Iran Live Coverage: Has Tehran Agreed to Resume Nuclear Talks?

Sunday's confrontation between President Ahmadinejad and Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani

See also Iran Analysis: Ahmadinejad Humiliated as Parliament Dismisses Minister
Sunday's Iran Live Coverage: First the Space Monkey, Now a New Fighter Jet

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2146 GMT: Ahmadinejad In Space Watch. Now, on the lighter side of the news --- President Ahmadinejad has said that he is ready to be the first human to go into space in Iran's aeronautics programme.

Last week Tehran put a monkey on a satellite for the first time, reaching 75 miles above Earth. The head of the space programme declared this month that the Islamic Republic plans for a manned flight in four to five years.

2134 GMT: Nuclear Watch. There is still no clarity as to whether Iran has agreed to join the 5+1 Powers for nuclear talks in Kazakhstan on 25 February.

Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, speaking in Berlin, has put out the positive signal, "I am optimistic. I feel this new [Obama] administration is really this time seeking to at least divert from its previous traditional approach vis-a-vis my country."

However, Salehi also expressed doubt over the US indication that it will engage in direct discussions with Tehran --- made by Vice President Joe Biden on sautrday --- and said that it was still very hard for Tehran to trust Washington: "How do we trust again this new gesture?"

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Iran Live Coverage: Imprisoned Journalists, Elections, & the BBC

Journalists Arrested Last Weekend2136 GMT: Currency Watch. Radio Farda supports the report in Kalemeh (see 1746 GMT) that the Iranian Rial has dropped sharply to break the 40000:1 level vs. the US dollar.

The site also says that the price of gold is rising, with a 15% premium on prepayment for gold coins to be delivered next month.

2036 GMT: Press Watch. The mother of journalist Saba Azarpeyk, speaks of her daughter's arrest:

Fifteen to twenty minutes after Saba left the house, someone knocked on the door, I asked who it was and I heard Saba saying, "Mum don't open the door, they do not have a warrant." After some very tense moments, she was taken down to the car.

Then my son arrived, and one of the officials that was standing behind the door slapped him on the face several times.

The mother then ran to Azarpeyk as she was being taken away and urged her to remain strong.

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Iran Live Coverage: Ali Larijani and The Battle Within The Regime

See also Saturday's Iran Live Coverage: The Blame Game over No Nuclear Talks

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2109 GMT. Press Watch. Iranian reporter Hadi Nili lists up to 13 journalists who have been detained today --- these are in addition to Milad Fadai Asl and Soleiman Mohammadi, who were seized earlier in the weekend:

#Iran: 13 journalists of reformist papers & websites got arrested in last couple of days. 9 of them confirmed, 3 unconfirmed & 1 is missing.

— Hadi Nili (@HadiNili) January 27, 2013

Arrested #Iran'ian journalists: Sasan Aghaei, Javad Daliri, Nasrin Takhayori, Akbar Montajabi, Pouria Alemi, Pejman Mousavi, Emily Amraei >

— Hadi Nili (@HadiNili) January 27, 2013

> Arrested #Iran'ian journalists: Motahareh Shafi'ei, Narges Judaki, Reyhaneh Tabatabaei, Sadra Mohaghegh, Ehsan Mazandarani, Saba Azarpeik

— Hadi Nili (@HadiNili) January 27, 2013

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Iran Live Coverage: The Supreme Leader's Committee Chooses the "Right Man" for the Presidential Election

See also Iran Feature: A New Crisis for the Currency and the Economy?
Wednesday's Iran Live Coverage: The Supreme Leader's Committee Chooses the "Right Man" for the Presidential Election

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1859 GMT: Justice Watch. The first hearing in the trial of judges accused of involvement in the abuses and killings at the Kahrizak detention centre will be held on 26 February, Iran Prosecutor General Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejei has announced.

At least three post-election protesters were slain at the centre. No senior official has yet been convicted over the incident.

There was no indication by Hossein Ejei that Presidential advisor Saeed Mortazavi, long accused of possible involvement in his then-role as Tehran Prosecutor General, will be brought to court.

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Iran Live Coverage: Supreme Leader "We Will Not Surrender"

2100 GMT: Nuclear Watch. The two days of talks between the International Atomic Energy Agency and Iranian officials have ended with no news of progress on a protocol for inspections, but with an agreement to resume discussions next month.

Iranian media said the next meeting would be in Tehran on 12 February. The IAEA has made no comment.

2000 GMT: The House Arrests. The children of detained opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife, activist Zahra Rahnavard, report again that they have been blocked from seeing or calling their parents.

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Iran Live Coverage: Mr Ahmadinejad Goes to Parliament

President Ahmadinejad, watched by Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, in the Majlis today

See also Iran Live Coverage: President v. Parliament

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2105 GMT: Nuclear Watch. Talks between a high-level delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency and Iranian officials will continue for a second day on Thursday.

Both Iranian State media and an IAEA spokesperson confirmed the extension of discussions. There was no indication, however, if progress had been made towards a protocol for IAEA inspection and supervision of Iranian nuclear facilities.

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Iran Live Coverage: The Regime Admits the Oil Squeeze

See also Monday's Iran Live Coverage: Threatening the Reformists

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2055 GMT: Economy Watch. The Central Bank has put Iran's November rate of inflation at 27.4%, a rise of 1.3% from October and of 5.6% from April.

1527 GMT: Elections Watch. Ali Saeedi, the Supreme Leader's representative to the Revolutionary Guards, has said that it is the duty of the Guards to ensure a "reasonable engineering of the elections".

Saeedi put that duty within the context of the claim that the US is pursuing a "proxy war" against the Islamic Republic.

1353 GMT: All the President's Men. Senior Presidential aide Ali Akbar Javanfekr, summoned back to Evin Prison on Monday from a 12-day hospital stay, has been freed on another furlough after a few hours in detention.

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Iran Live Coverage: The Smog Shuts Down Tehran

Tehran skyline on Saturday

See also Iran Feature: The Economy in 2013
Saturday's Iran Live Coverage: Nuclear Talks to Resume?

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1644 GMT: Foreign Affairs Watch (Turkish Front). The State news agency Anatolia reports that a cargo plane carrying 1.5 tons of gold, currently being held at an İstanbul airport, is en route to Iran.

Turkey has been paying for Iranian natural gas with an increase in gold exports of 11,000% in 2012.

The Airbus A-300, owned by a Turkish private company, landed at Atatürk Airport for refuelling and personnel reshuffle on 1 January. It reportedly flew from an African country, possibly Ghana, with a listed destination of Dubai.

The plane is currently locked, with its front door and cargo gate sealed and a special security team on guard. Anatolia said the plane will depart after the necessary documents are presented.

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Iran Live Coverage: Cheerleading for Sanctions

Al Jazeera English reports on the effect of US sanctions on Iranian air travel

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2115 GMT: Foreign Affairs Watch (Syrian Front). Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani has reportedly predicted that Syrian President Assad will leave or be forced from power.

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Iran Analysis: The Politicians Unite to Fight Ahmadinejad

Less than four years ago, most politicians within the Iranian system --- all the way to the Supreme Leader --- united behind the effort to keep Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the Presidency, even as many Iranians questioned the legitimacy of his re-election.

Today they are rallying against Ahmadinejad as their political enemy.

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