Syria Audio Feature: "Foreign Fighters and the Free Syrian Army" --- EA's James Miller with Monocle 24

AFP with insurgents in Aleppo on Monday

---

James Miller spoke with Monocle 24's The Daily last night about the state of the insurgency in Syria, as the Free Syrian Army declares that it has moved its command inside the country and the regime claims it is facing 5000 foreign fighters.

Miller opens, "Foreign fighters are still a small percentage of the insurgency, but the number is quickly growing," before explaining the shifting patterns of the conflict.

And will the Free Syrian Army achieve a unified command? "Not any time soon."

To get to the discussion, open The Daily homepage, click on the programme for 24/9, and go to the 1:04.42 mark.

Iran Analysis: Daughter in Prison, Son Back in Tehran --- What Now for Ex-President Rafsanjani?

Mehdi Hashemi at immigration at a Tehran airport on Sunday night

---

I doubt few people --- possibly not former President Rafsanjani, possibly not even the Supreme Leader --- have a full idea of how the politics and intimidation played out to this point and what comes next. Instead, the key figures have to make a quick re-assessment today and calculate the benefits and costs of their next steps.

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (24 September): Rafsanjani, Nukes, Ahmadinejad in New York

Nikahang Kowsar links last night's shutdown of Google and Gmail in Iran to President Ahmadinejad's trip to the US

See also Iran Opinion: Thoughts on the US De-Listing of the "Terrorist" Mujahideen-e Khalq
Iran Interview and Analysis: Ahmadinejad's Show Begins with Washington Post --- An Easy Ride on Nukes, And Nothing on Human Rights
Iran Analysis: Daughter in Prison, Son Back in Tehran --- What Now for Ex-President Rafsanjani?

---

2030 GMT: Sanctions Watch. The US Treasury has officially designated the National Iranian Oil Company as "an agent or affiliate" of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, supporting Washington's pursuit of new sanctions on foreign banks dealing with the NIOC.

The Treasury told Congress that there was not enough information at this time to conclude that the National Iranian Tanker Company is linked to the IRGC.

Click to read more ...

Iran Opinion: Thoughts on the US De-Listing of the "Terrorist" Mujahideen-e Khalq

Al Jazeera English examines the support of leading US politicians for the Mujahedin-e Khalq, March 2012

---

Looking again at President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton, I think that as they fell for the straight-forward lobbying, they had to find a reason to convince themselves that they were doing this for the "greater good".

But what could that be?

Just like I needed to find enough money for my cigarettes, the US is desperate. Washington has repeatedly tried to find ways to somehow find a peaceful solution to Iran's implicit and explicit threats to Israel's security. The thinking in the White House could be, "Maybe if we get the MEK off the list. They can work with the other Iranian opposition groups abroad and maybe…just maybe…there would be some sort of a solution that does not involve Israel bombing Iran's nuclear installations! So let's try something else one more time --- however small the chances."

Click to read more ...

Iran Interview and Analysis: Ahmadinejad's Show Begins with Washington Post --- An Easy Ride on Nukes, And Nothing on Human Rights

An extract from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's interview with Piers Morgan of CNN

---

Perhaps most striking is the Washington Post interview is the lack of concern with any developments inside Iran, and thus any consideration that these may be linked to the Islamic Republic's foreign policy. There is nothing here on the economic situation, nothing on the political manoeuvring within the system, nothing about the 2013 Presidential election, and --- perhaps inevitably --- nothing about the post-2009 repression and human rights.

Click to read more ...

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: An Opposition Meeting in Damascus Brings Questions and No Answers

1812 GMT: Syria. The Syrian Information Ministry has denied firing its ambassador to Lebanon, a story which it claims was the result of hackers:

"The email account of the ministry was hacked in order to publish inaccurate information" about the reported dismissal of the Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdel Karim Ali, the ministry said in a statement carried by state television.

According to the Ministry of Information, Ambassador Ali is still working at his post.

1805 GMT: Syria. According to the Local Coordination Committees, 72 people have been killed today nationwide:

25 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs, 19 in Aleppo, 14 in Daraa, 9 in Homs, 2 in Lattakia, 1 in Hama, 1 in Deir Ezzor, and 1 in Idlib.

See our note about the casualty figures posted by the LCC.

Click to read more ...

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Fighting, Snipers, and Death Throughout Aleppo

Demonstration on Saturday night in the Rukneddin section of Damascus

See also Syria 1st-Hand: Among the Alawites
Tunisia Video Interview: Ennadha Party Leader Rachid Ghannouchi "Violence is Not the Answer"
Saturday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Fighting, Snipers, and Death Throughout Aleppo

---

1842 GMT: Syria. The Local Coordination Committees claim 51 people have been killed by security forces today, including 14 in Damascus and its suburbs, 10 in Aleppo Province, and 10 in Daraa Province.

1822 GMT: Syria. A demonstration tonight in the Damascus suburb of Hamourieh:

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (23 September): An "Inevitable" War with Israel?

President Ahmadinejad and military commanders gaze at a missile during Friday's parade in Tehran

See also The Latest from Iran (22 September): The Syria Muddle Continues

---

2022 GMT: The House Arrests. The son of opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi, held under strict house arrest since February 2011, has provided an update on his father's status.

Mohammad Taghi Karroubi said, "For the past six weeks, the family has been allowed to meet with Mr. Karroubi once a week and on a regular basis. These visits have taken place in the presence of security agents. Prior to this change in policy, there had been times when the family had gone four months without seeing Mr. Karroubi."

Karroubi's son said the opposition figure, who ran for President in 2009 and pressed the regime after the disputed election over justice and rights, has had access to newspapers for only four weeks out of his 19-month detention. So "I deemed it necessary to bring him up to breast with current affairs during our short visits that took place in the presence of security agents".

Click to read more ...

Syria 1st-Hand: Among the Alawites (Rosen)

A pro-Assad rally in Ras al-Ayn

---

It was April, my sixth month travelling through Syria. After I left I heard of another funeral not far away, in the village of Ras al-Ayn, near the coast. A village of seven thousand people now had seven martyrs from the security forces, six missing or captured and many wounded. "Every day we have martyrs," an officer said. "It’s all a sacrifice for the nation." Another talked about "their" crimes, and said ‘they’ had killed the soldier because he was an Alawite. One of my guides berated him for speaking of the conflict in sectarian terms in front of me. "The opposition have left us no choice," another soldier said. "They accept nothing but killing."

Click to read more ...

US Politics Analysis: How Occupy Wall Street Tilted This Presidential Election Towards Obama

Video streaming by Ustream

Tim Pool describes Monday's protests by Occupy Wall Street on its one-year anniversary

---

What has happened since 2010 that means voters are prepared to re-elect a President whose economic record is so unpopular?

Occupy Wall Street is what happened.

Occupy is not the only reason why Romney's economic narrative has faltered. Indeed, in the larger electoral picture, it is only a small contribution to the GOP's poor campaign, but Occupy did something that observers have failed to appreciate in their rush to dismiss the movement as a fad or failure. The protesters changed the background, even as they failed to build a mass of participation, against which the contending economic visions of Obama and Romney are now framed.

Click to read more ...