INDIA AND CHINA TO CONTINUE TO BUY IRANIAN OIL

"... EU foreign ministers this week agreed to a ban on oil imports from Iran as of 1 July... (But) India has no intention of following suit... officials in Delhi made clear they intended to carry on importing oil from Iran, despite the imposition of Western sanctions against Tehran... India buys 12 per cent of its oil from Iran, which is its second largest supplier after Saudi Arabia... China is the Islamic Republic’s largest customer, accounting for around 20 per cent of its exports, and has already made clear it has no plan to alter this arrangement..."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/india-pledges-to-continue-buying-oil-from-iran-6294530.html

ISRAEL SAYS IRAN HAS NOT DECIDED TO MAKE NUCLEAR BOMB

"... Defense Minister Ehud Barak said... Israel believes Iran itself has not yet decided whether to make a nuclear bomb... (and) that Israel was "very far off" from a decision about an attack on Iran over its nuclear program..."
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/barak-israel-very-far-off-from-decision-on-iran-attack-1.407953

U.S. ADDS 2nd CARRIER STRIKE GROUP AGAINST IRAN

"The U.S. military is now "fully prepared" to deal with any Iranian effort to close the Strait of Hormuz... The Navy this month added a second aircraft carrier strike group in the Middle East... The carriers are the USS Carl Vinson and the USS Abraham Lincoln, under the control of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain..."
http://news.yahoo.com/panetta-us-fully-prepared-iran-challenge-193126193.html

NUCLEAR SCIENTISTS ASSASSINATED - 3 DEAD, 1 WOUNDED IN 2 YEARS
State-sponsored terrorism

"... In January, 2010, a remote-controlled bomb attached to a motorcycle killed Masoud Ali Mohammadi, 50, who “taught neutron physics at Tehran University.” In November, 2010, two separate car bombs exploded within minutes of each other on the same day, one that killed nuclear scientist Majid Shahriar and wounded his wife, and the other which wounded another nuclear scientist, Fereidoun Abbasi, along with his wife. Then, in July of last year, Darioush Rezaei, 35, was shot dead and his wife was wounded by two gunmen firing from motorcycles... Rezaei “did his doctorate in neutron transport – which lies at the heart of nuclear chain reactions in reactors and bombs” and “was a member of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, the country’s official atomic energy commission.”

"And now... a 32-year-old university professor, Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, died when an assailant riding on a motorcycle attached a magnetic bomb to his car, which then detonated and killed him... the young scientist “was believed to be involved in procuring materials for Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz.”

"... Does anyone doubt that some combination of the two nations completely obsessed with Iran’s nuclear program — Israel and the U.S. — are responsible?"

http://www.salon.com/2012/01/11/more_murder_of_iranian_scientists_still_terrorism/?source=newsletter

IRANIANS SEE PURPOSE OF OIL SANCTIONS AS REGIME CHANGE
Not nuclear negotiations

"... the U.S. and its European partners move to throttle Iran’s economy by cutting off its ability to export oil... stated goal is to bring Iran to the table to negotiate a deal that would end international concerns over a nuclear program that has given Iran the means to build nuclear weapons—even though, as Defense Secretary Leon Panetta emphasized... U.S. and allied officials believe Tehran has not yet decided to build the bomb...

"Regardless of the Administration’s intent, the new measures, which are explicitly designed to throttle the Iranian economy, are being read in Tehran as further evidence that Washington’s goal is to force regime-change. That’s hardly likely to convince Iran’s leaders that they don’t need nuclear weapons; on the contrary, Iran appears to be bracing itself for war.

http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2012/01/09/why-new-sanctions-raise-danger-of-iran-building-nuclear-weapons/

SECDEF SAYS IRAN NOT BUILDING NUCLEAR WEAPON

"Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta... declared... that Iran is not currently trying to build a nuclear weapon... Iran says its nuclear program is only for energy and medical research, and refuses to halt uranium enrichment.."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/01/08

U.S. SANCTIONS ON IRANIAN OIL WILL ONLY HURT THE WEST

"... A key amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act signed by United States President Barack Obama on the last day of 2011... imposes sanctions on any countries or companies that buy Iranian oil and pay for it through Iran's central bank. Starting this summer, anybody who does it is prevented from doing business with the US. This amendment - for all practical purposes a declaration of economic war - was brought to you by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), on direct orders of the Israeli government... The price of oil may be destined to soon reach $120 a barrel and even $150 a barrel by summer...

"(But)... everyone... will be bypassing this Israeli-American declaration of economic war:
- Russia already said it will circumvent it.
- India is already paying for Iranian oil via Halkbank in Turkey.
- Iran is actively negotiating to sell more oil to China. Iran is China's second-largest supplier, only behind Saudi Arabia. China pays in euros, and soon may be paying in yuan. By March they both will have sealed an agreement about new pricing.
- Venezuela controls a bi-national bank with Iran since 2009; that's how Iran gets paid for business in Latin America.
- Even traditional US allies want out. Turkey - which imports around 30% of its oil from Iran - will seek a waiver exempting Turkish oil importer Tupras from US sanctions.
- And South Korea will also seek a waiver, to buy around 200,000 barrels a day - 10% of its oil - from Iran in 2012..."

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NA07Ak01.html

ISRAEL TRYING TO INVOLVE U.S. IN ATTACK ON IRAN

"... Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu... is exploiting the extraordinary influence his right-wing Likud Party exercises over the Republican Party and the U.S. Congress on matters related to Israel in order to maximise the likelihood that the United States would participate in an attack on Iran. Obama, meanwhile, appears to be hoping that he can avoid being caught up in a regional war started by Israel if he distances the United States from any Israeli attack..."
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106361

IRAN WARNS U.S. NOT TO RETURN CARRIER TO GULF

"... Army chief Ataollah Salehi said the United States had moved an aircraft carrier (USS John C Stennis) out of the Gulf because of Iran's naval exercises, and Iran would take action if the ship returned.
"Iran will not repeat its warning ... the enemy's carrier has been moved to the Sea of Oman because of our drill. I recommend and emphasize to the American carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf," army chief Salehi said.
"I advise, recommend and warn them over the return of this carrier to the Persian Gulf because we are not in the habit of warning more than once..."
http://news.yahoo.com/iran-threatens-action-u-carrier-returns-irna-082124042.html