Iran Snap Analysis: The Currency Crisis

As the currency crisis builds, so does the political tension. In the last week, criticism of the Government has been resurging, from tycoon Asadollah Asgarouladi to leading MP Ahmad Tavakoli --- relative and ally of Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani --- whose website Alef was blocked for weeks last month after it featured Tavakoli's call for Parliament to establish supervision of a Government ruining the economy.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Leader appears to be staying out of the fray. Possibly, that is because he wants to avoid the risk of collateral damage, taking blame for the problems of his people. Possibly, it is because his office does not know what to do. Probably, it is a combination of the two.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: 7 Weeks Later, The Battles in Aleppo Continue

Saturday night's opposition rally in Bab Qibli in Hama Province

See also Bahrain 1st-Hand Special: Friday's Manama Protests and the "Overwhelming Humane Side of People"
Syria 1st-Hand: Darayya After the Mass Killing --- "The Stink of Death"
Syria Photo Feature: A Moment of Life and Death in Aleppo
Saturday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Fighting Escalates in Aleppo and Damascus

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1957 GMT: Bahrain. The Speaker of the Council of Representatives has called on ambassadors of "Western" states to condemn the "vandalism, sabotage, and targetting of the trade sector by the chaotic rallies" of the leading opposition society, Al Wefaq.

Authorities tried to prevent an Al Wefaq march on Friday by declaring it illegal and mobilising security forces around and in the capital Manama, but smaller demonstrations occurred throughout the city, with the police trying to disperse them with tear gas.

See Bahrain 1st-Hand Special: Friday's Manama Protests and the "Overwhelming Humane Side of People"

1951 GMT: Libya. The Prosecutor's Office has said that the trial of former leader Muammar Qaddafi's son Saif al-Islam will be delayed by five months to include any relevant testimony obtained from the interrogation of Libya's former head of intelligence.

Government officials said in August that Saif al-Islam's trial on charges of war crimes would begin this month, but the extradition of Abdullah al-Senussi from Mauritania on Wednesday led to the postponement.

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The Latest from Iran (9 September): Sanctions, More Sanctions, No Talks

See also The Latest from Iran (8 September): The Threat Is Not Israel --- It's the Economy

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1942 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Children's rights' activist Saeed Shirzad, who was detained while helping victims of August's earthquake in East Azerbaijan, has been released.

1925 GMT: The Currency Crisis and Politics. Two stories pointing to the possible rise of political tensions over the weakening Iranian currency.

The head of the Central Bank, Mahmoud Bahmani, has indicated the Bank will not release reserves to bolster the currency, saying people still have dollars at home.

That answer is unlikely to satisfy prominent conservative MP Ahmad Tavakoli, who accused the Central Bank of withholding dollars. That allegation fits the news, posted on EA yesterday, that importers have been able to get foreign currency at official rates to release their goods from ports.

An EA correspondent assesses, "I think this is a full-fledged battle tween Ahmadinejad and his opponents about control of the currency market. The Supreme Leader is afraid to enter because of collateral damage."

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Syria 1st-Hand: Darayya After the Mass Killing --- "The Stink of Death" (Di Giovanni)

A funeral procession in Darayya in August, days before the deadly regime attacks

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Two weeks on, Darayya still stinks of death. A poor Sunni suburb south of Damascus, it had been well known for furniture-making, and for its peaceful resistance before the conflict. Now it is a ghost town of shattered glass and broken graveyard walls, bombed vegetable shops and decapitated blocks of flats. Rank rubbish is piled on corners, uncollected. There is the unmistakable smell of rotting corpses that have not yet been removed from houses. A lone bicyclist makes his way awkwardly through the rubble and debris.

The town is still and lifeless.

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Bahrain 1st-Hand Special: Friday's Manama Protests and the "Overwhelming Humane Side of People" (Ahlam Oun)

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Jamila Hanan tweeted something today that hit the exact overwhelming sense I felt on Friday in Manama and could not find the words to describe it. She wrote:

Sometimes the world seems such a horrible place, but the more one exposes evil, the more one discovers that love is even stronger.

