In 2010, Iran's nuclear facilities were infiltrated by Stuxnet, the centrifuge-wrecking malware allegedly cooked up by the US government. Now they seem to have been hit again by a bizarre attack forcing nuclear plant workstations to pump the song "Thunderstruck" by heavy metal band AC/DC through the speakers at full volume.
Demonstration in Saraqeb, 29 June 2012
Saraqeb is still at the mercy of the tanks of President Bashar Assad, just as it has been for about a year. The military invaded during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan in 2011. It re-entered on March 24 for a couple of days. It also shelled Saraqeb on July 19, in response to an attack by local elements of the rebel Free Syria Army on a checkpoint on the outskirts of the town. Some 25 people were killed in several hours of shelling on that night. It is Ramadan once again and the tanks every now and then lob a shell in the direction of town to remind Saraqeb that Assad’s forces are still around.
But a different flag flies in Saraqeb: the three starred one belonging to the rebels. And the local government works. The Baladiye, or local council, in this Sunni town of some 40,000 in northwestern Idlib province is still functioning. Its 90 or so civil servants still show up for work and still draw their salaries.
A "Free Younis Ashoori" poster on a wall in Bahrain
This morning, 61-year-old hospital administrator Younis Ashoori returns to court for the 11th time since February in a drawn-out appeal process. Since EA wrote about his case a fortnight ago --- Bahrain 1st-Hand Special: The Coupled Suffering of Younis and Amina Ashoori --- Younis has been in court twice.
Last year, Younis was arrested, abused, and sentenced before a military court. He was charged with transporting oxygen in an ambulance to the site of a protest at the Financial Harbour, for which he received a three-year sentence. The charge was based upon documents he signed under duress whilst blindfolded. He was also charged with replacing pictures of the Bahrain royal family with Shia symbols and inciting hatred against the regime. Unlike most of the other detained health professionals, and despite his age, ill-health and mistreatment, Younis was not granted bail.
EA has now been shown copies of court transcripts from Younis's appeal hearings. They raise questions about why he has remained behind bars so long and about the quality of justice meted out to victims of last year's military tribunals.
Younis Ashoori Insurgents in the Jabal al Zawiya region in Idlib Province celebrate beside a destroyed armoured vehicle of the Syrian military
I spoke with Monocle 24's The Briefing at lunchtime, after overnight developments but before the latest news from Aleppo (see EA's Live Coverage).
Discussion covered the situations in Damascus, Aleppo, and around the country. The take-away line may be near the end of the interview: "The insurgents do not have to capture and hold territory in the biggest cities. They only have to attack and remain for 24, 48, 72 hours, withdrawing and then returning days or weeks later, to erode confidence in the regime."
To get to the item, open The Briefing's homepage, click on the programme for 24 July, and go to the 7:15 mark.
Monocle 24, Syria Protest in Neyshabour over inflation, especially for food: "Death to High Prices" (see 0545 GMT)
See also The Latest from Iran (23 July): Picking A Fight Over an Ahmadinejad Advisor?
1715 GMT: The deputy nuclear negotiators for Iran and the 5+1 Power have met in Istanbul today.
No details were given of the discussion between the European Union's Helga Schmid and her Iranian counterpart, Dr. Ali Bagheri, other than this will be followed by contact between” the EU High Representative Catherine Ashton, acting for the 5+1, and Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Dr. Saeed Jalili.
1712 GMT: Impeachment Watch. A demand by 20 MPs for the interrogation of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Mehdi Ghazanfari, has been sent to the Majlis.
2125 GMT: Syria. We're closing today's live coverage, but it has been an eventful day.
Most of the focus has been on Aleppo. Even though we've repeatedly talked about the strength of the Free Syrian Army, even we are surprised at how well they are fighting in Syria's largest city. The regime has no choice but to launch a full-out attack on the insurgents if they ever wish to free the city. As the BBC says it will soon air footage of jets bombing the city, that has already begun. Despite this, insurgents are closing in on the city, the Syrian military appears to be evacuating parts of Idlib in order to gain more forces for the fight for Aleppo, and the battle will likely rage for days.
