Today on EA (15 December)

Iran: Mr Azadi has written a Beginner's Guide to Moharram, and we have today's videos of university protests.

In snubbing "the Iran protester", and thus the entire Green movement, Time magazine has managed to succeed where the Iranian regime has failed.

A group of US Congressmen introduced two proposals yesterday aimed at helping people in Iran and targeting the business interests of the regime. Meanwhile, the US State Department is trying to take control of other Congressional bills pursuing strict sanctions, asking for no introduction of the measures until 2010.

All the latest news is available on our live weblog.

Israel and Britain: There's still some confusion over Britain's plans with regard to Israeli opposition chair Tzipi Livni and the UK arrest warrant issued last year.

Palestine: Will President Abbas cling to his office indefinitely?

Afghanistan: Tom Englehardt points out, through "The 9 Surges of Mr Obama's War", how the US is committed to a long-term stay in and around its military intervention.

The Latest from Iran (2 December): Postures and a Resolution

1140 GMT: Checking in briefly from Holland, I find that economist and journalist Saeed Laylaz has been given a nine-year prison sentence, according to his lawyer. Reports yesterday indicated that Laylaz might receive a 15-year sentence.

The Latest from Iran (1 December): A Week of Expectation 

0600 GMT: First, the resolution. Iranian state radio are reporting that the five British sailors, detained last week on a racing yacht that strayed into Iranian waters, will be released. So quiet diplomacy seems to have trumped any thoughts that an Iranian faction --- let's say, the Revolutionary Guard --- might have had of using the incident to assert authority.

Then again, the Revolutionary Guard may have made its point, both to Britain and to others in the regime. It can flex both military and political muscle with its "defense" of Iran's borders by land or by sea and, for at least several days, set the rules of the game.

Rules that even the President might have to heed: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seems to be off on one of his I'm a World Leader, All Else Melts into Air mental journeys. His speech last night was a holiday snapshot of his Latin American tour, followed by more posturing against the "West". The "10 enrichment plants" stunt seems to have been given up, so now it's maybe we let inspectors in, maybe we don't. (Which, if you ask me, is tempting fate --- just ponder the case of a Mr S. Hussein)

That may work on the domestic front politically. Rather than directly address the challenges of an Ali Larijani, global evasion may signal that Ahmadinejad is too big for the trifles of Parliamentary Speakers. Still, the economy lurks, and it is there that the President may have to go hand-to-hand with the Majlis over his proposals.

And, beyond that, can Ahmadinejad strike the pose that the opposition beyond does not really exist, as Iran unites behind its world-leading position and nuclear sovereignty? I have the impression that he thinks he can.

Which is a convenient link to the calendar note: five days to 16 Azar.