Syria Today: Russia Holds Off US and British Political Approach

The moment one of two car bombs went off in Reyhanli in Turkey, near the Syrian border, killing more than 40

See also Friday's Syria Today: Turkey "Backs US-Enforced No-Fly Zone"
Friday's Syria Today: Turkey "Backs US-Enforced No-Fly Zone"

---

1610 GMT: Deadly Bombing Inside Turkey on the Border

Leading Turkish officials have been issuing statements as the death toll from the two car bombs in Reyhanli, just inside Turkey on the Syrian border, passed 40 with more than 100 injured.

President Abdullah Gul said, "We should be careful against provocations," while Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared:

These actions could have been taken to raise sensitivity in Hatay Province. Twenty to twenty-five thousand refugees live in camps and others are our guests.

The culprits could be those who could not digest this. Or it could be those who want to provoke this fact.

I think we need to be very careful and patient.

Click to read more ...

Iran Live Coverage: "Our Enemies Are Within Our Houses, Mosques, Seminaries, and Schools"

See also Wednesday's Iran Live Coverage: "600 Journalists Work With the Enemy"

---

General Hassan Firouzabadi1958 GMT:Political Prisoner Watch (Journalist Edition). The doors of Iran's prisons continue to revolve, with more journalists released and detained today.

Mohammad Mehdi Imami Naseri and Alireza Aghaeirad, the editor-in-chief and political editor of the reformist daily Maghreb, have been freed after 24 hours in detention.

Khosrow Kordpour, the head of the Kurdish Moukerian News Agency, and Ghasem Ahmadi, editor-in-chief of Roje monthly, have been arrested.

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (17 December): Seeking Influence on Syria

Iran Special Analysis: Breaking the Deadlock in the Nuclear Negotiations
The Latest from Iran (16 December): Is Tehran Ready for Concessions on Nuclear Programme?

---

1551 GMT: Foreign Affairs Watch (Turkish Front). NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has rejected the declaration by the head of Iran's armed forces, Hassan Firouzabadi, that the placement of NATO's Patriot anti-missiles sysems on Turkey's border with Syria risks a world war.

"I completely denounce these (Iranian) allegations. We have made clear right from the outset that the deployment of Patriots is a purely defensive measure," Rasmussen told a news conference after talks with Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo. "We are there to defend and protect our ally Turkey. We have no offensive intentions whatsoever."

On Saturday, Firouzabadi said, "Each one of these Patriots is a black mark on the world map, and is meant to cause a world war. They are making plans for a world war, and this is very dangerous for the future of humanity and for the future of Europe itself."

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (15 December): Ahmadinejad Jabs at the Revolutionary Guards

President Ahmadinejad at a public appearance on Friday

See also Iran Letter: Nasrin Sotoudeh from Prison "Why I Went on Hunger Strike"
Iran Feature: "Accept that the Regime is in Its Final Days" --- Dr Maleki's Letter to Supreme Leader
The Latest from Iran (14 December): An Advance in the Nuclear Talks?

---

2025 GMT: What's Missing from This Story? Press TV proclaims:

South Korea imports of Iranian crude oil have increased 2.9% in November compared to a month ago despite West’s unilateral embargoes against Iran's oil and financial sectors.

According to the data released by Korea Customs Service, Seoul purchased 814,797 metric tons, equivalent to 5.97 million barrels, of oil from Iran in November...

South Korea halted crude purchases from Iran in August and September after its refiners lost insurance coverage on ships because of the sanctions imposed on Iran. However, Iran responded by using state-owned tankers to carry cargoes, a move that would allow South Korea to receive crude shipments without concerns over insurance guarantees.

Press TV, however, appears to have missed this report on longer-term prospects:

South Korean refiners will cut imports of Iranian crude during the six months to May by about a fifth from a year earlier, to avoid sanctions by Washington, government and industry sources told Reuters on Monday....

"The cut in next year's imports is expected to be by about 20 percent year on year," an industry source who has direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

South Korea gave the assurance on the size of the cuts in talks with the United States following discussions with Korean refiners, the sources said.

Such a cut would imply South Korean imports of about 147,814 bpd over the period to next May, since it imported 184,767 bpd of Iranian crude from December 2011 to May 2012.

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (20 November): A Supreme Leader Shift on Syria?

See also The Latest from Iran (19 November): "Empathy and Cooperation Will Defeat Sanctions"

---

1920 GMT: Women-Stay-At-Home Watch. Parliament has passed a bill barring single women under 40 from leaving the country without permission from a legal guardian.

