The Latest from Iran (20 April): A Golden Sign of Trouble?

See also Iran Snap Analysis: The New Battle Within Tehran Over the Nuclear Talks
Iran Feature: Challenging the Plans for the "National Internet"
The Latest from Iran (19 April): Supreme Leader Seeing "Positive" Nuclear Talks?

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1745 GMT: Nuclear Watch. It's not every day that EA and Press TV ally in analysis....

Earlier today we posted an evaluation from an Iranian correspondent that last weekend's nuclear talks were "the combination of efforts of the 'Everyone but Ahmadinejad camp', including those close to the Supreme Leader: "The Ahmadinejad camp feels shunted out of the evolving nuclear deal, while it senses that the two sides are closer than before to an agreement."

Now Press TV posts:/p>

An analyst says the fatwa by Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei against nuclear weapons is a “political milestone” which should put an end to Western allegations against Iran.

“The fatwa of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution can well serve as a beacon of light for Washington in order to find its way out of darkness and ignorance,” author and Middle East expert Ismail Salami wrote.

Click to read more ...

WikiLeaks & Iran Special (June 2009): The Election Was "A Power Grab by Mojtaba Khamenei"

Ali and Mojtaba KhameneiLast week we featured a cable, released by WikiLeaks, in which Ayatollah Syed Salman Safavi --- four days after the disputed 2009 Presidential election --- told Western diplomats in London that a person "very close to the Supreme Leader...working in the Supreme Leader's office" had orchestrated the victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Safavi's implication was that the Supreme Leader's son, Mojtaba Khamenei, even if he did not direct the manipulation, was fully supportive of it and that the operation was backed by the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Mohammad Ali Jafari. Safavi further claimed that the IRGC had been split by the decision to rig the election in favour of Ahmadinejad, whom he said had the backing of only one senior cleric, Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi.

And now, in another cable from WikiLeaks, the other half of this intriguing tale....

Click to read more ...