The Latest from Iran (19 September): Another Regime Move on Syria

Syria's President Assad with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi

See also The Latest from Iran (18 September): Nuclear Manoeuvres

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2010 GMT: Budget Watch. Marcus George and Zahra Hosseinian combine statistics, observations from analysts to write, "Unemployment Mounts as Iran's Economy Falters":

A wealthy Iranian businessman sits in the lobby of one of Dubai's most luxurious hotels, shaking his head as he laments the state of Iran's economy....

He is en route from Europe, where he runs a company that makes electrical goods, to Iran, a trip he makes several times a year....

"Business is drying up, industry is collapsing. There's zero investment," he said. "I know. I see it with my own eyes."

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The Latest from Iran (18 September): Nuclear Manoeuvres

See also Iran Snapshot: "Bad Hijab" Woman Beats Up Cleric
The Latest from Iran (17 September): An Intervention in Syria

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1755 GMT: Currency Watch. Central Bank head Mahmoud Bahmani has announced a Bank portal to retrace moves in the official rate for foreign exchange, indicating there will be a halt to sales on the open market.

1750 GMT: All the President's Men (cont.). MP Mohammad Bayatiani has contested the claim that 164 MPs --- more than half the Majlis --- have supported controversial Presidential aide Saeed Mortazavi in his position as head of the re-formed Social Security Organization (see 1515 GMT) is "an obvious lie". He said the legislators had given thanks to the Organization, not Mortazavi.

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The Latest from Iran (16 September): The Rhetoric, the "Protests", and Now the Threats

See also Iran Interview: Middle Class Suffers, But Regime Will Take "Fair Package Deal" on Nuclear Program --- Iranian Analyst
The Latest from Iran (15 September): The Failure of the Regime's Anti-US Diversion?

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1725 GMT: Currency Watch. Revolutionary Guards Commander Mohammad Ali Jafari, in addition to his pointed comments on Libya, Syria, and the US/Israel, intervened in domestic affairs in his news conference: he announced that the Guards will confront "troublemakers" in the currency market at the request of President Ahmadinejad.

The currency website Mesghal is posting a near-unchanged Rial on the open market at 24420:1 vs. the US dollar, but the opposition site Peyke Iran claims the rate is 24700:1 with old gold coin soaring to 955,000 Tomans (about $780 at official rate; $390 at open-market rate).

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The Latest from Iran (13 September): Diversions and Selective Condemnations

Demonstrators burn the US flag outside the Swiss Embassy in Tehran today

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2042 GMT: Nuclear Watch. Thirty-one of the 35 nations of the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency have voted for a resolution expressing "serious concern" over Iran's defiance of international demands to curb uranium enrichment and its failure to address concerns about its nuclear research.

All six of the 5+1 Powers (US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China) negotiating with Iran voted for the resolution. Only Cuba voted against, while three countries, including Egypt, abstained.

2035 GMT: Selective Condemnation Watch. It isn't just the regime leadership playing the condemnation card against "The Innocence of the Muslims" film. Former President Mohammad Khatami has asked the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to criticise the movie as an excuse for warmongers inciting war tween religions.

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The Latest from Iran (11 September): Promoting the "Resistance Economy"

See also Iran Opinion: The "Left" and the Non-Aligned Movement --- A Guide for the Perplexed
The Latest from Iran (10 September): The Gathering Economic Storm

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1645 GMT: Currency Watch. Yesterday President Ahmadinejad held a three-hour meeting with Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani and head of judiciary Sadegh Larijani, with the currency crisis at the top of the agenda. So what insight did Ahmadinejad offer when questioned afterwards by journalists?

He asked them what they had for lunch:

Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi)

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The Latest from Iran (8 September): The Threat Is Not Israel --- It's the Economy

See also The Latest from Iran (7 September): Challenges on the International Front

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1945 GMT: Sanctions Watch. Sierra Leone has removed nine vessels from its shipping register after finding they belonged to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines.

Iran has been trying to reflag its ships, using countries such as Tuvalu, to bypass Western sanctions aimed at choking off its oil exports.

In mid-August, Tanzania announced it was de-registering 36 Iranian vessels and that it was dropping the Dubai-based shipping agent who flagged them without its knowledge.

1910 GMT: Media Watch. I have been interviewed at length tonight by the radio service of State broadcaster IRIB about sanctions and Iran's nuclear programme.

If anyone hears the broadcast version of the remarks, please let me know.

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Iran Interview: Ali Larijani on the Nuclear Issue, Syria, and Detained Opposition Leader Mousavi (Slavin)

While in Tehran to cover the Non-Aligned Movement's summit, Barbara Slavin of Al Monitor spoke with Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani.

Larijani's line on Iran's nuclear programme is the expected one. So is his assurance that sanctions are not hampering the Islamic Republic and his appeal to leave Syrian President Bashar al-Assad alone.

What may be more interesting is Larijani's effective declaration that opposition figure Mir Hossein Mousavi --- held under strict house arrest, without criminal charge, for 18 1/2 months --- will remain in limbo.

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The Latest from Iran (21 August): All Hail the Supreme Leader

2214 GMT: Military Watch. An Iranian commander, Mohammad Hosseini, has said that the Islamic Republic has started construction of its largest air defence base.

Hosseini said the base in Fars Province in southern Iran would be built at the cost of $300 million and will have 6,000 personnel.

Rahim Zare', an MP for the area, said, "This air defense site will be the product of the achievements gained in all areas of science in the world."

2206 GMT: Human Rights Watch. Iranian officials have written the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, to call on the UN Human Rights Council to investigate the alleged support of Western states for "terrorists" in Syria.

"It is much clear that certain western countries along with their regional allies intend to change the Syrian government at any price and they don't pay any heed to the bloody and inhumane consequences of this seditious measure whose painful manifestations are already evident," the letter asserted. "We demand your Excellency to compile a report on the role of such countries in equipping and arming the terrorists in Syria, which has had a direct effect in increasing the number of human rights violation cases in the country and committing of crimes against humanity, and inform the world of its results."

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The Latest from Iran (20 August): "Time's Up for Bullying Oppressors"

The Supreme Leader, President Ahmadinejad, Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, and head of judiciary Sadegh Larijani at Sunday's ceremony for Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan

See also Iran Opinion: Why Real Negotiations Have Not Occurred --- And Why We Still Need Them

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2031 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. An appeal court has upheld a 10-year prison sentence for physics student Omid Kokabee, detained in February 2011 when he returned to Iran on vacation from the University of Texas.

Kokabee was charged with “communicating with a hostile government” and “illegitimate earnings". He was sentenced in May 2012, with 12 others, on the collective allegation of collaborating with Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad.

2021 GMT: Forgiveness Watch. Ali Saeedi, the Supreme Leader's representative to the Revolutionary Guards, has said reformists can participate in elections if they "repent, confess mistakes, and confirm allegiance".

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Iran Feature: An Introduction to the Currency Problems (Harris)

Currency Trading in TehranInflation in Iran’s economy has not been this bad since the end of the Iran-Iraq War or the economic crisis of the early 1990s, which also caused high inflation. The rial’s value began to slide rapidly at the beginning of 2012 after the United States announced new sanctions above and beyond the latest U.N. sanctions. The slide was due partly to the psychology of sanctions.

In that sense, a certain percentage of the public --- and their expectations --- helped cause the more rapid slide. They don’t think the Central Bank can stabilize the rial in the medium term. People who have money are buying gold, dollars, and real estate to protect their wealth. Everybody is making individual decisions that are pushing the rial down because everyone is holding onto foreign currencies.

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