The Latest from Iran (29 October): Amidst the Spinning, A Political Prisoner is Released

2030 GMT: Full Service Tomorrow. I have just gotten back from Holland --- apologies for limited updates today.

We will be back from 0600 GMT with complete coverage of latest developments.

1415 GMT: The Nuclear Dance. Another step in the diplomatic tango towards talks on uranium enrichment between Iran and the 5+1 Powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China, Germany)....

The Iranian government has sent a letter to European Union foreign affairs representative Catherine Ashton, indicating its willingness to hold a new round of nuclear talks after 10 November. EU diplomats say the talks will likely take place in Geneva over three days with an open agenda.

Ashton had proposed discussions in Vienna between 15-18 November, but Iran has held up agreement in detail, as opposed to principle, most likely because of fears of preconditions on the location of enrichment.

0655 GMT: We Are Watching You. Alongside our morning analysis of the latest propaganda effort from an Obama Administration official to put pressure on Tehran, this comes in from London:

In an unprecedented public speech, MI6 chief John Sawers said that intelligence activities were responsible for Iran's admission last year of a second enrichment plant, which in turn led to tougher diplomatic pressure.

"Stopping nuclear proliferation cannot be addressed purely by conventional diplomacy. We need intelligence-led operations to make it more difficult for countries like Iran to develop nuclear weapons," he said.

"The revelations around Iran's secret enrichment site at Qom were an intelligence success. They led to diplomatic pressure on Iran intensifying, with tougher UN and EU sanctions, which are beginning to bite," Sawers said.

"The Iranian regime must think hard about where its best interests lie."

He added: "The risks of failure in this area are grim.... And the longer international efforts delay Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons technology, the more time we create for a political solution to be found."

Sawers' speech was the first public address by a head of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), as MI6 is officially known, and marked his first year in the role. 

Far be it for me to speculate that the emergence of Britain's top spy from the shadows was due primarily to the Iranian threat, and a warning that London could blunt it, and not to the current scrambling by agencies to protect their budgets amidst a drastic slashing of the Government's spending.

0645 GMT: After a spate of news on Thursday about detentions, a gentler start to Friday with photographs of a political prisoner who has been released, reformist politician Ali Shakouri Rad: