Iran Special: Why the "Green Zone" in Tehran is Important Again

At the end of the day it will be the Iranians on the street who will force the hands of the politicians. It will be a rising opposition movement on the ground that will become the catalyst for change in the political system.

So far, observations about political infighting have been inconclusive, though perhaps this will change soon. Right now, the energy is pouring out of the emails, the Tweets, the blog posts. The opposition is fired up; the Green Zone is refusing to go gently into that good night. 

Like a lime being squeezed, the Green Movement is slipping its bonds. The iron fist of the regime tries to tighten its grip, but the Green Zone expands and slips through its fingers. 

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Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: While We Were Watching Tripoli....

2200 GMT: We are going to take an overnight break. Coverage continues on our Live Feed from Al Jazeera English.

2150 GMT: The scene in Tahrir Square in Cairo tonight, where an activist claims 5000 protesters are gathered:

2040 GMT: The US has blocked $30 billion in assets of the Libyan Government since President Obama's executive order late Friday night imposing unilateral sanctions against Muammar Qaddafi and his family. This is the largest amount of foreign assets ever seized in applications of sanctions by the US.

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From Tunisia/Egypt to Libya/Iran: Notes of Caution on Sudden Change

Events will move to the breaking point, when someone holds a gun to someone else's head, and everyone is forced to react. With Mir Hossein Mousavi under house arrest, Mehdi Karroubi under the constant guard of security forces in his own home, Hashemi Rafsanjani's power being challenged on the Assembly of Experts, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's term expiring, and the 2009 spirit of dissent reviving, the question is when that point is reached.

The earthquakes of Egypt and Tunisia built up for a long time on softer ground. It has taken, and will take, much longer for the fault lines to break the foundations of Iran's government. When it happens, the regime is likely to go quickly, and like a high-magnitude earthquake, the results will be felt far and wide.

We're already feeling the foreshocks, but the whole world is waiting for the big one.

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Egypt Feature: Protesting Like An Egyptian

Another Friday...another protest. However on this occasion, it is a day of celebration. It’s a rare occurrence to find Egyptians gat,ering in mass numbers, waving their flags, for causes besides football, but this was a day of prayer, thanksgiving, requests, singing...and, yesm even remembering and forgiving Mubarak.

Tahrir Square in Cairo has established itself as a place people can chant, speak, ‘shout’ out their opinions. It reminds me of London Hyde Park’s Speakers’ corner, but only on a larger scale. A much larger scale, and louder, and...Egyptian!

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Iran Special: Protest --- From Tunisia to Egypt to the Green Movement (The Newest Deal)

As a special for today, amidst the possibility of opposition marches we post The Newest Deal's analysis of protest in North Africa, the Middle East, and Iran:

Despite what the movement's leaders, Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, are forced to say publicly, this is no longer a struggle merely aimed at "reforming" the existing system. Those days are over, and both Mousavi and Karoubi likely recognize this in private.

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From Tunisia to Egypt to ???: The Demise of the Dictators

The revolts in the Middle East remind me of a beautiful Pashto poem from the lands that are now plagued by the Taliban: "Zay zay, abazo la ba ra-zay" --- "No matter where you go or are, you’ll show your true nature eventually.

Such is the case of the dictators of the Middle East. No matter what they call themselves ---, President, king, sheikh, emir, sultan or even the preposterous Guide of the Revolution --- at heart, they’re just cowardly, greedy, heartless tyrants. They are dictators who try to hide behind different guises, but in the end, they all show their true coloirs no matter how much they try to glorify their actions on their way to their demise.

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Egypt and the Fall of Mubarak: EA's Scott Lucas on Al Jazeera's Inside Story

This was the episode of Inside Story recorded for Al Jazeera English last Friday at 1400 GMT. It was supposed to air at 1730 GMT, but before then Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak --- whose situation we were discussing --- decided he would resign his office.

So now the biggest interest in the programme --- which never aired but did make it on-line --- may be whether we got it right, hours before the climactic events. I am appearing with Maha Azzam, an associate fellow at the think tank Chatham House, and Adel Darwish, the political editor of Middle East Magazine.

Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Asserting Command?

2045 GMT: In Bahrain, eyewitnesses said one protester was killed as police in fired teargas and rubber bullets to break up pro-reform demonstrations. As helicopters circled over Manama, more than 20 people were hurt, one of them critically, in clashes in Shi'ite villages that ring the capital.

The kingdom has a Shi'ite majority but is ruled by a Sunni monarchy.

In the village of Diraz, authorities dispersed protesters with teargas (see video at 1845 GMT) Ten protesters were injured in Nuweidrat by police firing teargas and rubber bullets at demonstrations calling for the release of Shi'ite detainees.

1915 GMT: Suppression of another march in Bahrain:

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Israel and Egypt: Does Stability Follow the Uprising?

Following the departure of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the Supreme Military Council released a statement  that Cairo will be loyal to its international agreements, including the peace treaty signed with Israel in 1979. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded that the "longstanding peace treaty between Israel and Egypt has greatly contributed to both countries and is the cornerstone for peace and stability in the entire Middle East".

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Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Where Next?

2215 GMT: A big MediaFail from The New York Times, which can only see "hundreds of people" in a demonstration in Algiers today. Somehow the newspaper misses the video showing far more than hundreds (the low estimate in other media covering events is 2000), and somehow it misses all the references to protests in other cities such as Oran and Annaba.

1830 GMT: The BBC has posted an interactive photograph of Tahrir Square in Cairo at prayer, allowing the viewer to tour everything from the Wall of Martyrs to the "KFC Clinic".

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