In the end, the FSA was never capable of holding Damascus. It just may be capable of holding Aleppo. But this does not matter. The regime has ruined the economy of its two largest cities during this fighting, and the regime is bleeding territory to the FSA elsewhere.
We've lost track of the narrative in two other important areas. The violence in Daraa and Hama provinces is staggering. Despite the heaviest fighting in this civil war being elsewhere, the amount of civilians being killed by regime forces in Hama and Daraa is very high. These areas are constantly under attack, efforts to ensure that the FSA never gains a foothold in these areas. But the opposition still thrives in both cities, and in their suburbs, and in the countrysides. The strategy is not working, and one has to wonder what will happen the minute the thumb is let off of the necks of the two provinces that started this uprising nearly 17 months ago.
EA's intern, Josh Moss, and I have been compiling an interactive map of today's events. Most of the locations of the map link back to the individual updates, and vice versa. Click on the link below the map to see it in its own window:
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu meets members of the opposition Syrian National Council on Monday
Ankara is now heavily investing its political, economic, logistical, and public-relations capacity in the effort to boost the opposition agains the regime. In return, Turkey wants a guarantee that there will be no autonomous region in the new Syria.
That seems a logical strategy, but how it will work in practice ---- given that Kurds hold a significant amount of bargaining power for "democratic autonomy" --- is unclear. Given that the Syrian Kurds are already pursuing and obtaining self-governance in some areas as they fight regime forces, how can they be ignored in the transitional period?
A conclusion? Ankara must face reality and talk to Syrian Kurds if it wants to finish Assad as soon as possible.
But then another queston: how does Turkey talks to its own Kurds in these circumstances?
Al Jazeera English's account of 27 May of the mass killings in Houla
Nothing is going to happen, Muawiya Sayyid, a retired police officer, reassured his family on the afternoon of May 25. They were afraid to leave the house, but Sayyid reminded his family that he had been a colonel and troops with regime connections had remained unharmed in previous raids.
It was a fatal miscalculation, as Colonel Sayyid was forced to realize during the last few minutes of his life. According to statements by his surviving wife and daughter, he was in his room on the second floor when he overheard the murderers in front of the house as they agreed bring out the women first and then kill everyone. He told his wife and children to run. "I'll try to stall them," he said. He succeeded, but paid for it with his life.
A destroyed regime tank in the Sakhour section of Aleppo on Monday
Sixteen months into the uprising in Syria, the United States is struggling to develop a clear understanding of opposition forces inside the country, according to U.S. officials who said that intelligence gaps have impeded efforts to support the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
U.S. spy agencies have expanded their efforts to gather intelligence on rebel forces and Assad’s regime in recent months, but they are still largely confined to monitoring intercepted communications and observing the conflict from a distance, officials said.
Interviews with U.S. and foreign intelligence officials revealed that the CIA has been unable to establish a presence in Syria, in contrast with the agency’s prominent role gathering intelligence from inside Egypt and Libya during revolts in those countries.
With no CIA operatives on the ground in Syria and only a handful stationed at key border posts, the agency has been heavily dependent on its counterparts in Jordan and Turkey and on other regional allies.
Insurgents drive a captured tank on a highway near Izaz in northwest Syria
See also Yemen Feature: A New Leader Emerges in Taiz
Turkey Special: Ankara is Overtaken By Events in Syria's Kurdistan
Sunday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Fighting Reaches Aleppo
1948 GMT: Syria. Very interesting news from Aleppo via the BBC's Ian Pannell:
Heavy fighting in #Aleppo City. Seen govt forces shelling neighbourhoods. Reports army reinforcements moving in #Syria
— ianpannell (@BBCiPannell) July 23, 2012
Hundreds of rebel #FSA fighters moving into #Aleppo City.Lightly armed and confident but army remains far stronger. #Syria
— ianpannell (@BBCiPannell) July 23, 2012
Iraq, Jihad Makdisi, Massoud Barzani, Oksana Boyko, Syria 
