The Latest from Iran (27 August): Meanwhile, Away from the Non-Aligned Summit....

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi addressed the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement on Sunday

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1941 GMT: Foreign Affairs Watch (Saudi Front). There had been signs this month of an Iranian-Saudi accommodation, with President Ahmadinejad going to Riyadh for the extraordinary meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and a Saudi delegation coming to Tehran for the Non-Aligned Movement's summit.

This, however, does not appear to be part of the rapprochement --- former Minister of Culture Mohammad-Hossein Saffar-Harandi has reportedly said the Saudi king drinks wine, hates Shiites, and propagates filthy Wahhabism.

1915 GMT: Economy Watch. Fakhrollah Molaei, Deputy Minister of Industry, has stated that the Iranian economy is suffering a serious lack of liquidity, with 68% of Iran's production units lacking the required capital to operate effectively. A weak domestic market, disagreements between trading partners, and shortages of raw resources or machinery were secondary problems identified by Molaei as being significant.

1905 GMT: A Non-Aligned Setback. As an EA correspondent points out, with all the focus of the Iranian press on the Non-Aligned Movement's summit. It may be surprising to find then that the meeting between the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, and the National Security Committee, has been cancelled. Moon will instead meet with Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani and several other unnamed officials.

1309 GMT: Sports Report. One side effect of the security arrangements for the Non-Aligned Movement's summit --- the Premier League games in Iranian football were cancelled this weekend because of the suspension of flights to and from Tehran.

1300 GMT: Loyalty Watch. Serat News explains that the Supreme Leader has always been friendly in his treatment of opponents, never eliminating them, and exceeding his designated powers only in rare instances.

1055 GMT: Foreign Affairs Watch (Syrian Front). Take-away lines from Alaeddin Boroujerdi after his meeting with Syrian President Assad on Sunday --- 48 Iranian men seized by insurgents earlier this month are well, Damascus is an active city without problems.

1000 GMT: Inevitably, the headlines on most Iranian sites are about the Non-Aligned Summit in Tehran, which began on Sunday with "expert-level" meetings and continues today with the arrival of Foreign Ministers and a welcoming address by the Supreme Leader on Thursday. There is a featured declaration from the Russian delegate on the summit as a "positive step" to deal with the Syrian crisis, cheerleading for the display of Iranian security for the gathering, and even a guest role for The New York Times because of its article on the meeting as "Iran's message to the world".

The problem for the media is that little of substance has come out of the opening sessions, so other stories are slipping into prominence. The top item on State news agency IRNA, for example, is a tacit admission of the continuing economic tensions, even as it carries a reassuring statement from the Ministry of Industry that enough food and other commodities have been provided to take Iran through this week's five-day holiday for the summit.

The opposition site Rah-e Sabz reports that all but 900 of 5000 employees of a textile company in Ghaemshahr have been dismissed after privatisation, while Fars an interesting fact about the National Gas Company --- for its 16,000 employees, the company provides 4000 clerics for religious instruction.