The Latest from Iran (1 September): After the Summit

See also Iran Feature: How News and Social Media Are Changing --- An Interview with Jahanshah Javid
Will Israel Attack Iran? --- Daniella Peled and Scott Lucas on Monocle 24
Iran Propaganda 101: Press TV Re-Arranges Ban Ki-Moon's Words
The Latest from Iran (31 August): The Failure of the Charm Offensive

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2124 GMT: Nuclear Watch. Back from a day out to find a couple of intriguing perspectives on Iran's nuclear programme and the possibility of an Israeli attack....

Gareth Porter takes a closer look at the briefing of the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency to argue that Tehran has decreased the amount of enriched uranium that could be diverted to military purposes:

The data in the two reports indicate that Iran increased the total production of 20-percent enriched uranium from 143 kg in May 2012 to 189.4 kg in mid-August. But the total stockpile of 20-percent enriched uranium that could be more easily enriched to weapons grade – and which has been the focus of U.S. diplomatic demands on Iran ever since 2009 – fell from 101 kg to 91.4 kg during the quarter.

The reduction in the stockpile available for weapons grade enrichment was the result of the conversion of 53.3 kg of 20-percent enriched uranium into fuel plates --- compared with only 43 kg in the previous five months.

Iran was thus creating fuel plates for its medical reactor faster than it was enriching uranium to a 20-percent level.

And reporters for Time magazine, drawing from US and Israeli officials, assert that Washington is limiting participation in a major military exercise with the Israelis to warn them against a strike on Tehran:

Seven months ago, Israel and the United States postponed a massive joint military exercise that was originally set to go forward just as concerns were brimming that Israel would launch a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. The exercise was rescheduled for late October, and appears likely to go forward on the cusp of the U.S. presidential election. But it won’t be nearly the same exercise. Well-placed sources in both countries have told TIME that Washington has greatly reduced the scale of U.S. participation, slashing by more than two-thirds the number of American troops going to Israel and reducing both the number and potency of missile interception systems at the core of the joint exercise.

“Basically what the Americans are saying is, ‘We don’t trust you,’” a senior Israeli military official tells TIME.

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Will Israel Attack Iran? --- Daniella Peled and Scott Lucas on Monocle 24

Daniella Peled, editor at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, and I spoke with Monocle 24's Midori House last night about the possibility of Israeli military action against Iran, in light of the latest International Atomic Energy Agency report on Tehran's nuclear programme.

To listen to the discussion, go to Midori House's homepage, open the programme for 31/8, and start at the 6:35 mark.

Iran Propaganda 101: Press TV Re-Arranges Ban Ki-Moon's Words

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On Thursday, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon addressed the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran. Press TV did not cover the speech. Instead it used Ban Ki-Moon's press conference today --- rewriting the translation on its own video --- to claim, "UN Censures West’s Threats Against Iran's Nuclear Energy Program".

A comparison of the Press TV account and what Ban Ki-Moon said on Thursday....

NUCLEAR ISSUE

Press TV: “I have condemned the threats by any member state to destroy or delegitimize another. I have reminded the leaders...throughout the world to lower the volume and stop the provocation that can lead the area down a slippery slope of conflict."

Ban Ki-Moon: "For the sake of peace and security in this region and globally, I urge the Government of Iran to take the necessary measures to build international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear programme."

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Israel-Palestine 1st-Hand: Former Soldiers Break Silence About Treatment of Palestinian Children

Israeli border guard kicks a Palestinian child, July 2012

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On your first arrest mission, you’re sure it’s a big deal, and it’s actually bullshit. You enter the Abu Sneina (Hebron) neighborhood and pick up three children. After that whole briefing, you’re there with your bulletproof vest and helmet and stuck with that ridiculous mission of separating women and children. It’s all taken so seriously and then what you end up with is a bunch of kids, you blindfold and shackle them and drive them to the police station at Givat Ha’avot. That’s it, it goes on for months and you eventually stop thinking there are any terrorists out there, you stop believing there’s an enemy, it’s always some children or adolescents or some doctor we took out. You never know their names, you never talk with them, they always cry, shit in their pants.

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Iran Feature: The Week in Civil Society --- Political Prisoners, Israel Loves Iran, and Looking Too Much Like Ahmadinejad (Arseh Sevom)

The aftermath of the earthquake in the province of East Azerbaijan still dominates news coming out of Iran.

