The Latest from Iran (16 October): A New Ambassador in Syria
Sunday, October 16, 2011 at 15:36See also Iran Audio Feature: How Ahmadinejad's Advisor Stumbled Into An Admission of The Battle Within
Iran Analysis: Sometimes A Plot is a Drug Deal Gone Wrong
Iran Analysis: Sometimes A Plot is Just A Plot
Iran Analysis: Duelling Propaganda Banjos Play Over Backroom Manoeuvres
1900 GMT: Bank Fraud Watch. On Saturday, Iran Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei met with the Chief Executive Officers of 13 banks and eight more detained suspects in the $2.6 billion bank fraud.
1830 GMT: Reformist Watch. Former President Mohammad Khatami, speaking to University professors, has asked, "Would bank frauds have happened if press and organisations were free?" He continued, "Oppressing dissidents and apparent calm do not mean society is calm."
1640 GMT: Supreme Leader Watch. International media, looking at Ayatollah Khamenei's speech today, are noting his warning that Iran will respond to any "inappropriate action" by the US (see 1430 GMT). However, his comments on domestic politics are equally remarkable....
Khamenei suggested that direct election of the President is not necessary, as it can be done by Parliament. And as for current political conflicts, he said that a Supreme Leader only intervenes in affairs of the Executive, legislature, and judiciary if there is deviation from the Revolution.
1635 GMT: The Plot. Ayande News is not impressed with the declaration by leading cleric Mehdi Taeb that, while Iran is not involved in a plot to kill the Saudi Ambassador to the US, it could kill Saudi King Abdullah at any time. The website comments that threatening the Saudis plays into the hands of US and suggests that destroying the Statue of Liberty would be a much easier task.
1630 GMT: Reformist Watch. Yesterday we noted the letter of 143 political activists --- including some who are detained --- to former President Mohammad Khatami emphasising the conditions for participation in next March's Parliamentary elections.
An EA correspondent evaluates, "The letter is important because of the unity of reformists, Freedom Front, and National Religious party members --- even Ali Shakouri Rad signed it."
Noting signatories such as Mohsen Mirdamadi of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, Ebrahim Yazdi of the Freedom Front, and Habibollah Peyman of the National Religious Coalition, the correspondent continues, "Reformists ignored the National Religious Coaltion's call for UN-monitored elections five or six years ago. This letter proves the determination to unite regime critics."
1430 GMT: The Plot. The Supreme Leader has warned in a speech during his nine-day tour of Kermanshah: "If American officials are entertaining any illusions, they should know that any inappropriate action --- whether political or security-related --- will meet the Iranian people's decisive response."
1427 GMT: Parliament v. President. MP Mehdi Kuchakzadeh, a backer of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has suggested that his colleague who want to question the Minister of Economy over the $2.6 billion bank fraud insult the Iranian people and should shut up.
1425 GMT: Economy Watch. An agreement on reduction of value-added tax for cloth vendors in Tehran Bazaar has been cancelled because some shops remain closed.
Cloth merchants in the Bazaar have been on strike since August over the tax issue.
1420 GMT: Elections Watch. Prominent academic Sadegh Zibaklam and politician Hamidreza Taraghi, discussing next March's Parliamentary elections, have been downbeat about the turnout.
Amidst calls by many reformists and opposition activists for a boycott, Zibakalam predicted 10-20% of registered voters will participate. Taraghi's response was that it must be accepted that parts of society are indifferent to the process.
1410 GMT: Bank Fraud Watch. Ebrahim Raissi, the deputy head of the judiciary, has said more teams of experts have been appointed to assist the prosecutor in the case of the $2.6 billion bank fraud.
1400 GMT: Threat of the Day. Revolutionary Guards commander Seyyed Masoud Jazayeri has declared, "It's time to confront the British Embassy as a centre of espionage and sedition."
1215 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Rah-e Sabz reports that The 77-year-old Mohammad Maleki, the former head of Tehran University, has been given a one-year prison sentence.
Maleki, arrested and imprisoned on a number of occasions over the last 30 years, was again detained in August 2009. In early March 2010 he was released on bail.
1210 GMT: An Unusual Story of Detentions. A tale, only now coming to light, which illuminates Iran's approach to imprisonment and its possible consequences for relations, even with co-operative countries:
Rabia Karakaya Polat and Seda Demiralp Yılankaya, both political scientists from İstanbul's Işık University were invited to a conference by the University of Tehran in late May. Another academic from Koç University, economist Okan Yılankaya, also joined them on their journey to Tehran although not having been invited to the conference.The three arrived in Tehran on May 28 and were taken into custody on June 1 as they were getting ready to return to Turkey when the conference on the Arab Spring finished.
During their 12 days in custody, the three were interrogated on charges of spying for the United States. In the meantime, Turkish embassy officials contacted Iranian authorities and asked for release of the Turkish citizens who they said were in Tehran only for academic purposes.
Eventually, the three were released on June 12 after Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu initiated a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart, Ali Akbar Salehi, a Turkish official told Today's Zaman.
During the telephone conversation, the two ministers confirmed that there was a misunderstanding concerning the purposes of the Turkish academics, the same official briefly said.
0820 GMT: The Plot. Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi, a senior advisor to President Ahmadinejad, has given the latest explanation for the US allegations of an Iranian plot to kill the Saudi Ambassador to Washington --- American officials are angry over questions raised by Ahmadinejad in his September speech at the UN General Assembly.
Speaking in a TV programme on Saturday evening, Samare Hashemi insisted, "This is why they have made these baseless and unfounded accusations against Iran."
0620 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. An appeals court has upheld the one-year sentence for student and civil rights activist Javad Abouali.
Abouali was reportedly arrested in September 2010 and held by the Ministry of Intelligence in Behbahan in western Iran on charges including anti-regime propaganda and insulting the Supreme Leader.
0600 GMT: While speculation continues about Iranian involvement in an alleged plot to kill the Saudi Ambassador to the US, we note a development in the region....
Tehran's new ambassador to Syria, Mohammad-Reza Sheibani, arrived in Damascus on Friday. Sheibani put out his diplomatic lines; however, readers are invited to read between them to assess Iran's approach amidst the internal conflict challenging the Assad regime:
“Relations between the two countries have always been special, and they grew stronger after the Islamic Revolution in Iran… My mission in Syria aims to strengthen the good bilateral ties, and we shall work with officials in both Iran and Syria to overcome the difficulties and challenges that Syria faces,” the Iranian envoy said.
Sheibani, previously Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, stated that the Islamic Republic supports reforms promised by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, saying that he is also scheduled to meet with all parties involved in the ongoing deadlock in Syria in order to find a way out of the crisis.
“Soon, I will be meeting with Syrian officials to hear their views on the current situation in Syria. I will also convey to them the perspectives of Iranian officials on the crisis. Besides, I intend to meet with members of the Syrian Civil Society and other influential parties,” the Iranian diplomat added.
Reader Comments