Iran Live Coverage: The Smog Shuts Down Tehran

Tehran skyline on Saturday

See also Iran Feature: The Economy in 2013
Saturday's Iran Live Coverage: Nuclear Talks to Resume?

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1644 GMT: Foreign Affairs Watch (Turkish Front). The State news agency Anatolia reports that a cargo plane carrying 1.5 tons of gold, currently being held at an İstanbul airport, is en route to Iran.

Turkey has been paying for Iranian natural gas with an increase in gold exports of 11,000% in 2012.

The Airbus A-300, owned by a Turkish private company, landed at Atatürk Airport for refuelling and personnel reshuffle on 1 January. It reportedly flew from an African country, possibly Ghana, with a listed destination of Dubai.

The plane is currently locked, with its front door and cargo gate sealed and a special security team on guard. Anatolia said the plane will depart after the necessary documents are presented.

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Iran Analysis: How to Misread Ahmadinejad's Position

Jason Rezaian, the Tehran correspondent of The Washington Post, proclaims, "Ahmadinejad Proves Resilient in Iran", a claim which might prove surprising to those who have closely followed months of political and economic turmoil for the President, as Rezaian admits: "[Ahmadinejad] has been seen here as an increasingly marginal figure who may not even be able to serve out his term, which ends next summer."

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Iran 1st-Hand Video: A 53-Minute Look at Life, Politics, and the Economy (Rezaian)

Jason Rezaian, an Iranian-American journalist based in Tehran, speaks for 53 minutes in a wide-ranging and candid --- despite the likelihood that Iranian security forces were listening --- interview on Bloggingheads. His views offer a lot for discussion and reflection about the nuclear situation, the battle within the Iranian establishment, and the Green Movement.

Iran Feature: Could the Economy Bring Down Ahmadinejad...and the Regime? (Setrakian)

Sanctions are biting harder than ever, but business still gets done through the leaks and loopholes. So it’s not changing the regime’s behavior where it counts: on its nuclear policy, specifically, its accelerating enrichment of uranium. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s policies have been largely bad for business and made life harder for most Iranians. Together, that could get Ahmadinejad booted from office, but it probably won’t topple the regime. Iran is rolling in oil money – a salve for all its economic wounds. But Iran can’t effectively tap the wealth underground, given the bans on foreign investment in the energy sector. That, combined with overall mismanagement, makes Iran’s economy is “fundamentally unsustainable,” in the words of one analyst – a “patient with many viruses.”

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Iran Snapshot: The Music of Resistance (Rezaian)

Maral Afsharian, with her ranging voice, powerful lyrics — sung in English — and her stunning features, is the perfect example of an artist from Tehran’s underground that is in many ways ahead of the times within her own musical community.

Her unique brand of electronic rock, first as the lead singer of the group Plastic Wave, and now as a solo artist, has begun to achieve attention worldwide. The band was even invited to play at the prestigious and avant-garde South-by-Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas. Ultimately the members of the band were denied visas to attend SXSW.

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