Presidential Election Watch: Rouhani Edition
The campaign of former nuclear negotiator Hassan Rouhani has live-tweeted the candidate's appearance on Iranian State TV's primary channel tonight.
#Rouhani starts program by introducing himself. His father told him to #work with agriculture/carpet weaving in the summer from age 11.
— Rouhani Campaign (@HassanRouhani) May 28, 2013
Tuesday, May 28, 2013 at 8:13 | Scott Lucas in EA Live, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran Iraq: Dozens Killed in Monday Bombings
In the latest deadly spike in violence in Iraq, at least 57 people have been killed and more than 140 wounded in a series of bombings in and around Baghdad.
More than 350 people have been slain so far this month, and more than 700 people were killed in April, the highest monthly toll in almost five years.
Several of the attacks targeted markets and shopping areas in predominantly Shia Muslim areas. Areas struck included Habibiya, near Sadr City in the east of the capital, an open-air market in the al-Maalif area, and the main commercial hub Sadoun Street in central Baghdad.
Deadly explosions were also reported in the largely Shia neighbourhoods of Sabi al-Boor, Bayaa, and Kazimiyah.
In other parts of the country, shootings in the disputed province of Kirkuk killed an anti-al-Qaeda militiaman and a private generator operator, while a police colonel was slain by a roadside bomb in the main northern city of Mosul.
http://m.aljazeera.com/se/201352715214869598Iraq 
As European Union foreign ministers met today to discuss the lifting of the arms embargo on the Syrian insurgency, I spoke with Monocle 24's The Briefing about the immediate situation and longer-term prospects.
Listen to discussion from the 6-minute mark on The Briefing's homepage or in a pop-out window
1. What is the current position among Western countries --- the US, Britain, France, and other European countries --- regarding arming of the insurgents?
2. What effect does fear of "extremism" have on the arming of the opposition?
3. What is the objective of increased armaments --- pressuring President Assad or overthrowing him?
4. What impact would the EU's lifting of the embargo have?
Monday, May 27, 2013 at 12:01 | Scott Lucas in EA Live, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 
Opposition Spokesman Louay al-Safi (Akin Celiktas/Reuters)Iranian Lines of Credit to Damascus
The Syrian Central Bank has said that Iran has opened two lines of credit totaling $4 billion to Damascus and plans on opening up a third.
"Iran continues to support Syria, by opening one line of credit worth a billion dollars to finance the import of different items and another line of credit worth three billion dollars to finance the purchase of petrol and associated products," Central Bank Governor Adib Mayale said.
Mayale said Iran was considering an additional loan of $3 billion to bolster the Syrian economy amid war and international sanctions.
Saeed Jalili explains how he would solve Iran's economic problems as President
With the exclusion of leading politicians, such as former Presidential Hashemi Rafsanjani from the Presidential race, a leading theme in media converage is that the election is now merely a contest of "shades of gray" between supporters of the Supreme Leader.
That headline, while it has an element of truth, is a reduction of the contest and Iran's internal situation for two reasons.
First, the economic issue --- and not nuclear talks with the West or other foreign policy issues --- is likely to be the dominant concern of Iranian voters.
Second, while each of the eight approved candidates can find security in criticism of the Ahmadinejad Government, each has to prove that he will be able to remedy the economic problems --- from rampant inflation to falling production to unemployment to currency difficulties --- that plague the Islamic Republic.
Presidential candidate and Supreme Leader advisor Ali Akbar Velayati speaks about the economy
See also Iran Analysis: Presidential Election --- It's About "Management" & The Economy
Sunday's Iran Today: Presidential Election --- Focus On The Economy
Presidential Election Watch: Supreme Leader Edition
The Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei spoke to students at Imam Hossein University --- a military university belonging to the Revolutionary Guards --- said that Iranians should participate in the June 14 Presidential Election and said through this many of the country’s problems will be solved.
Khamenei criticized the U.S., saying that "those Americans who say our election is not free, have not yet closed Guantanamo Bay and are killing many people in Pakistan and Afghanistan."
He added: "Our people should know that the reason Americans are saying these things is because of the importance of the election, therefore the [Iranian] people should create a political epic."
Guerre chimique à Damas by lemondefr
A chemical attack on the Jobar front, on the outskirts of the Syrian capital, doesn't look like anything much at first. It's not spectacular. Above all, it's not detectable. And that's the aim: by the time the rebel fighters of the Free Syrian Army who have penetrated furthest into Damascus understand that they've been exposed to chemical products by government forces, it's too late. No matter which type of gas is used, it has already produced its effects, only a few hundred meters from residential areas of the Syrian capital.
Monday, May 27, 2013 at 9:00 | Scott Lucas in EA Live, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 
US Secretary of State John KerryIraq: At Least 33 Killed in Bombings
At least 33 people have been killed in the latest series of explosions in the capital Baghdad.
The attacks targets targeting mainly Shia districts of the city.
Earlier this month, more than 200 people were killed in a week in bombings and other attacks, in the most serious of violence this year.
Presidential candidate Mohammad Gharazi (credit: PressTV)
One More Week in Trial of Defendants in Kahrizak Abuse Case?
The head of Tehran Criminal Courts, Judge Mohsen Eftekhari, says three defendants --- Presidential advisor Saeed Mortazavi and two senior judges --- have one week to provide the court with their defences.
Eftekhari said, after that, “the jury will decide on the verdict".
Earlier reports had indicated the defence had concluded its response, and the court had 10 days to deliver a decision.
The three men are accused of complicity in the abuse and killing of three post-election protesters at the Kahrizak detention centre after the disputed 2009 Presidential election.
Sunday, May 26, 2013 at 9:38 | Scott Lucas in EA Live, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 
Regime Says It Will Join International "Peace Conference"
Foreign Minister Walid Muallem has said that the regime has agreed "in principle to participate in the international conference which is supposed to be convened in Geneva" in June: "We think...that the international conference represents a good opportunity for a political solution to the crisis in Syria."
Muallem, during a sudden visit to Iraq, criticised foreign actors supporting the insurgency: "The regional countries that conspire against Syria are the same that support terrorism in Iraq."
Russian officials said earlier in the week that the Assad regime had agreed to take part in the conference. However, the opposition Syrian National Coalition has said that it wants guarantees that President Assad will step down during a transitional government.