If there are no guardians, then the court may issue a permit for travel.

A spokesman said that the bill is not yet law, but that it is proposed for “protection of women’s well-being".

Under current regulations, single women 18 and up can leave the country without restrictions. Married women, at any age, need permission from their husband.

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (2 October): A Currency in Free Fall?

The scene in the Tehran currency market today

See also Iran Audio Feature: Can Iraq Stop Tehran Flying Weapons to Syria? --- Scott Lucas with Monocle 24
Monday's The Latest from Iran (1 October): Can the "Resistance Economy" Continue to Resist?

---

1929 GMT: Ahmadinejad Statement of the Day. An EA correspondent draws up an important segment from the President's press conference, in which Ahmadinejad effectively said "Back Me or Sack Me": "I was somewhere and said, 'If you want me to, I'm ready to write a sentence, and we go away.'"

Our correspondent explains, "'Somewhere' is the Supreme Leader's house or office." amd looks at the 2:24 mark in this video to assess, "Ahmadinejad has definitely threatened to step back if necessary."

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (21 September): Worrying about Inflation

See also The Latest from Iran (20 September): The Currency "Situation"

---

1900 GMT: Reverse Sanctions Watch. The Supreme Leader's military advisor, Yahya Rahim Safavi, has urged Muslims to "sanction" the US by boycotting American products.

1810 GMT: Discovery of the Day. Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of Parliament's National Security Committee, has claimed that the German company Siemens installed explosives in equipment for an Iranian nuclear site. He said that the operation was discovered by authorities, and Siemens must explain itself.

Reports have circulated that the Stuxnet virus was introduced into Iranian computers, used in the nuclear programme, through vulnerabilities in Siemens equipment.

Click to read more ...

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

2154 GMT: Conspiracy Theory of the Day. Hassan Firuzabadi, the Chief of the Armed Forces, has revealed, “The creation of sects in the Islamic world and the extremism of Al-Qaeda and jihadis is the plan of the CIA, Mossad, and MI6 spy organizations, against the Islamic community." He continued:

The CIA and Mossad are the progenitors of Al-Qaeda, the jihadis and state terrorism in the region…They plan through the use of sects, which are apparently religious, but in fact terrorist, to initiate a targeted war between Sunni and Shi’a, despite the constant and serious efforts of some Islamic countries for the creation of unity and comprehensive alignment between Muslims.

Firouzabadi set out a case study for his findings, “The appearance of the new problem of terrorism in the form of Al-Qaeda and jihadis in confrontation with the people and government of Syria is the long-term plan of the arrogant and colonialist regimes against the Islamic world”.

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (16 August): Hey, Look Over at Palestine!

See also Iran Feature: The Week in Civil Society --- From Earthquakes to Islamic Law in Outer Space
The Latest from Iran (15 August): Ahmadinejad in Saudi Arabia

---

1609 GMT: Campus Watch. We have been reporting recently on the exclusion of women from university programmes (see 1141 GMT) --- well, here's a twist....

The Nursing Association has complained, "The decision to eliminate male applicants for nursing is shocking and against national policies and patients' needs."

1600 GMT: Economy Watch. Ali Pourkaveh of the Ministry of Industry has claimed that the stockpiling of 24 essential goods is nearly finished.

Earlier this month President Ahmadinejad called for a three-month stockpile of rice, sugar, cooking fat, and other commodities.

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (10 August): The Regime Fights Isolation

On the right in Persian, “From Iran to Syria, the People’s Right: Peace, Freedom"; on the left in Arabic, “From Syria to Iran, the People’s Right: Peace, Freedom" (poster by Iranian activist Kamyar Behrang)

See also Iran Snap Analysis: So There Was This Conference on Syria in Tehran....
The Latest from Iran (9 August): The Syrian Front

---

2000 GMT: Energy Watch. Confirmation of another foreign company's withdrawal from development of Iran's oil and gas resources, as Deputy Oil Minister Alireza Zeighami said the contract with the Malaysian SKS Company for the implementation of the Shiraz Pars Refinery project has been revoked.

Zeighami gave the formulaic statement that the annulment was due to the firm’s repeated delays and failure to start the construction and financing of the project, adding that Iranian contractors will now take over the construction of the refinery.

In the last years, Italian, French, Dutch, Russian, and Chinese companies have all withdrawn from oil and gas projects amid sanctions and other economic constraints, with Iran formally declaring that the firms had failed to fulfil obligations.

Click to read more ...