Bloomberg reported last month that China inked a deal with Iran to help the Iranians expand their oil refining capacity.  Remember, one of the main "crippling" sanctions is a restriction on Iranian gasoline imports-- Iran has tons of oil, but little ability to turn it into gasoline.

Unless you've been living in a cave the past few days, you already know that sanctions against Iran have gathered tremendous momentum over the past few days, after Iran preemptively informed the IAEA of furtive nuclear operations in the mountains near Qom. Rather than serve as a news wire, our blog's goal is to analyze developments shed light on issues that don't get enough attention.  We'll have more coming soon.