Iran Live Coverage: A Collapsing Economy?

See also Wednesday's Iran Live Coverage: Ahmadinejad v. Everyone Else

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1710 GMT: Economy Watch. A new report by the Iranian Chamber of Commerce indicates that 5931 industrial units --- 67% of those surveyed --- have been shut.

1440 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Ebrahim Raissi, the Deputy Iran Prosecutor General, has promised that indictments in the case of Mehdi Hashemi, the son of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, will be issued soon.

Hashemi, accused of financial and electoral fraud by his critics, was detained in September on his return from three years in exile in Britain. He was released on bail last month.

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Iran Live Coverage: Ahmadinejad v. Everyone Else

See also Iran Live Coverage: The Supreme Leader Admits A Crisis

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1945 GMT: Trade Watch. State news agency IRNA, citing the Turkish Statistical Center, claims trade with Turkey has risen 40% from January-November, compared to a year earlier.

The value surpassed $20.8 billion, with Turkey's exports to Iran rising to $7 billion, mainly due to exports of gold to pay for natural gas.

Tehran is counting on trade with Ankara, one of its major partners, to offset sharp falls in oil revenues.

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Iran Live Coverage: The Supreme Leader Admits A Crisis

See also Iran Feature: The Top 10 Stories of 2012 --- A Currency Falls, Sanctions Expand, and Political Prisoners Continue to Resist
EA Special: 10 Predictions for 2013 --- Assad Gone, an Angry Middle East, and Little Change on "Human Rights"
Monday's Iran Live Coverage: All-Is-Well Oil Alerts

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2040 GMT: Labour Front. More than 500 workers at the Safa Pipe factory have begun a fourth round of protests over conditions and the delayed payment of wages.

A worker said the demonstration began Saturday after employees were not paid in more than six months.

1940 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Popular singer and activist Arya Aramnejad was summoned today to serve his 91-day sentence.

Aramnejad has been detained on several occasions, including a five-month stay in prison from November 2011 to April 2012.

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Iran Live Coverage: The Economic Crisis Claims the Minister of Health

See also Iran Special: New York Times Notices Important Nuclear Story...Four Months Later
Iran Analysis: The Politicians Unite to Fight Ahmadinejad
Wednesday's Iran Live Coverage: Tehran Picks A Fight Too Far with Turkey

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Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi1650 GMT: Refugee Watch. The BBC posts a video report on thousands of Iranians who fled to Turkey amid the unrest after the disputed 2009 Presidential elections.

Many refugees are frustrated that they are still waiting for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees to process their asylum applications so they can settle in European countries.

The UNHCR says it does not have enough resources to process applications at a faster rate.

1600 GMT: Sedition Watch. Ayatollah Alamolhoda, the Friday Prayer leader in Mashhad, warms to this weekend's theme of "victory over sedition" (see 1200 GMT) with discussion of detained opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi: "We cannot call Mousavi and Karroubi seditionists, but they paved the way for foreign elements and imperialism."

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The Latest from Iran (9 December): Talking Tough on Sanctions

See also Iran Feature: How a US Neo-Con Pundit Is Helping Tehran's Propaganda
The Latest from Iran (8 December): Tehran to Hit New Low in Oil Exports?

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2030 GMT: The House Arrests. Habibollah Asgarouladi, a leading member of the conservative Motalefeh Party, has called for the release of former Presidential cnadidates and opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi --- held under strict house arrest since February 2011 --- if they distance themselves from the protests after the disputed 2009 Presidential election.

Asgarouladi said, "We never say that the 2009 candidates took [seditious] actions because they are basically not seditious. We believe they were falling in line with seditious elements."

1720 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. The lawyer for Mehdi Hashemi, the son of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, said his client's detention order has been extended for another two months.

The attorney claimed that Hashemi, seized in September when he returned from a three-year exile in Britain, is under pressure to agree to a television interview.

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Iran Feature: The Week in Civil Society --- A Health Crisis, A Hunger Strike, and Keeping Women at Home (Arseh Sevom)

Nasrin SotoudehQuestions remain unresolved concerning the death of blogger Sattar Beheshti, while authorities deny that any hunger strikes have taken place among women in prison. Iran’s Health Minister faces parliamentary scrutiny for the depletion of medical supplies, public executions continue, and international airfares double. A single exchange rate is announced and Parliament considers a bill that would require single women under 40 to get permission in order to obtain a passport.

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The Latest from Iran (16 November): Taking Advantage of Gaza

15 June 2009: Protesters in Tehran, "No to Gaza, No Lebanon, My Life Only for Iran"

See also Iran Analysis: The Resurrection of Ahmadinejad's Right-Hand Man?
The Latest from Iran (15 November): Tehran's Open Call for Nuclear Talks

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1641 GMT: Julian Borger of The Guardian offers the first soundbite from the latest International Atomic Energy Agency report on Iran's nuclear programme:

#Iran enriched a further 43kg of 20% uranium but fed no more into conversion.Stockpile is now 135 kg, says #IAEA #Israel red line = 240 kg

— Julian Borger (@julianborger) November 16, 2012

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The Latest from Iran (15 November): Tehran's Open Call for Nuclear Talks

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and Iran's Secretary of the National Security Council, Saeed Jalili

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1759 GMT: A Death in Detention. Head of judiciary Sadegh Larijani has declared that he will deal "firmly" with anyone found guilty of abuse, torture, and/or wrongful behaviour in the case of blogger Sattar Beheshti, who died during interrogation in prison last week.

See Iran Feature: The Last Blog of Sattar Beheshti, Murdered by Security Forces in Prison

1753 GMT: Health Watch. Minister of Health Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, trying to stave off criticism and calls for her impeachment (see 0945 GMT), has declared that Iran has risen from 56th to 20th in the world in medical care in the last 10 years, and that the Islamic Republic is 14th in the world for pharmaceuticals.

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The Latest from Iran (9 March): "Legitimacy" --- Home and Abroad

See also Iran Special: Explaining The Supreme Leader's Nuclear Politics
The Latest from Iran (8 March): Let the Political In-Fighting Resume

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1958 GMT: Stoking Up the Temperature. Note the careful comments of Yukiya Amano, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, when he is asked about the Parchin military site and possible testing of high explosives in the nuclear programme:

"We have information that some activity is ongoing there," Amano...said at agency headquarters.

Asked whether he was concerned that Iran may be trying to whitewash the site, he said: "That possibility is not excluded ... We cannot say for sure because we are not there."

The veteran Japanese diplomat added: "We have to go there."

Now look at how Reuters converts this into a really dramatic, scary story: "UN Nuclear Chief Doesn't Rule Out Iran 'Cleaning' Army Site".

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The Latest from Iran (6 November): A Flaw in the Script

2025 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Kurdish activist Ahmad Baab has been sentenced to 14 years in prison.

1700 GMT: A "Tribute" to Ahmadinejad. A crowd in Shiraz, led by a chanter in call-and-response, offer a rhythmic satire on the achievements and poses of the President: "Mahmoud has made himself look ridiculous". The video, according to Le Monde, was shot around 1 November.

1655 GMT: Execution Watch. The conservative newspaper Alef, linked to high-profile MP Ahmad Tavakoli, has criticised the stoning sentence against condemned adultresss Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.

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