The Latest from Iran (14 June): Tough Talk Based on Bad Economics

See also Remember Iran: The Protests, the Repression...and the "Hope That Runs The World"
Remember Iran Flashback: "The Obama Administration Fails to React" (14 June 2009)
Remember Iran Flashback: 14 June 2009 Live Coverage --- "More than 100" Arrested as Greens Prepare Rally
The Latest from Iran (13 June): The Reformists and the Next Election

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Supreme Leader Addresses MPs, 13 June1515 GMT: Suppressing the Lawyers. Shadi Sadr summarises the regime's efforts to curb activism and dissent through intimidation and imprisonment of attorneys:

Between June 2009 and July 2011 at least 42 lawyers were arrested and at least 7 lawyers were forced to leave the country. Mohammad Ali Dadkhah was recently sentenced to 9 years' imprisonment and a 10 year ban on practicing law. The security officials have told him that either he will give a televised interview in which he will state that he was given money by foreign governments for defending his client or he has to go to prison....

Harassing the lawyers is not limited to their detention and sentencing. Most of the lawyers who have been detained are repeatedly questioned for having defended their clients. They are summoned and interrogated by security forces in short intervals. Many have been forced to promise not to give interviews to the media regarding the conditions of their clients. For this reason, methods of providing information regarding the conditions of the political prisoners are being blocked more and more every day. Some of the lawyers are told that they cannot accept political case files. For this reason, many prisoners of conscience are deprived of their right to a defense, prescribed by the Iranian constitution.

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The Latest from Iran (9 June): Spiralling to a Nuclear Breakdown

See also Iran Interview: Rapper Shahin Najafi on His Music, the "Death Fatwa"...and Kurt Cobain
The Latest from Iran (8 June): Preparing for the Fallout

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2032 GMT: CyberWatch. Iranian police have claimed that computer experts have tracked an April cyber-attack on Ministry of Oil computers to two IP addresses in the US.

Police General Seyed Kamal Hadianfar said the US should disclose the identities of the two IPs to Iran so that the country can identify those who have embarked on the act of sabotage and file a lawsuit against them.

1649 GMT: Economy Watch. A sign of nerves that the nuclear talks are collapsing? The Tehran Stock Exchange has fallen 270 points today to 26365.

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Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Shutting Out the Journalists

2203 GMT: Because the LCCS employees a strict verification system before it certifies a death in Syria, it appears that they are overwhelmed. Many sources say that in Homs and Zabadani, but particularly in Homs, it is nearly impossible to confirm the amount of dead and injured, because of the sheer number, and because of the ongoing violence. However, the Syrian General Revolutionary Council is reporting that at least 117 were killed nationwide on Wednesday, 93 of those deaths were in Homs, and 52 of those deaths were in the Baba Amr district alone.

2116 GMT: The LCCS reports large demonstrations in "the heart of Damascus" this evening. The Coalition of Free Damascenes for Peaceful Change has told a similar story, and has posted several videos of protests in and around Damascus. We have also discovered this video, uploaded by one of the most trusted opposition news networks, that reportedly shows a protest this evening in the Abu Habl district of Midan, near the center of Damascus. It is, according to activist SeekerSK, a primarily commercial area.

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Egypt, Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond): Attacking the Protesters

Insurgents fire a rocket-propelled grenade at a Syrian tank in Al Bukamal

See also Bahrain Interview Special: 17 December 2011 --- A Day in the Life of a Protester
Syria (and Beyond) Feature: Missing the Stories Behind the Numbers
Bahrain Video Special: The Police Attack Protesters at Budaiya
Saturday's Syria, Egypt, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Beyond a "Return" to Protest

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2205 GMT: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees activist network said at least 15 civilians were killed by Syrian security forces today in Homs Province, the Jabal al-Zawiya area, and Maaret al-Numan in the northwest.

The Observatory earlier claimed that six soldiers, including an officer, were slain by defecting troops in Qusair in Homs Province, near the border with Lebanon: "Three armored vehicles were destroyed, and those inside were killed and wounded."

On the diplomatic front, the Qatari Prime Minister reportedly said that the Assad regime will agree to an Arab League plan allowing observers into the country. The Omani foreign minister of also said he is "optimistic" that Syria will sign the protocol within 24 hours "and save the Arab world from foreign intervention".

This weekend the League said Syria must accept the agreement or it would refer the matter to the United Nations Security Council.

Syria's state-run news agency SANA quoted Assad, speaking in front of an Iraqi delegation, that Damascus has "dealt positively with proposals presented because it's in our interest for the world to know what is happening in Syria".

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Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Cutting Off Homs?

A protester in Homs in Syria sends a message

See also Syria 1st-Hand: Awaiting the Regime's Tanks in Binnish
Yemen Document: The Nobel Peace Prize Speech of Tawakkul Karman
Saturday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A New York Times Journalist is Detained, But What of the 40 People Killed?

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2125 GMT: A breaking story tonight --- Syrian activist Alexander Page, a leading source of information on the political crisis, has been held in Doha Airport in Qatar tonight and threatened with deportation to Syria. He sent a message, with the last entry at 2056 GMT:

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I've been stopped in Doha Airport and told I'm not allowed entry and that they will get me on the first plane to my homeland. I am now being held in transit and telling them that I ca'nt go to Syria because I'm wanted and these idiots don't understand.

I'm not told why, I'm just told that I'm not allowed entry. I said ok, "I'll go back." He said, "You are Syrian, then that's where you go."

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Iran Analysis: Ahmadinejad 1, Interviewers 0 (and Why It Matters)

NBC's Ann Curry and Mahmoud AhmadinejadHere's the thing about a UN speech and these interviews with US broadcasters and journalists. They are, first and foremost, part of the political show. Ahmadinejad takes the spotlight and, unless someone greases the stage, he will act out his script, take a bow, and present the applause lines to his audience back home.

It is what happens in the wings that matters. And those "noises off", from the political in-fighting in Tehran to the President's attempt at back-channel negotiations with Washington to a systematic approach to detentions and intimidations to contain and fragment any opposition, demand an attention beyond this week in September.

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