Iran Today: Presidential Election --- Is Ali Larijani The Real Winner?

Ali Larijani & The Supreme Leader --- Credit: Mehr News Fars: Guardian Council May Disqualify Moderate Rouhani

In an indication of growing concern over the campaign of moderate Hassan Rouhani, Fars News --- close to the Revolutionary Guards --- has declared, from an "informed source", that the Guardian Council will discuss the candidacy tomorrow.

The source said the Council will re-examine Rouhani's qualifications, considering charges that he is being supported by leaders of "sedition" and lawlessness.

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The Latest from Iran (24 February): Here a Deviant Current, There a Deviant Current

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The Latest from Iran (23 February): Don't Panic!

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2045 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Dr. Sadegh Akhoundi, associate professor in the Department of Orthodontics at Tehran University's School of Dentistry, has been arrested.

1950 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Police in Sanandaj in northwest Iran arrested dozens of people at a meeting of a mountain climbing group last Friday.

The reason for the detentions is not clear.

Since the arrests, families of those arrested have gathered daily outside the Intelligence Office for news. A source said the Intelligence Office has promised the families to release the detainees on bail of about 40 million Toman (about $2000) each.

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The Latest from Iran (7 October): Preparing for the Next Election

1930 GMT: Bank Fraud Watch. Is this an easing of the political situation over the $2.6 billion bank fraud? Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi has said that there is no evidence linking the "deviant current" --- the label for the advisors around President Ahmadinejad --- to the embezzlement.

1900 GMT: All the President's Men (Nip-and-Tuck Edition). I'm not sure if this is news, but it is definitely testimony to the sniping inside the Iranian establishment.

Fars claims that the President's right-hand man, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, undergoing treatment for cornea dryness, has also had cosmetic surgery to lift his eyelids.

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