The Latest from Iran (29 October): The Economy, Propaganda, and the IMF

See also The Latest from Iran (28 October): "Our Prisons Are Full"

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1720 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Journalists Ali Akrami, Mehdi Afsharnik, Mohammad Heydari, and Mohsen Hakimi have been released on bail.

The reporters were detained during a regime crackdown last month on the Freedom Movement of Iran.

1715 GMT: Parliament v. President. The New York Times has now joined the flutter, started by a speech of the Supreme Leader last week, that Iran might replace an elected President with a Prime Minister chosen by Parliament.

Meanwhile, Aty News --- close to Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf --- quotes MP Mohammad Dehghan that there will be no more Presidential elections.

On another front, Khabar Online, linked to Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, suggested that there may be a move this week towards interrogation of the President, as the number of MPs demanding the session is on the rise.

1710 GMT: Bank Fraud Watch. Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of Parliament's National Security Commission, has denied allegations that he and his son were arrested in the $2.6 billion bank fraud.

Newspapers are reporting that an MP has been summoned for comment as the Deputy Head of the Central Bank was detained.

1620 GMT: The US Front. Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi is being publicly cautious about the restoration of discussions with Washington: "Our policy is the establishment of (good) relations with all countries of the world except the illegal Zionist regime .However the re-establishment of ties would have meaning (only) when the two parties enter negotiations on an equal basis, on the same level, free of any preconditions."

Salehi continued, "On the one hand there is an expressed desire for negotiation but on the other hand there is (U.S.) rhetoric that does not correspond with (that). As long as these contradictions persist and there is a lack of goodwill, negotiations will certainly not have any meaning."

1540 GMT: Bank Fraud Watch. Several Iranian newspapers have put out the news --- mentioned on EA yesterday --- that the deputy head of the Central Bank, Hamid Pourmohammadi, has been arrested over the $2.6 billion bank fraud. An MP has also been called on to comment on the matter.

Iran Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei announced Friday that two other suspects had been arrested, but he declined to name them.

1350 GMT: The US Initiative. We noted yesterday that opposition spokesman Ardeshir Amir Arjomand had distanced himself from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's comments about US involvement with Iran after the 2009 Presidential election. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty offers more:

First, the website picks up something we had noted --- but not yet posted --- about Clinton's comments. In her BBC Persian interview, in contrast to the Voice of America video that we posted, Clinton was forthright in blaming the Iranian opposition for not summoning US intervention:

I will tell you it was a very tough time for us, because we wanted to be full-hearted in favor of what was going on inside Iran, and we kept being cautioned that we would put people’s lives in danger, we would discredit the movement, we would undermine their aspirations. I think if something were to happen again, it would be smart for the Green Movement or some other movement inside Iran to say, “We want the voices of the world. We want the support of the world behind us.”

That’s what the Libyan opposition figures did, as you remember. When they began their struggle against Qadhafi, and it seemed like such a hopeless uphill climb, they, from the very beginning said, “We want all the support we can get from the outside world. We want our Arab brothers, we want the region, and we want the United Nations, and we want everybody to help us.” And I think that maybe in retrospect it was an unfortunate mutual decision on the part of the leaders of the Green Movement and the supporters inside Iran and those of us on the outside, who very much hoped that that would spark reform.

Another opposition spokesman, Mojtaba Vahedi, was more specific than Arjomand in the criticism of the American position: “Right when the Green Movement was in full swing, [President Obama] said his country is ready to talk with the [Islamic Republic]. By doing so Washington morally supported the Iranian government, [which] was very fearful of domestic and international conditions."

Vahedi added that the US should have pressed allies who supported Iran in its crackdown, for example, by providing Tehran with surveillance technology. He said there was no need for US intervention if it rectified these “mistakes.”

The opposition spokesman also called on the US Government to ask former President Jimmy Carter to travel to Iran to monitor the March 2012 Parliamentary elections, noting that Tehran has expressed support and approval for Carter's supervision of the Palestinian and Tunisian votes.

1010 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Businessman Isa Faridi has been given a five-year sentence, plus a $40,000 fine and 30 lashes, for participation in protests after the disputed Presidential election.

Faridi was detained in June 2009 at his office, spending 110 days in solitary confinement before he was released on $310,000 bail of close to $310,000.

1000 GMT: Foreign Affairs (German Front). Amidst the US-led sanctions, the regime makes a play for German trade:

Iran's deputy minister of economic affairs and finance says Iranian and German businessmen are eager to expand trade in all areas.

Mohammad-Reza Farzin made the remarks on the sidelines of meetings with Iranian and German businessmen in Berlin....He noted that Germany is the biggest trade partner of the Islamic Republic in Europe, and expressed hope that the volume of bilateral trade would increase in all spheres.

He went on to say that the Islamic Republic has always been a good economic partner for Germany despite the European financial and economic crisis.

Trade between Iran and Germany witnessed considerable growth throughout 2010 despite the sanctions imposed on Tehran over its peaceful nuclear program.

0930 GMT: Arresting Fashion. Student News Agency claims that 70 fashion designers have been detained in Tehran.

0700 GMT: Wall Street Shuffle. From Press TV, "Iran's former envoy to Mexico Mohammad-Hassan Qadiri-Abyaneh says the next US president could be a member of the Occupy Wall Street movement instead of a Republican or Democrat."

0520 GMT: This summer we reported how the International Monetary Fund, amidst economic tensions in Iran, had given Tehran a boost with an "analysis" --- based largely on information from the Iranian Government --- acclaiming the success of the economy and President Ahmadinejad's subsidy cuts programme.

The IMF plays it part again today, with a Regional Economic Outlook for the Middle East and Central Asia. 

To be fair, the report is a far-from-shining promotion of Iran. It projects that the country's growth in 2011 will be 2.5%, compared to 4.9% across the Middle East and North Africa. And it estimates --- in sharp contrast to its optimistic reports this summer --- that Iran's inflation rate will be 22.5% this year.

However, in a classic half-full rather than half-empty reworking of the information, the State news agency IRNA proclaims, "Iran's Significant Economic Growth Forecast for 2011". And, amidst a rather tangled account of the report, there are IMF nuggets to be seized --- after all, IRNA notes, the Fund estimates that Iran's inflation will be "only" 12.5% in 2012.