Iran Feature: The Week in Civil Society --- Another Day Older and Deeper in Debt (Arseh Sevom)

Iranian workers protest over unpaid wage in front of the Ministry of Industry, 14 August 2012

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Another Day Older and Deeper in Debt

According to Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) [fa], the Saipa car factory in Kashan has dismissed more than 10,000 employees. Saipa in Tehran has also reduced the shifts from three to just one. Asr-e Iran reports that the automobile production rate has been reduced by 66.2%.

More than 600 steel workers demonstrated in front of the Ministry of Labor, demanding five months of unpaid wages. The protest was a follow-up

to the workers' claim of eight months of unpaid salaries --- despite a settlement, only three months were paid.

About 200 members of Tehran’s Metropolitan Vahed Bus Company gathered Wednesday in front of the Tehran Municipal Building to protest discrimination in pay. They also called for the dismissal of the managing director of the company and an investigation into their unpaid salaries.

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The Latest from Israel-Palestine (16 October): Netanyahu's Threats That Will Dominate the Elections

Photo: Marc Israel Sellem

1945 GMT: The State Attirney's Office announced that it is appealing the acquittals of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in the Jerusalem District Court corruption case to the Supreme Court. At a time when Olmert was mulling a political comeback, he could go to jail if the appeal is rejected. 

1900 GMT: Israel Defense Forces have confirmed that a Strela (SA-7) anti-aircraft missile was fired at an Israeli helicopter over the Gaza Strip for the first time last week.

1825 GMT: A rocket fired from Gaza hits Hof Ashkelon Regional Council in southern Israel. No injuries reported.

1730 GMT: The Palestinian Authority's public workers union has called for full strike Wednesday, Thursday and again next week in protest of the government's failure to pay salaries. 

1650 GMT: The leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, says the elected government of Gaza in 2006 was "the first model which led to the breakout of a sweeping Arab revolution in the Islamic region."

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Iran Audio Feature: Nuclear Talks and Scare Stories --- Scott Lucas with Monocle 24

See also Iran Feature: "Oil-Spill Sabotage To Block Strait of Hormuz" --- How Western Media Spreads a Scare Story

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I joined Monocle 24's The Briefing today to talk about latest developments concerning Iran. We spent most of the time asking if Tehran's signals to the West over renewed discussions about its nuclear programme are genuine; however, we also had a look at today's "scare story" of an Iranian plan for an oil spill in the Strait of Hormuz and the more serious claim --- though still part of political spin --- of Tehran's cyber-warfare against the US, Europe, and Arab States.

To get to the discussion, open The Briefing's homepage, click on the programe for 15/10, and go to the 7:19 mark.

The Latest from Iran (15 October): European Union Announces More Sanctions

See also Iran Feature: "Oil-Spill Sabotage To Block Strait of Hormuz" --- How Western Media Spreads a Scare Story
The Latest from Iran (14 October): Pretending All Is Well

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2040 GMT: Open All Hours Watch. According to the opposition site Kalemeh, Tehran Chief of Police has said that shopkeepers wishing to close for longer than the “established legal time” must obtain a permit.

Earlier this month many of the shops in the Tehran Bazaar closed amid a protest over the currency crisis.

2031 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. At least one notable MP is none too happy about the prospective interrogation of President Ahmadinejad --- Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, the head of the Principlist faction and a relative of the Supreme Leader, has said, “I don’t think questioning the President in the present circumstances is expedient....Unity and amity for solving the economic problems must be the priority of the Majlis and Government."

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Iran Feature: "Oil-Spill Sabotage To Block Strait of Hormuz" --- How Western Media Spreads a Scare Story

How Iran's head of armed forces, General Hassan Firouzabadi, might sabotage the Strait of Hormuz

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A case study in how scary rumour and the "information" from Western intelligence agencies becomes headline news across the world....

