Iran Snapshot: The Military's New Weapon --- "Deceit Perfume"

An Iranian innovator said he has invented a fragrance-making and spraying device to deceive enemies in the battlefield by camouflaging the gunpowder smelt in the area.

Mohammad Sadeh Pir-Tavana, the inventor of the aroma producing and spraying device, told FNA on Monday that his invention pumps and spreads the smell of fresh air, rainy weather, seaside weather and tea fragrance in vast areas to change the smell of the battlefield, specially in those areas where the two sides are not deployed classically and the two warring parties should analyze various battlefield specifications, including the smell of the gunpowder, to realize if there has been any armed force or engagement there.

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Jordan Feature: The Government's Threat to Internet Freedom (Tarawneh)

Successive governments have consistently accused Jordanian news sites of practicing irresponsible journalism, publishing slanderous articles, and partaking in character assassinations as well as blackmail. However, for the average Jordanian Internet user, such sites represent a vital resource of fairly unfiltered, local breaking news, as well as a platform for discussion, which may help explain the antagonistic relationship between the state and the budding, unregulated sector.

Yet, what would push Prime Minister Fayez Tarawneh's government (which has recently passed its 100-day mark and faces upcoming parliamentary elections) to initiate such a controversial legislative move now?

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Bahrain Opinion: You Can Imprison the 13 Activists. You Cannot Imprison Their Ideas.

As Victor Hugo said over a century ago: "One resists the invasion of armies; one does not resist the invasion of ideas." The war against the idea of reform in Bahrain has already been lost by its rulers. All its officials are doing now is prolonging the illusion: "Look, we put reform behind bars. Now you can't do anything!" 

So a message to King Hamad, the Prime Minister, the Public Prosecutor's office which even today was shouting, "Iran" and "Hezbollah" rather than "justice" and "rights". Men can be imprisoned. Their ideas cannot.

Good luck finding the tear gas to wipe them away.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: At Least 1600 Killed in the Deadliest Week

Al Jazeera English's report on how the Syrian conflict is affecting trade with Jordan

See also Egypt Feature: Mubarak-Era Officials "Retain Millions of Pounds" of Assets in Britain
Syria Opinion: "A Population Can Now Dismantle A Modern State on Its Own"
Sunday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Unavoidable Change on the Ground

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2033 GMT: Syria. Back from a break to find a video of fire and explosions in the Sukkari district of Aleppo because of regime shelling:

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Egypt Feature: Mubarak-Era Officials "Retain Millions of Pounds" of Assets in Britain (Shenker)

Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's ousted former president, was sentenced to life in jail in June. A six-month investigation, conducted by BBC Arabic and released in conjunction with the Guardian and al-Hayat, a pan-Arab newspaper, has identified many valuable assets linked to his family and their associates that have not been frozen.

These include luxury houses in Chelsea and Knightsbridge and companies registered in central London. One member of Mubarak's inner circle has even been permitted to set up a UK-based business in recent months, despite being named on a British Treasury sanctions list of Egyptians who are linked to misappropriated assets and subject to an asset-freeze.

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Syria Opinion: "A Population Can Now Dismantle A Modern State on Its Own" (Foley)

Ordinary Syrians have shown for the first time that a national population, essentially on its own, can dismantle a modern and established state in a number of months --- even if the leaders are determined to maintain power by force.

In the long run, this achievement may be one of the most significant legacies of the Arab Spring for two reasons. First, it calls into question the norms that have governed the international system since the seventeenth century, namely the assumption that military power, political legitimacy, and the absence of external foes are enough for governments to maintain authority. Governments must now take seriously the possibility that any population can dismantle a modern state on their own. Second, the events in Syria suggest that other national populations may be able to topple more powerful states in the future. That should give pause to national leaders across the globe.

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The Latest from Iran (3 September): "This Country is Broken"

Journalist Jila Bani Yaghoub returns to prison after she was summoned to complete a one-year sentence

See also Iran 1st-Hand: A Country of Resignation
The Latest from Iran (2 September): Tehran Strikes A Defiant Pose

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2038 GMT: Tough Talk of the Day. Back from a break to find that it is not just the Iranian regime who can strike a tough pose....

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah, has declared that Iran can strike US bases in the Middle East if Israel attacks the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities: "A decision has been taken to respond and the response will be very great."

Nasrallah continued in the televised interview, "The response will not be just inside the Israeli entity --- American bases in the whole region could be Iranian targets. If Israel targets Iran, America bears responsibility."

The Hezbollah leader said, however, there were divisions in Israel over an airstrike: Personally I do not expect the Israeli enemy --- at least in the coming months or foreseeable future --- [to launch] an attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran."

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Iran 1st-Hand: A Country of Resignation (Slavin)

Cafe in Darband (Photo: Barbara Slavin/Al-Monitor)Outside the conference hall, where Iranian reporters seemed to spend much of their time trying to interview the handful of Western journalists covering the meeting, residents of the capital were less eager to engage with foreigners than in the past. Contact with outsiders is now potentially much more dangerous — a legacy of the 2009 crackdown, which brought the arrest of hundreds of former Iranian officials, journalists and academics who had close ties with the West.

At Darband, for example, a young man who had given permission for a photo to be taken of him and his wife and young son sitting on a takht-e choobi, changed his mind 20 minutes later and asked that the image be deleted. Why, he would not say.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Unavoidable Change on the Ground

See also Saturday's Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: 10,000s March Outside Manama

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2128 GMT: Yemen. At least eight people have been killed by a US drone strike on two vehicles in Radaa in the centre of the country.

"Five were killed and eight injured and we are still investigating who these men are and in what way they were linked to al Qaeda," one official said.

Three women were also killed in the strike, a local tribal chief claimed. He said that the strike had targeted Abdulraouf al-Dahab, a local al-Qaeda leader, but that it failed to kill him.

Some tribesmen and military officials said that no fighters had been killed in the air strike, in which 14 civilians, including three women and three children, died. The officials said Sunday's airstrikes were based on faulty intelligence that the passengers were al-Qaeda members.

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The Latest from Iran (2 September): Tehran Strikes A Defiant Pose

Nikahang Kowsar's view of the isolation of Iran and the Supreme Leader after this week's Non-Aligned summit

See also Iran Snapshot: Head of State TV Admits Mis-Translation of Egyptian President's Speech on Syria
Iran Interview: Ali Larijani on the Nuclear Issue, Syria, and Detained Opposition Leader Mousavi
The Latest from Iran (1 September): After the Summit

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1539 GMT: Currency Watch. With the currency market set to re-open after an extended holiday, the head of the Central Bank has dismissed speculation that the Iranian Rial --- now at 21930:1 vs. the US dollar --- will weaken on the open market to 30000:1.

Bahmani said instead that the Rial would reach 15000:1, its highest level since last summer.

1533 GMT: Finance Watch. Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani has cancelled President Ahmadinejad's right to withdraw money from National Funds without legal directives.

Larijani's step comes amid complaints that Mahmoud Bahmani, the head of the Central Bank, has not delivered a report on government withdrawals of cash from financial institutions in July.

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