Iran Live Coverage: The Isolation of the Country

See also Saturday's Iran Live Coverage: The Engineering of the Elections Turns Nasty

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2226 GMT: Elections Watch. After another day of tension over "free elections", we will give the final word to Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, who refers to the 2009 Presidential election while looking to the next vote in June:

The "free election" slogan has burned 40 million votes. The leaders of fitna [sedition] should take idea of the victory to their graves.

2220 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Hashemi Rafsanjani --- having made his mark this week with his comment that it is the Iranian people, rather than the Supreme Leader or any politician, who will "pave the way to free elections" --- continues his challenge on the economic front. The former President said today:

People don't live on slogans. The Government must provide them with an average living --- giving people cash is of no help.

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Iran Feature: Are Revolutionary Guards Among the 48 "Pilgrims" Freed in Syria?

Does this photograph show a Revolutionary Guard officer among 48 Iranian "pilgrims" freed in Syria?

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This week the Revolutionary Guards story re-surfaced, as the 48 men were freed; at the same time, President Assad released 2130 civilian detainees in Syrian prisons. The site Digarban, notable for its criticism of the regime, listed seven Revolutionary Guards officers whom it claimed were among the men welcomed in Tehran's Mehrabad Airport.

The names given were Abedin Khorram, a Revolutionary Guards commander in Urmia in West Azerbaijan Province: Mohammad Taghi Safari, a commander in Bushehr in southern Iran; Sadegh Adibi,  a commander of the Jahrom al-Mahdi Brigade: Ali Javadian, Mohammad Elahi, and Amrollah Hemmati, also from the Jahrom brigade; and Hojatoleslam Karim Hosseinkhani, based in West Azerbaijan Province.

So is Digarban correct?

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