The Latest From Iran (3 July): Beyond the Propaganda, Nuclear Talks in Istanbul Today

See also The Latest from Iran (2 July): Winners and Losers in the Economic Crisis

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1954 GMT: One Mistaken Story is Unfortunate, Two Is... (Egypt Edition). Last week, Fars carried a disputed headline story that it had interviewed new Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. The claim spiralled into an open fight with State news agency IRNA, which denounced Fars' fake conversation with Morsi.

Now Morsi's spokesman Yasser Ali has denied the report, carried in Fars and other Iranian media, that Morsi will visit Tehran in August and discuss bilateral relations with President Ahmadinejad.

The story was apparently based on a news report in Lebanese daily Al-Safir, which published Tuesday morning that Morsi planned to visit Iran to attend a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement.

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The Latest from Iran (28 May): No More Nice Guy --- Tehran Shifts Line on Nuke Talks

See also The Latest from Iran (27 May): A New Parliament Opens

1358 GMT: Dissent Watch. Former Foreign Minister and political prisoner Ebrahim Yazdi has posted another book on the Internet, as a protest against the Ministry of Culture’s failure to provide valid reasons for not approving its publication.

The Student Movement in the 1940s and 1950s was published 10 days after Yazdi uploaded his book about Mehdi Bazargan, the head of Iran’s interim state after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

In a letter to the Minister of Culture and Guidance, Yazdi wrote, “The president has said in his interviews that Iran is the freest country in the world, so it is not clear why a book about the late Mr. Bazargan cannot get a publication licence.”

Yazdi, arrested twice during the post-election protests of 2009, was the oldest political prisoner before the octogenarian was finally released last March.

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The Latest from Iran (22 May): Tehran Plays Up Hope for Nuclear Talks

See also The Latest from Iran (21 May): A Freudian Slip on the Economy

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Yukiya Amano and Saeed Jalili2009 GMT: Nuclear Watch. Iran continues to be upbeat about tomorrow's nuclear discussions, “Tehran is optimistic that the Baghdad talks would be a good start to promote cooperation in international, regional and nuclear issues."

However, this inside story from Laura Rozen and Barbara Slavin of Al Monitor may put a damper on expectations:

The United States and its negotiating partners have agreed on a detailed confidence-building proposal to offer to Iran at nuclear negotiations due to get underway Wednesday in Baghdad. The proposed package is an updated version of a 2009 uranium fuel swap proposal that takes into account Iran’s progress in enriching uranium, American, Russian and European diplomats said.

While the details of the proposed package have not been made public, Western officials told Al Monitor that the package does not include sanctions relief at this stage.

Iranian officials and State media have made clear that a significant easing of US-led sanctions, including a pause on the European Union's suspension of Iranian oil imports --- due to start 1 July --- must be on the table.

This is excluded from the proposal put out via Rozen:

Instead, the United States and its P5+1 partners will offer fuel for Tehran’s Research Reactor (TRR) plus safety upgrades to the plant, which is of 1960s vintage. Also potentially on the table: new research reactors that use lower level 3.5 percent enriched uranium, safety upgrades for Iran’s one functioning nuclear power plant at Bushehr and spare parts for its accident-plagued fleet of civilian airliners.

In return, Iran must stop producing uranium enriched to 20 percent and halt activities at Fordow, an enrichment facility built into a mountain near Qom. It is not clear whether Iran would also have to send out its stockpile of more than 100 kg of the fuel.

A "current American official sets out the line, "If we talk substantively on elements of a deal and agree to meet again in three weeks, Baghdad will have been a success. Just hope the Iranians are not deluding themselves they are going to get sanctions relief now—that’s not going to happen at this stage.”

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Iran Feature: Maya Neyestani --- Challenging Repression Through The Cartoon (Esfandiari)

Neyestani's cartoons pulse with feelings of hope, lack of freedom, and frustration with the absurd social and political rules that Iranians face in their day-to-day lives. His drawings depict Iranian leaders as obsessed with nuclear power, show how sanctions hurt ordinary people, evoke the specter of war with Israel, highlight the plight of political prisoners, and, in general, draw attention to vexing issues on the minds of many Iranians.

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Iran Feature: Muffling the Drumbeats of War? Israel, Azerbaijan, and the US

We have been following the news and analysis heralding a military attack on Iran over its nuclear programme, and more recently, we have noted the media coverage --- following an Obama Administration "red line" against a strike --- hitting back at any launch of conflict.

Now an episode which brings both sides of the political and propaganda struggle together. 

On Wednesday, journalist Mark Perry posted the dramatic revelation, "Israel's Secret Staging Ground":

Four senior diplomats and military intelligence officers say that the United States has concluded that Israel has recently been granted access to airbases on Iran's northern border. To do what, exactly, is not clear. "The Israelis have bought an airfield," a senior administration official told me in early February, "and the airfield is called Azerbaijan."

It was immediately clear, however, that the news had not been fed to Perry to encourage the Israelis. Rather...

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Turkey Special: The Government Supports a Hyper-Nationalist --- and Threatening --- Protest

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On Sunday in Taksim Square in Istanbul, there was a large demonstration organised by various NGOs, syndicates, and political parties and supported by the Turkish government. The vision was that tens of thousands of Turks would commemorate the anniversary of the Khojaly massacre, committed against Azerbaijanis by Armenian armed forces in Nagorno-Karabagh in 1992.

The reality turned out to be somewhat different.

The memorial became a charged nationalist occasion, not only emphasising Turkish and Azerbaijani identity, but also displaying hatred and racism towards Armenians and those Turkish citizens, mostly left-wing intellectuals, who have been discussing the Armenian genocide/massacre of the early 20th century.

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Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: How Far with the Opposition?

1915 GMT: An update on the violence today in Taiz, south of the Yemeni capital Sanaa (see 1350 GMT)....

Officials at a field hospital say one person died and at least 830 people were injured by security forces who charged the square where people were demonstrating. Nine people suffered gunshot wounds, including the person who died. More than 60 were injured in the beatings, and the rest were injured from tear gas inhalation.

The Governor of Taiz, Hamoud al-Soufi denied any deaths and said that clashes did not occur in the square but on the main street> He claimed "infiltrators and some young hotheads" threw stones at soldiers, wounding eight, one seriously.

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WikiLeaks: "Iran Can't Go On Like This" --- The Mistaken Predictions for the 22 Bahman Protests

The events of 22 Bahman (11 February 2010) were a significant disappointment for the Iranian opposition. In the weeks before the anniversary of the 1979 Revolution, there was an excitement that protests against the Government and regime --- which had continued despite repression and made a notable impact in the Ashura demonstrations of 27 December --- would build, possibly to a critical point.

On the day, the opposition was unable to mount a co-ordinated public protest while the regime was able to mobilise support for its official ceremonies.

In that light, the cable below from the Iran Watchers" post at the US Embassy in Baku in Azerbaijan is telling: the Embassy's sources were all predicting a significant opposition turnout on 22 Bahman to challenge a fracturing regime: "Iran Can't Go On Like This".

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Azerbaijan Non-Surprise: Aliyev's Ruling Party Dominates Elections (Press TV)

There does not appear to be much interest in the US media in Sunday's elections in Azerbaijan, with only the Associated Press providing a short story. Press TV, however, takes an interest in the issue of a powerful government claiming legitimacy:

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's ruling party has won the parliamentary elections with a majority of 73 out of 125 constituencies with more than 90 percent of the votes counted so far.

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