Iran Latest: The Regime's War on the Lawyers --- 3 More Arrested

Three more prominent defence attorneys have been detained in Iran. At 4 a.m. local time, Sara Sabaghian, Maryam Kianarsi, and Maryam Karbasi were arrested by security officers at Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport as they returned from Turkey. There is no news of the whereabouts of the three lawyers. 

Sara Sabaghian is a member of the Bar Association's Committee for the Defense of Women and Children's Rights. She was previously arrested on 8  July with other lawyers, including Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, a founding member of Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi's Center for Defenders of Human Rights. Sabaghian is one of the lawyers representing the web blogger Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki (Babak Khorramdin), who has been sentenced to 15 years prison. 

Maryam Kianarsi is the lawyer for Kobra Najar, a women who has been sentenced to death by stoning.

The three women join other imprisoned lawyers such as Nasrine Sotoudeh and Houton Kian. Others such as Mohammad Mostafaei have fled Iran to avoid arrest.

The Latest from Iran (13 November): Sanctions, Talks, and a Twist on Iraq

1838 GMT: Economic Revelation of Day. Minister of Welfare and Social Security Sadegh Mahsouli has explained that Iran cannot define a poverty line due to huge differences between rural and urban areas, although the Government "does everything to distribute national wealth".

Fun Fact: Sadegh Mahsouli is a millionaire.

1835 GMT: Subsidy Cuts Watch. Arsalan Fathipour, the head of Parliament's Economy Commission, has said that the Majlis has no information on the government's "support packages" to ease the economic pain of the cuts.

1830 GMT: Soft War is Everywhere! It's in the pulpits: Kalemeh claims an official order has been sent to Friday Prayer leaders for the holy month of Muharram (December/January), telling them to explain the 2009 "fitna" (sedition) and informing people about the soft war.

And it's on the easels: Minister of Culture Mohammad Hosseini has declared that artists are "front commanders" in the soft war.

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Iran Guidance: How Should the US Talk with Tehran?

An EA correspondent writes:

Marginalising Ahmadinejad and his stubbornly anti-Western thought is the only way forward for meaningful dialogue with people inside the regime, but even then at the cost of throwing the human rights issue under the train: no regime insider, not even more flexible ones such as Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf, will come to terms on that front.

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Obama's Justice and "National Security": The Emasculation of Attorney General Holder (Hylton)

As we went back and forth, I began to realize that it was impossible to know how much of his argument Eric Holder really believed, and how much he was merely willing to say. Like any good political appointee, he was prepared to defend the policy whether he liked it or not. And in that case, maybe it didn't matter what he supported; promoting the policy was supporting it. I was reminded of something one of his friends had told me, a former DOJ official who has known Holder since the beginning of his career: "Eric has this instinct to please. That's his weakness. He doesn't have to be told what to do—he's willing to do whatever it takes. It's his survival mechanism in Washington."

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Saturday's US-China Economic Lesson: Obama and Hu's Video Rap Fight

Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao throw down over the economic clash between Washington and Beijing: "They're not enemies but Frenemies/With co-dependent economies". Courtesy of New Media Animation:

Iran Analysis: Why Current US "Smart Sanctions" Aren't Very Smart (Kashani/Sadra)

The goal of sanctions was never, at least explicitly, to target the Iranian people, let alone the Iranian diaspora. The economic sanctions were set up with the understanding that there are approximately one million Iranian Americans residing in the United States, and that regardless of a long-running governmental spat and resultant commercial economic embargoes, the practicalities of life dictate that money will need to be transferred to settle estates or to provide assistance to family members.

Accordingly, our laws allow for remittances involving noncommercial transfers, among family members in the United States and Iran, and undertaken within the banking system. However, this obviously breaks down when there are no banks willing to receive wire transfers from even the nonsanctioned, private Iranian banks.

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US Politics: Why This "Lame Duck" Congress is So Important

On Monday the Representatives and Senators who were defeated in the elections, or are leaving office for other reasons, will still be members of Congress with full legislative responsibility. So, even though Republicans regained control of the House on 2 November, for a short while Democrats will keep their majority. Those Democrats who are departing in January can attempt to pass controversial (or "radical", according to the November Speaker website) legislation without having the mandate of their electorate.

The issues to watch, in what could be an animated session for a waterbird that can’t walk, are the Bush tax cuts, the appropriation debates, and the seemingly inevitable civil war –-- this time over earmarks –-- that erupts whenever conservatives gain electoral success.

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Palestine Analysis: The PLO and the Crisis of Representation (Masri)

Today, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) is experiencing an internal dilemma.  Long viewed as the “legitimate and sole representative of the Palestinian People”, many years of failed negotiations with the Israeli government, a growing democratic deficit and alienation of its grassroots base have inexorably lead to a crisis of legitimacy for the organization.  As the Israeli government continues its refusal to extend a limited freeze on settlement building, calls for the PLO to abandon negotiations by Palestinian leaders inside and outside the Occupied Territories place the organization in a precarious position and highlight a growing sense of disillusionment with the PLO’s ability to act credibly on behalf of Palestinian interests.

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The Latest from Iran (12 November): Protesting (Clothes Optional)

1935 GMT: Sanctions Watch. Al-Rai newspaper claims, citing a central bank circular, that Kuwait has asked Gulf emirate banks, investment companies, and money exchange firms to start implementing United Nations sanctions against Iran.

The instructions call for the freezing of assets and financial resources related to “Iran’s sensitive nuclear programmes or activities”. The circular bans the opening of branches or representative offices for Iranian banks in Kuwait and forbids Kuwaiti financial institutions from opening offices or accounts in Iran.

1830 GMT: Really, It's Coming. Yet another declaration, after weeks of delays, that the government's subsidy cuts programme is going to be implemented: according to Mehr, new energy prices will be announced within days.

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Iraq Analysis: Finally, a Government? (Sorry. Too Simple a Question.)

Throughout Thursday, there were high-profile media stories that "Iraq was about to form a Government". After eight months of limbo following March's Parliamentary elections, a deal had been struck where Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki would retain his post. Sunni concerns about representation, as well as the objections of Iyad Allawi, whose supporters won the largest number of seats in March, would be met through a new national and economic security committee.

We refrained from posting the news. Yes, members of Parliament would meet for the second time since March, and this time for longer than 11 minutes. Yes, there would be movement towards a national administration, at least with the invitation to al-Maliki to try and from a Cabinet. But, no, this is not "forming a Government". This is only one more political manoeuvre which may or may not produce alliances which tenuously allow al-Maliki to claim power.

And so it has proved.

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