NY Times: China Renews Opposition to Iran Sanctions Adding to a growing catalogue of disputes between Washington and Beijing, a senior Chinese official said on Thursday that pressure for tighter sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program could block chances of a diplomatic settlement to the dispute.

Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi was speaking in Paris less than a week after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton rebuked China over its opposition to stronger measures against Tehran, saying Beijing’s position was shortsighted.

Since then, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran has been reported as reiterating support for a deal under which Iran would allow its low-enriched nuclear fuel to be exported for processing into nuclear fuel rods — prompting some skepticism in Europe and the United States about his motives.

“Iran has to be measured by its actions, not by what it says,” German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Wednesday.

The issue also arose during a visit to Paris by Mr. Yang, who was quoted on Thursday as telling reporters: “To talk about sanctions at the moment will complicate the situation and might stand in the way of finding a diplomatic solution.”

His remarks, quoted by Reuters, seemed a direct rebuff of efforts by the United States to secure broad international support for tougher penalties against Iran’sRevolutionary Guards, accused by the West of running a covert nuclear arms program. Tehran says the program is for peaceful civilian purposes only.

Telegraph: Analysis: negotiation with Iran an ‘unending waltz’ Iran’s neighbours have already reached the conclusion that Iran will gain nuclear weapons. It is an assumption that is transforming relationships across the region. The Sunni Muslim kingdoms of the Gulf view a nuclear-armed Iranian regime as the pre-eminent threat to their survival. Israel is no longer the solitary Middle Eastern ally on the frontline against Iranian ambitions.

BBC: Australia blocks shipments to Iran over nuclear fear Australia has blocked three shipments to Iran because of fears the contents could have been for Tehran’s nuclear programme, PM Kevin Rudd has said.

Guardian: Iran questioned over British protester on espionage and alcohol trial The Foreign Office said tonight it was urgently seeking information from Iran’s government after reports that a British national was among opposition supporters on trial for taking part in anti-government street protests last year.  A 24-year-old woman with dual British and Iranian nationality is one of 16 people being tried in Tehran over the most serious unrest since the disputed election in June returned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president, reports from Iran said.

Reuters: U.S. fighting “psychological war” in Gulf: Iran Iran accused the United States on Thursday of launching a “psychological war” in the Gulf region by presenting Tehran as a threat to Gulf Arab states to convince them they needed U.S. protection. “They don’t want to see good and growing relations between Iran and its neighbors in the Persian Gulf and thus started a psychological war,” Major General Hassan Firouzabadi, the chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, was quoted as saying on semi-official news agency ILNA. Iran’s top military official also played down the threat to the Islamic republic from Patriot missiles.

WSJ: Brazil Not In Talks To Enrich Iran’s Uranium -Foreign Minister Brazil’s government hasn’t held talks with Iran to enrich low-grade uranium from that country, Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said Wednesday.  Amorim made the statement to quell speculation over the past week that Brazil could be involved in direct bilateral talks to provide Iran with high-grade uranium.

TB: The Ten Days That Changed Iran Chronicling the ten-day period that began on February 1, 1979, the day Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, by then the undisputed leader of the Revolution, returned to Iran after nearly a decade and a half in exile.

Time: Iran’s Secret Obsession: Getting Lost in Tehran For the past two years, Lost has absolutely dominated the underground DVD market in Tehran; and almost nowhere in the world is the sixth and final season of Lost as anticipated than in Iran. Initially discovered in October 2008 by a few Iranians with access to high-speed internet, the show on DVD has now become Tehran’s “gotta have it” item. (Certainly, nothing compares to it on Iranian state television with its cooking shows and documentaries.) Today it is next to impossible to find a young person in the capital, be it in the affluent north of the city or in the working class south, that has not seen or at least heard of Lost. In some quarters, not knowing what Lost is, or worse, betraying a lack of interest in the program, invites scorn and ridicule.