Meanwhile, 130 political prisoners have been released. the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit will mean 5 days of holiday for those living and working in Tehran. Graffiti messages call for the release of political prisoners and United4Iran calls on the NAM to put pressure on The Islamic Republic of Iran to adhere to international human rights agreements.

The number of female breadwinners in Iran has doubled over the past 5 years. Shirin Ebadi has issued a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon protesting the denial of education to female students and joined in a rebuke against the US channel NBC for turning war into a reality show with Stars Earn Stripes. Iranians and Israelis share messages of peace via Facebook.

The pro- and anti-sanctions debate causes rifts among expat Iranians. Saeed Mortazavi is removed from his post as head of the Social Security Organization while actor Mahmoud Basiri complains he cannot get any work because he looks too much like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

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Iran Snap Analysis: The Real Danger of "Ahmadinejad and Israel"

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Friday PrayersIn context, Ahmadinejad's chest-thumping is not a declaration of war; it is not even primarily about Israel. Instead, it is an attempt to bolster, and perhaps even save, his position. It is also part of a wider context for the Islamic Republic --- facing isolation because of the turns in the "Arab Spring" and the crisis in Syria, it is trying to score points with populations in Middle East countries and offer a way back for links with Arab countries, even supposed foes like Saudi Arabia.

It is the nature of politics and media, however, that context gets stripped away. And when that happens day after day, there is the prospect that those in power forget the original purpose of their rhetoric and convert it into reality. That, rather than any immediate cause for a showdown, is the opening for a conflict which moves from words to airstrikes.

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Iran and Syria Audio Feature: Why Tehran's Conference "Stunt" Means Little --- Scott Lucas with Monocle 24

Iran Hosts Peace Conference While Aleppo Rebels... by NewsLook

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's report on the Iran conference on Syria

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In a wide-ranging interview with Monocle 24's The Daily last night, I began by discussing Iran's "international conference" on Syria on Thursday, assessing the politics of the move and what comes next.

The interview also considered Israel's own stunt this week, with Minister of Defense Ehud Barak falsely claiming that a new US National Intelligence Estimate had found Iran was close to producing nuclear weapons.

But the take-away line may be at the end of the discussion. My reply to the question, "What can the world do to halt the instability in Syria?" --- "Nothing."

The conversation begins at the 1:12.02 mark.

The Latest from Iran (29 July): US Presents "Contingency Plan" for Attack to Israel

2015 GMT: Supreme Leader Watch. Ayatollah Khamenei has told an audience of "researchers, specialists, and innovators" that there is no insurmountable obstacle to Iran's "incessant" march of progress, “The Iranian nation is determined to reach its marked point through [strong] determination and resolve....The Iranian nation is in the middle of [events] and problems and pressures fall short of [influencing] decision, resolve and ideals of this nation.”

Then came the notable theme --- after months of denying the effect of sanctions on Iran, the Supreme Leader has declared a "resistance economy":

The economy of resistance is not a slogan, but a reality which should be realised.

One of the best manifestations and most effective components of the economy of resistance is knowledge-based companies which can make the economy of resistance more sustainable.

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Palestine Film Special: "Live: From Bethlehem"

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Live: From Bethlehem, a documentary about an independent Palestinian news agency, starts with a feeling every journalist knows well, as a small staff rushes to get breaking news on the air. Reporters, trying to get into the field, contend with bad traffic and police checkpoints. Ma'an News Agency, the only official independent news agency in Palestine, is clearly feeling the stress.

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Remember Iran Flashback: "The Obama Administration Fails to React" (14 June 2009)

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Vice President Joe Biden, 14 June 2009: "Our interests are the same before the election as after the election"

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In contrast to the drama unfolding on the streets of Iran, the key non-event outside the country is the lack of reaction from the Obama administration. Contrary to the position taken by the Bush administration in cases from the Ukraine to Georgia and Lebanon, there will be no welcoming or encouraging of a velvet revolution in Iran. The Obama administration is, instead, preparing itself to deal with whoever emerges as president. Despite the protestations of Mir-Hossein Mousavi's supporters, this will almost certainly be the incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. While the United States would have strongly preferred to be dealing with a Mousavi administration, the basic strategic and political rationale for US-Iranian rapprochement remains unchanged.

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