Wall Street Journal: Global sanctions cut Iran’s crude oil exports by 39% in 2012, to 1.5 million barrels a day, the lowest level since 1986, during the Iran-Iraq war, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Friday.
EIA: Sanctions cut Iran’s 2012 oil exports to lowest level since 1986
Family of jailed Marine in Iran seeks Kerry’s help
AP: The family of an ex-Marine detained in Iran wants Secretary of State John Kerry to step in and demand his release.
UN calls for restraint in Iraq as over 200 killed
AFP: The United Nations warned on Friday that Iraq is at a “crossroads” and appealed for restraint, as four days of violence, including several attacks on mosques, killed more than 200 people.
Canada train plot suspect traveled to Iran: U.S. officials
Reuters: Investigators believe one of two suspects charged in Canada with plotting to blow up a railroad track carrying passenger trains traveled to Iran within the past two years, U.S. law enforcement and national security officials said on Thursday.
Bulgaria re-enacts bus bombing
AP: Bulgarian investigators on Friday staged a re-enactment of the bus bombing that killed five Israeli tourists, the bus driver and the alleged perpetrator at the Burgas airport in July.
Iranian pair deny Thai bomb plot
AFP: An Iranian man whose legs were blown off during an alleged botched bomb plot last year against Israeli diplomats in Bangkok said Friday he found the explosives and was trying to dispose of them safely when they detonated.
Japan buying less Iranian oil year-on-year
UPI: Japanese crude oil imports from Iran were down more than 150,000 barrels per day in March compared to a year ago, Finance Ministry data show.
Iran waiting for word on nuclear talks
UPI: The Iranian government is waiting for word from the international community on nuclear consultations, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said.
Lebanon dragged in as Hezbollah joins Syria war
Reuters: Along north Lebanon’s highways, the portraits of Hezbollah militants who have died in skirmishes with Israel are fading. But there are glistening photos of those killed in Hezbollah’s new fight.
Iranian scientist freed by U.S., reaches Oman
Reuters: An Iranian scientist held for more than a year in California on charges of violating U.S. sanctions arrived in Muscat on Friday, after being freed in what the Omani foreign ministry said was a humanitarian gesture.
