The Latest from Iran (24 December): Watching Some Boats, Watching The Currency
Saturday, December 24, 2011 at 6:17
1735 GMT: Bank Fraud Watch. Iran Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei has said that four MPs have been summoned and interrogated over the $2.6 billion bank fraud, involving 200 properties of the Aria Group.
Mohseni Ejei did not name the MPs, but one legislator has said that Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of Parliament's National Security Commission, and his sons have been arrested and released on bail.
Mohseni also said five managers of Aria Group companies, including the Chief Executive Officer of Ahwaz Steel, have been arrested.
1715 GMT: The Battle Within. Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, one of the leading forces in the Islamic Constancy Front, sets up the group's approach for the Parliamentary elections in March --- total obedience to the Supreme Leader, with a fight against the seditious current and "intrusive elements", but also a tip of support to the President: "After the rule of the reformists, Ahmadinejad was the best choice (in 2005)."
The Constancy Front has been fighting other conservatives and principlists who have been seeking "unity" before the elections.