def iso2time(text):
    """
    As for http2time, but parses the ISO 8601 formats:

    1994-02-03 14:15:29 -0100    -- ISO 8601 format
    1994-02-03 14:15:29          -- zone is optional
    1994-02-03                   -- only date
    1994-02-03T14:15:29          -- Use T as separator
    19940203T141529Z             -- ISO 8601 compact format
    19940203                     -- only date

    """
    # clean up
    text = text.lstrip()

    # tz is time zone specifier string
    day, mon, yr, hr, min, sec, tz = [None]*7

    # loose regexp parse
    m = ISO_DATE_RE.search(text)
    if m is not None:
        # XXX there's an extra bit of the timezone I'm ignoring here: is
        #   this the right thing to do?
        yr, mon, day, hr, min, sec, tz, _ = m.groups()
    else:
        return None  # bad format

    return _str2time(day, mon, yr, hr, min, sec, tz)
As for http2time, but parses the ISO 8601 formats:

    1994-02-03 14:15:29 -0100    -- ISO 8601 format
    1994-02-03 14:15:29          -- zone is optional
    1994-02-03                   -- only date
    1994-02-03T14:15:29          -- Use T as separator
    19940203T141529Z             -- ISO 8601 compact format
    19940203                     -- only date