The Latest from Iran (12 October): No News is Regime News

See also The Latest from Iran (11 October): A President Under Fire

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1704 GMT: Your Tehran Friday Prayer Update. More information on Hojatoleslam Seddiqi's jab at the Government in today's sermon:

Had our authorities devised better policies, our costs would have been reduced....Executing the subsidy reforms was courageous, but they handed out cash to the people, and infused it in the market rather than strengthening production. The money was not used to boost production....And this has some side effects....They should already have thought about it. We hope that the problems people are facing and some are using as a pretext to help the enemy will not be repeated.

"Paying attention to the issue of production, using Iranian products and [supporting] the national production is a necessary [issue], and the order of religion, God and the Quran. God would never be happy with the Muslim community of believers...being in the shadow of infidels. We are a blessed nation, and they should not dominate us economically.

(Hat tip to Iran Tracker)

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The Latest from Iran (2 July): Watching Out for the Tehran Mayor

Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf1925 GMT: Reformist Watch. Mojtaba Vahedi, an opposition spokesman based in the US and an ally of Mehdi Karroubi, has criticised former President Mohammad Khatami for his call for "reconcilation" with the regime.

Vahedi said there is nothing is left of Parliament to contest in 2012 elections, as everything is controlled by the Supreme Leader and Guardian Council. He specifically denounced leading MP Mostafa Kavakebian as "no reformist" --- "All real reformists are in prison".

1920 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, speaking to scholars of Qom universities and seminaries, has declared, "If we don't keep a majority of ppl satisfied, there will be no bright future" for the Iranian system.

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The Latest from Iran (1 July): A Pause for Denial

1855 GMT: Press Watch. The journal Shahrvand has returned after a ban with a cover featuring prominent writer Mahmoud Doulatabadi and poet Javad Mojab.

1845 GMT: Corruption Watch. Hojatoleslam Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, the head of the Shiraz Administrative Court, has asserted that corruption amongst officials is one of the most important factors in the downfall of states.

1820 GMT: All the President's Men. Farda News claims that President Ahmadinejad's inner circle spent 338 million tomans (about $300,000) in less than a year for foreign travel, boat trips, and suits.

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The Latest from Iran (30 June): An Ahmadinejad Relative is Arrested

Mohsen Memari (see 0500 GMT)2100 GMT: Foreign Affairs (Syria Front). My colleague James Miller has been busy all day with what might turn to be extraordinary developments in Syria --- a military "lockdown" of parts of the northwest but a withdrawal from other towns and cities, including Hama; reported anti-regime protests tonight of up to 100,000 people; a US "roadmap" for reforms that would leave President Assad in place --- but Press TV has a much different perspective....

The Iranian state outlet pronounces, "Most of the refugees who had fled the Syrian town of Khirbat al-Jawz [in the northwest] to neighboring Turkey have returned to their homes. According to locals, the refugees, who were displaced by fierce clashes between Syrian security forces and armed men blamed for the recent unrest in the country, now say security has been restored in the region, a Press TV correspondent reported on Thursday."

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