On Sunday afternoon, an EA correspondent pointed me to a story in Germany's Der Spiegel magazine, "Environmental Disaster as a Weapon: Iran Is Planning Tanker Sabotage in the Gulf". The article's lead paragraph:

Mohammed Ali Jaafari, the hard-line commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, and Admiral Ali Fadavi --- according to the Western intelligence --- have developed a sabotage plan that threatens the entire Gulf and could lead to an environmental disaster. The Top Secret plan, code-named "Murky Waters" and the classification "Top Secret", would widely contaminate the Strait of Hormuz through a deliberately-caused oil tanker disaster.

According to the supposed plan, Western nations would need Iran's technical help to clean up the Strait, a vital shipping lane, and restore transport of oil. The Islamic Republic, in return for this assistance, would insist on the lifting of sanctions.

The only problem? The story had no source other than the mysterious "Western intelligence" officials who were feeding it to Der Spiegel.

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EA Video Analysis: US Elections --- How You Can Become Commander-in-Chief Like Mitt Romney

Using Mitt Romney's speech last week at Virginia Military Institute on US foreign and military policy, we explain how you too can become Commander-in-Chief of the United States of America (one hint --- say "Al Qa'eda" a lot):

Syria Analysis: Assessing a US Warning over Arms to the Insurgency

Some within the US Government are using their regular channel --- David Sanger of The New York Times --- to put out a warning over support of the Syria insurgency.

The key political question: is there a general view across the Administration, pointing to a policy of caution and even reversal in backing of the insurgency? Is it a signal to Turkey, which has been increasing its co-operation with opposition fighters, at least indirectly, through operations across the Syrian border? Or is this one faction within the US Government using Sanger to fight against another group which favours more US intervention?

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: On a "Quiet" Sunday, 220 People Die

2046 GMT: Syria. More than 30,000 people have been killed so far. A number. In an area like Daraa, hundreds of shells fall every day. Numbers. But if you start watching this video from the 7:30 mark or before, you will be reminded of the horror that has become Syria:

@jmiller_ea watch this one from 8 mins in earlier todaySyria Daraa , Bosra Alshaabambuser.com/v/3064082

— kristin (@hlk01) October 15, 2012

@jmiller_ea chilled me to the bone

— kristin (@hlk01) October 15, 2012

2025 GMT: Syria. A disturbing video feed - a source we've used before for information from Hama posts a livestream of an incredible hail of bullets reportedly being fired in the city as we speak. We cannot confirm the video, but violence this intense won't stay quiet for long.

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The Latest from Iran (14 October): Pretending All Is Well

See also Iran Feature: A Letter from Detained Journalist Jila Bani Yaghoub to Her Imprisoned Husband
The Latest from Iran (13 October): "We Hate You War-Waging Power Seekers (Let's Talk)"

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1831 GMT: Currency Watch. Arya News reports the US dollar is being traded for 32850 Rials, a similar figure to that posted by ISNA.

1824 GMT: Parliament v. President. A follow-up to our report on Parliamentary pressure on the Government over its use of funds (see 1432 GMT)....

MP Gholamreza Assadollahi says Parliament will demand that the Government transfers its 20 trillion Toman (about $16.5 billon) profit from currency sales to National Funds to be used for development projects.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Attacks on President Assad's Air Force

The aftermath of the downing of a Syrian jet fighter near Aleppo on Saturday

See also Syria Interview: Free Syrian Army Commander Riad Al-Asaad "The Revolution is on the Right Track Now"
Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Insurgents Attack in the North

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1959 GMT: Bahrain. Five medics whose convictions were recently upheld have gone on hunger strike, according to their lawyers.

The five were among 20 medical staff who were sentenced to lengthy prison terms by a military court last year after they gave medical treatment to demonstrators. The sentences were reduced this summer; however, after they were reaffirmed by an appeal court last month, the five medics were detained.

Calling their action "The Lost Justice", the medics repeated that the authorities used "harsh and systematic torture" during their detention, which "caused injuries and disabilities whose traces remain on [their] bodies.

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