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Entries in Arash Alaei (6)

Tuesday
Jul242012

The Latest from Iran (24 July): A Protest in Neyshabour "About The High Prices of Food, About Everything"

Protest in Neyshabour over inflation, especially for food: "Death to High Prices" (see 0545 GMT)

See also The Latest from Iran (23 July): Picking A Fight Over an Ahmadinejad Advisor?


1715 GMT: The deputy nuclear negotiators for Iran and the 5+1 Power have met in Istanbul today.

No details were given of the discussion between the European Union's Helga Schmid and her Iranian counterpart, Dr. Ali Bagheri, other than this will be followed by contact between” the EU High Representative Catherine Ashton, acting for the 5+1, and Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Dr. Saeed Jalili.

1712 GMT: Impeachment Watch. A demand by 20 MPs for the interrogation of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Mehdi Ghazanfari, has been sent to the Majlis.

Click to read more ...

Monday
Aug292011

The Latest from Iran (29 August): Catching Up

Maya Neyestani's old man shows Libya's former leader Muammar Qaddafi to a young boy, "Our zoo is soon complete"

See also Wikileaks & Iran Flashback: How A Kickboxing Champion Became "Israeli Spy" & Was Sentenced To Death


2035 GMT: Supreme Leader v. President (cont.). More on Ayatollah Khamenei's apparent chiding of the Government (see 1555 GMT) in a meeting with the President and Cabinet....

Ayatollah Khamenei, demanding amicable relations amongst Government bodies, called on the Ahmadinejad Administration to refrain from "conflict and retaliation" in the face of criticism".

The Supreme Leader also insisted on a focus on post-Islamic Iran rather than the pre-Islamic era of the country. The President's Chief of Staff, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, has been heavily criticised for suggesting that other countries can follow an "Iranian" rather than an "Islamic" model.

Khamenei said, "In the issue of culture including books, art, art organizations, we must relentlessly maintain the Revolutionary and Islamic direction."

ni's old man shows Libya's former leader Muammar Qaddafi to a young boy, "Our zoo is soon complete"

See also Wikileaks & Iran Flashback: How A Kickboxing Champion Became "Israeli Spy" & Was Sentenced To Death


2025 GMT: Protest Watch. Kalemeh reports that at least 16 Bazaaris were arrested this weekend for inciting and leading the protest at the Bazaar against the Government's value-added tax policy.

2010 GMT: The Battle Within. The strange tale of the regime "eulogist" who offered to pay anyone who would kill the President's right-hand man, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, continues.

Majid Reza Fouladi has rejected the report in Fars that he had announced a "big fitna (sedition) in mid September", to be launched by the Ahmadinejad camp. The Government is reportedly filing a complaint against the newspaper.

yestani's old man shows Libya's former leader Muammar Qaddafi to a young boy, "Our zoo is soon complete"

See also Wikileaks & Iran Flashback: How A Kickboxing Champion Became "Israeli Spy" & Was Sentenced To Death


1555 GMT: Supreme Leader v. President. Khabar Online, the website of Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, reports an apparent jab by Ayatollah Khamenei at President Ahmadinejad. The Supreme Leader said the Government had problems in its contact with elites. He added that Ahmadinejad's administration should discuss economic matters with experts and said that "defying criticism leads to nowhere".

Click to read more ...

Friday
Jun242011

The Latest from Iran (24 June): The Net Closes on Ahmadinejad's Men....Continued

2005 GMT: Parliament v. President The head of Parliament's Article 90 Commission, which oversees Government activity, has said that a report on 18 violations of the Constitution by President Ahmadinejad will be read out in the Parliament this week.

Mohammad Ebrahim Nekounam said the violations include refusing to provide a budget for the Tehran Metro, failing to prepare the Ministry of Oil's article of association, and refusing to announce the establishment of the Ministry of Sports and Youth.

Nekounam said Ahmadinejad must answer questions about the constitutional violations.

1920 GMT: The Hunger Strikes. Kalemeh reports that five hunger strikers at Evin Prison --- Adbollah Momeni, Mohsen Aminzadeh, Abolfazl Ghadyani, Bahman Ahmadi Amoui, and Mehdi Karimiyan Eghbal --- have been transferred to the infirmary for treatment.

The five are among 12 political prisoners who are in the seventh day of the hunger strike, which protests the deaths of activists Haleh Sahabi and Hoda Saber and the general conditions in detention.

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Friday
Jun172011

The Latest from Iran (17 June): Sometimes Numbers Speak Better than Words

1740 GMT: Oil Watch. Emad Hosseini, the spokesman of Parliament's Oil Committee, has said that Iran's oil industry is "ten years behind our partners, meaning Qatar". He continued, "Contrary to promises made, producing natural gas from the 15th and 18th phases of the South Pars oil and gas field is not possible [until March 2012]. Unstable management of the Oil Ministry and appointment of non-experts have had negative impact on the joint South Pars [oil and gas] field as well."

1735 GMT: Economy Watch. Earlier this week, President Ahmadinejad assured the Iranian community in Kazakhstan, "No one is in need of his daily bread in Iran."

Shafaf News, seen as supportive of the Supreme Leader, has a sharp reply: "Mr. President, have you seen these pictures?"

Click to read more ...

Sunday
Jun122011

The Latest from Iran (12 June): Two Years Ago Today....

In addition to our coverage, Iran News Now and Dissected News will be live-blogging any developments on the 2nd anniversary of the 2009 Presidential election.

2010 GMT: The Anniversary. A short video has been posted of security forces filmed by one of their own in Vali-e Asr Square in Tehran today:

1945 GMT: Currency Watch. The conservative Ayande News posts criticism of the Central Bank's 11% devaluation of the Iranian toman last week, claiming it is linked to problems with support payments for subsidy cuts but that is likely open to make imports more expensive and fuel inflation.

Click to read more ...

Monday
Jan032011

WikiLeaks and Iran: How the "Tehran Trial" Killed US Exchange Programmes with Tehran

A telling example from the WikiLeaks documents of how "engagement" became a casualty of the post-election atmosphere in Iran....

In August 2009, less than two months after the disputed Presidential election, the Iranian authorities held a mass trial of more than 100 defendants in Tehran. The proceedings were more for show than for due legal process: unlike most hearings, they were held in public --- indeed they were televised --- and they were accompanied by a series of high-profile "confessions".

The general indictment for the trial laid out a buffet of academic, cultural, and social initiatives which now constituted a "velvet revolution". Almost any episode in which an Iranian professional had met an American or European counterpart could now be used as proof of complicity in an attempt at regime change.

Unsurprisingly, the effect of the post-election detentions and the public trials was to suspend these exchanges and discussions.

Click to read more ...