EA WorldView

2124 GMT: Nuclear Watch. Back from a day out to find a couple of intriguing perspectives on Iran's nuclear programme and the possibility of an Israeli attack....

Gareth Porter takes a closer look at the briefing of the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency to argue that Tehran has decreased the amount of enriched uranium that could be diverted to military purposes:

The data in the two reports indicate that Iran increased the total production of 20-percent enriched uranium from 143 kg in May 2012 to 189.4 kg in mid-August. But the total stockpile of 20-percent enriched uranium that could be more easily enriched to weapons grade – and which has been the focus of U.S. diplomatic demands on Iran ever since 2009 – fell from 101 kg to 91.4 kg during the quarter.

The reduction in the stockpile available for weapons grade enrichment was the result of the conversion of 53.3 kg of 20-percent enriched uranium into fuel plates --- compared with only 43 kg in the previous five months.

Iran was thus creating fuel plates for its medical reactor faster than it was enriching uranium to a 20-percent level.

That apparent support for Iran's claims that it is focusing on a civilian programme has not prevented leading Iranian officials from sniping at the IAEA. Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the chairman of Parliament's National Security Committee, said, “Unfortunately the agency’s track records under [Director General] Mr. [Yukiya] Amano have proved that he is under considerable influence of the viewpoints of the US and its Western allies."

And reporters for Time magazine, drawing from US and Israeli officials, assert that Washington is limiting participation in a major military exercise with the Israelis to warn them against a strike on Tehran:

Seven months ago, Israel and the United States postponed a massive joint military exercise that was originally set to go forward just as concerns were brimming that Israel would launch a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. The exercise was rescheduled for late October, and appears likely to go forward on the cusp of the U.S. presidential election. But it won’t be nearly the same exercise. Well-placed sources in both countries have told TIME that Washington has greatly reduced the scale of U.S. participation, slashing by more than two-thirds the number of American troops going to Israel and reducing both the number and potency of missile interception systems at the core of the joint exercise.

“Basically what the Americans are saying is, ‘We don’t trust you,’” a senior Israeli military official tells TIME.

0954 GMT: Economy Watch. Iran's Statistics Center reports that the annual rate of inflation reached 25.9% in July/August, with the price of food items rising between 18.8% and 54.5%.

0950 GMT: Fraud Watch. Mehr reports that sentences in the $2.6 billion bank fraud case, in which there are more than 30 defendants, will be issued tomorrow.

0700 GMT: Nuclear Watch. The Bushehr nuclear power station, Iran's first, has finally begun operating at full capacity, according to the Russian firm contractor Atomstroiexport.

Bushehr, whose construction began in the 1970s, was formally launched in August 2010, but there were further delays in bringing it on-line.

"The reactor of unit 1 of the Bushehr nuclear power plant was brought up to 100 percent of its projected capacity at 6.47 p.m. on August 30," Atomstroiexport said in a press release.

0530 GMT: Five days of diplomacy and ceremony concluded on Friday in Tehran with the end of the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, but the presentation and propaganda continues.

Iranian State media are pushing the Summit's declared s upport for Iran’s nuclear energy program, criticism of unilateral sanctions by the US, and call for greater efforts to support the Palestinian position versus Israel. The outlets also mention the final resolution's general reference to resolution of the Syrian crisis, skipping over the inconvenience that the delegations balked at offering support for the Assad regime.

Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon is still pointing to tougher talk behind the formalities. Saying he had told Iranian leaders that they had a responsibility to do more to assure the world that their nuclear programme was for solely peaceful purposes, he added that their responses were not always satisfactory: "They were not giving me any concrete answers."

On human rights, Ban offer an even more intriguing clue to the talks. He claimed that he had pressed the Supreme Leader, President, and other officials to permit more freedom of expression, strengthen women's rights and move toward democracy and that he had brought up specific human rights cases: "I expect some positive actions may be taken."