Iran Feature: Four Tehran Diaries "We Drink to the Freedom that Will Come One Day" (Spiegel)

Samaneh AhmadianI'm not happy with my classes here at all. Most of the professors have no clue, and yet they make it clear to us students that they consider us to be fools. The only professor I truly admire and respect is leaving the country....

There isn't much going on in the streets. Most people don't look very happy. It's been very hot, and both women and men are wearing lighter clothing. The morality police are harassing them even more than usual....

I would like to publish my thoughts so I could see what others think about them. But we hardly have any publications anymore that print critical ideas....

We are so happy about the hunger strike coming to an end. We drink to the political prisoners, and to the martyrs of our movement, like Neda and Hoda. We drink to the freedom that will most certainly come one day.

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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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The Latest from Iran (23 June): Welcome to Phase Zero

2045 GMT: Elections Watch. Yesterday, we reported the rumour that the Supreme Leader's representative to the Revolutionary Guards, Mojtaba Zolnour, is resigning to run for Parliament next March. Khabar Online continues the story with the claim that pro-Ahmadinejad officials such as Deputy Minister of Defense Javad Darvishvand, Hojatoleslam Mohammad Reza Mirtajoddini, and Ali Shahidi are leaving position to campaign for the Majlis.

2025 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Sharif University student activist Tara Sepehri has been sentenced to seven years in prison and 74 lashes.

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