talks continue as Iran denies exit
Bloomberg: Sasol Ltd. (SOL), the largest producer of motor fuel from coal, said discussions continue with potential buyers of its stake in Arya Sasol Polymer Co., amid reports that an Iranian official denied the company plans to withdraw.
Brent oil’s third year over $100 looms on supply risk
Bloomberg: Brent is more likely to overshoot the 2013 median than miss it as Iran spars with the west over its nuclear program and the conflict in Syria deepens, Morgan Stanley and UBS AG said.
Japan’s November Iran oil imports surge to most since March
Bloomberg: Japan’s crude imports from Iran more than doubled in November from the previous month to the highest level since March, as the Asian country boosted purchases despite sanctions against the Middle Eastern nation.
Iran grounds domestic flights during call to prayer
AFP: Iran has ordered domestic airlines to take off half an hour after pre-dawn Muslim prayers, the website of country’s civil aviation organisation quoted its chief as saying on Wednesday.
Demos against PM block Iraq highway
AFP: Hundreds of protesters also gathered in Samarra, the capital of Salaheddin province north of Baghdad, repeating chants describing Maliki as a “coward” and an “Iranian agent”.
Iran ex-president’s family sues radical critic
AP: Four children of an influential ex-Iranian president are suing a radical lawmaker for describing his family as a corrupt “octopus,” heating up a struggle between hard-liners and moderates simmering since a contested 2009 election.
Shooter in Afghanistan insider attack is an Iranian national, official says
CNN: The female police officer who killed a U.S. contractor in Kabul on Monday is an Iranian national, an Afghan government official said Tuesday.