And it is very true. The hospitality, care, and their act of kindness was more powerful than all of the repression happening outside. They help people in need in spite of the danger of being raided and attacked any moment.

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Syria Photo Feature: A Moment of Life and Death in Aleppo (Shelton)

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Tracey Shelton of Global Post explains how she took one of the most striking sets of photographs of the Syrian conflict:

I was filming a feature on life on the frontlines of Aleppo, Syria. I was camping out with the men of Noor Den al-Zenke Battalion, who man a two-block stretch of back streets that now forms the final line between government troops and opposition forces.

This narrow street had become a makeshift home for the men. Lounge chairs salvaged from abandoned homes formed an area for chatting and drinking tea. Meals were prepared on a grass mat in the middle of the street. We slept in a room on the lower floor in case of air raids. Lookouts were posted at each street corner to both watch and listen for new sniper positions and approaching troops and tanks.

On this morning, the men were relaxed and joking around as they cleaned their area from a tank attack the day before. That time, they had been prepared and the tank had fired too short. This time, the assault came with little warning.

As the cloud of smoke engulfed the street, we ran back and frantically waited for the others to escape through the dust and debris. But no one came. In that split second, three men were reduced to broken, bleeding masses.

After a few minutes of disorientation, a vehicle arrived to transport the bodies. The survivors washed away the blood and flesh in a heartbreaking clean up.

New fighters came to take their posts. And the battle continued.

The full set of seven photographs....

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Fighting Escalates in Aleppo and Damascus

Claimed footage of Free Syrian Army fighters inside the Hanano army barracks in Aleppo in Syria

See also Bahrain Video Discussion: The Conflict and the Regime's Public-Relations Effort
Egypt Feature: Who Speaks for the Workers?
Friday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Shelling Returns to Damascus

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2020 GMT: Syria. The Local Coordination Committees report 172 people have been killed by security forces today, including 89 in Aleppo Province, 55 in Damascus and its suburbs, and 14 in Daraa Province.

State news agency SANA reports amnesty for "227 persons who were misled into getting involved in the recent events [and] whose hands are clean of the Syrians' blood...after pledging to not bear arms again".

According to SANA, some of those released said that they turned themselves in after realizing the scope of the conspiracy targeting Syria in implementation of foreign agendas".

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The Latest from Iran (8 September): The Threat Is Not Israel --- It's the Economy

See also The Latest from Iran (7 September): Challenges on the International Front

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1945 GMT: Sanctions Watch. Sierra Leone has removed nine vessels from its shipping register after finding they belonged to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines.

Iran has been trying to reflag its ships, using countries such as Tuvalu, to bypass Western sanctions aimed at choking off its oil exports.

In mid-August, Tanzania announced it was de-registering 36 Iranian vessels and that it was dropping the Dubai-based shipping agent who flagged them without its knowledge.

1910 GMT: Media Watch. I have been interviewed at length tonight by the radio service of State broadcaster IRIB about sanctions and Iran's nuclear programme.

If anyone hears the broadcast version of the remarks, please let me know.

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Bahrain Video Discussion: The Conflict and the Regime's Public-Relations Effort

Ahmed Shihab-Eldin hosts a discussion on Huffington Post Live with guests Brian Dooley of Human Rights First; Fahad AlBinali of the Bahrain International Affairs Authority; Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists; Justin Elliott of ProPublica; Leah McElrath, a social media activist; Maryam Al-Khawaja, acting President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights; and Mohammed Al-Muharraqi, a surgeon who works for the Bahrain Defense Forces.

Egypt Feature: Who Speaks for the Workers? (Bishara)

Protest rally of Egyptian workers, December 2011

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Egypt's January 25, 2011 revolution gave the country's workers a golden opportunity to press their agenda. Workers played a key role in the wave of societal unrest that led to Hosni Mubarak's downfall, and after the long-time president's departure many restrictions on political organization and dissent were relaxed. But workers have not been able to seize that opportunity to cohesively advance their demands. Instead, fragmentation has emerged as the dominant feature of post-Mubarak labor politics. Egyptian workers have struggled to find their own voice as they navigate the legacy of state control over labor organizations and a complicated new political situation.

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