The Latest from Iran (3 September): "This Country is Broken"

Journalist Jila Bani Yaghoub returns to prison after she was summoned to complete a one-year sentence

See also Iran 1st-Hand: A Country of Resignation
The Latest from Iran (2 September): Tehran Strikes A Defiant Pose

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2038 GMT: Tough Talk of the Day. Back from a break to find that it is not just the Iranian regime who can strike a tough pose....

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah, has declared that Iran can strike US bases in the Middle East if Israel attacks the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities: "A decision has been taken to respond and the response will be very great."

Nasrallah continued in the televised interview, "The response will not be just inside the Israeli entity --- American bases in the whole region could be Iranian targets. If Israel targets Iran, America bears responsibility."

The Hezbollah leader said, however, there were divisions in Israel over an airstrike: Personally I do not expect the Israeli enemy --- at least in the coming months or foreseeable future --- [to launch] an attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran."

1400 GMT: After the Summit. Iranian officials have given Mongolian President Tsakhia Elbegdorj a tour of their main uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, the first time that it has opened the site to a foreign leader.

Iranian media had said before last week's Non-Aligned Summit in Tehran that foreign heads of state and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon would tour the facility. In the end, Ban reportedly declined the invitation and no foreign officials appeared for a visit.

State TV showed Elbegdorj inspecting centrifuges used to enrich uranium at the plant. The broadcast said the Mongolian leader was able to visit whatever he wanted in the plant and quoted the President: "This site is a unique place. Maybe in other countries it is not possible to visit such a sensitive place. I found out how the enriched uranium is being used for peaceful energy."

1135 GMT: After the Summit. Writing for Iran Review, Mahmoud Reza Golshanpazhooh offers a notable example of "analysis" re-presenting last week's summit of the Non-Aligned Movement as a great success for the regime, despite the unsettling of its narrative in statements by United Nations Secretary Ban Ki-Moon and Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi:

Without a doubt, erroneous translation of the Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi’s address into Persian (which I believe was a great mistake) should not be easily overlooked. However, the positive outcomes of his presence in the Summit cannot be also downplayed. Let’s not forget that the complete text of Morsi’s speech was broadcast by the English-language Press TV channel as well as the Arabic-language Al-Alam, both of which belong to Iran. Therefore, the aforesaid mistake should not be construed as the official policy of the Iranian government. On the other hand, the approach that Mr. Morsi took to the issue of Palestine, the faulty structure of the United Nations Security Council, the need for democratic participation of all countries in global management, and his emphasis on the rights of all nations to peaceful use of the nuclear energy were similar in form and content to Iran's basic policies. In his address to the Summit before Morsi’s speech, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei had pointed to the same issues from his own viewpoint. Therefore, looking at this issue from this angle will make it clear that even short presence of Morsi in Tehran NAM Summit had many positive outcomes for the event. These outcomes are big enough to overshadow the purposive media hype that the Western channels have launched over erroneous Persian translation of his remarks.

1124 GMT: Sanctions Watch. A message from an Iranian gamer, barred from World of Warcraft because of sanctions:

Bye bye dear friends and thank you all, but it's not fair sanctions on normal people, btw. Good bye world of warcraft and thank you blizzard for all that passed time. You made us happy in game. Wish you all best of luck.

1118 GMT: Oil Watch. Turkey's imports of Iranian crude fell in July to their lowest point in 2 1/2 years.

Ankara imported just over 48,000 barrels per day, the smallest total since December 2009. Purchases were down more than 70% down from June's total of 167,000 bpd and almost 75% from the 2011 figure of 180,000 bpd.

0902 GMT: Cyber-Watch. Minister of Communications Reza Taghipour has declared that the first phase of the national internet has been installed in 28 of Iran's 31 provinces.

0858 GMT: Supreme Leader Watch. An interesting expression of concern from Ayatollah Khamenei's website: "We have no one who understands how the BBC stabs us with false news and analyses and no one to cope with it."

0658 GMT: Slap-Down. The spokesman for United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has firmly denied that the official called Ayatollah Khamenei "the leader of the Islamic world" during their meeting in Tehran last week.

The claim had been made by Iranian media outlets such as Fars.

0648 GMT: The Battle Within. After a period of relative quiet following the filtering of his news outlet Alef, prominent conservative MP Ahmad Tavakoli has renewed his attack on President Ahmadinejad.

Tavakoli said State broadcaster IRIB has become a "repair facility for government misconduct", amid violations of the law with the subsidy cuts programme, deterioration of the economy, corruption and rising unemployment and inflation.

The MP demanded that officials convicted in the $2.6 billion bank fraud leave their posts.

The opposition website Kalemeh reinforces Tavakoli's remarks with the claim that an official report has warned of a deficit in foreign exchange reserves and the budget in coming months, as intelligence services fear disturbances over food shortages.

0635 GMT: Reformist Watch. Reformist politician Mostafa Kavakebian has insisted that talk about "reforms are dead" means they are very alive and that changes are possible within the Iranian system.

0625 GMT: War Watch. A notable example of how US officials are trying to reassure Israel while holding it back from an attack on Iran, with the message passed through David Sanger and Eric Schmitt of the New York Times:

With Israel openly debating whether to strike at Iran’s nuclear facilities in the coming months, the Obama administration is moving ahead with a range of steps short of war that it hopes will forestall an Israeli attack, while forcing the Iranians to take more seriously negotiations that are all but stalemated.

Already planned are naval exercises and new antimissile systems in the Persian Gulf, and a more forceful clamping down on Iranian oil revenue. The administration is also considering new declarations by President Obama about what might bring about American military action, as well as covert activities that have been previously considered and rejected.

0620 GMT: All-Is-Well Alert. Mohammad Ali Khatibi Tabatabaei, director for international affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), has insisted that Iran's oil exports are at normal levels: "We don't see anything abnormal, almost everything is progressing routinely."

Tabatabaei did not give any figures.

Shipping and trade data indicate Iranian exports of crude have halved this year to 1.1 million barrels per day.

0525 GMT: We begin this morning with a feature --- US journalist Barbara Slavin's observations and interviews while she was in Iran last week, "A Country of Resignation":

Now even blue-collar workers — many of them laid off by employers who can no longer import materials from European companies spooked by American sanctions — are contemplating getting out.

“This country is broken,” said a parent of one such worker inquiring about how to get a US or Canadian visa.