The Latest from Iran (15 September): So What Happens to the US Hikers?

2040 GMT: The Battle Within. Mehr --- a conservative, not a reformist, website --- has posted in English the news we reported earlier: Ali Saeedi, the Supreme Leader's representative to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, has met President Ahmadinejad and criticised him for not living up to his ideals.

Advising the President to readjust his attitude, Saeedi said Ahmadinejad's sympathisers are displeased with some of his actions and behaviour. He added that the President still has time to make up for his past.

2020 GMT: Claim of the Day. He has been criticised by leading economists, the reformist opposition, by conservative MPs, and by Government officials, but that is not going to stop President Ahmadinejad from loudly repeating an unsupported claim.

In a speech today, Ahmadinejad said, "With the support of the Iranian nation and by mobilizing all capacities, 2.5 million jobs will be created annually for [each of] two years to solve the unemployment problem." He said the challenge would be "no more difficult" than the development of Iran's nuclear programme.

And his critics who say the Government has not even created the 1.6 million new positions it claims, let alone five million new jobs? "When a revolutionary measure is to be taken, some people here and there express pessimistic views that nothing can be done. But I emphasize that creating 2.5 million jobs is not impossible for the Iranian nation."

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Iran Interview: Ahmadinejad to Washington Post "If US Gives Us Uranium, We Will Stop Production"

"If [the US] gives us uranium grade 20 percent, we would stop production. Those negotiations took place in Vienna. Apparently they know everything. I repeat: If you give us uranium grade 20 percent now, we will stop production."

This, in effect, is a return to Ahmadinejad's hopes for a deal in the autumn 2009 talks, where his effort to get an agreement was undermined by domestic opposition (as Weymouth astutely notes). Far from giving up the effort, this statement indicates he is determined to try once more.

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Iran Video: Full Ahmadinejad Interview with NBC News

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

See also Iran Latest: Ahmadinejad "Unilateral Pardon" for US Hikers Bauer & Fattal in 48 Hours
Iran MediaFail: America's NBC News Proudly Presents "A Day in the Life of Ahmadinejad"

This is effectively a 45-minute political advertisement by President Ahmadinejad.

NBC News has paid a high price for its access to the President and the "exclusive" that Ahmadinejad will give a "unilateral pardon" to US hikers Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer, sentenced to eight years for espionage. (It is an interesting question whether NBC knew in advance, as a sweetener to do the interview, of the President's plan or at least was told that Ahmadinejad would make an "important announcement".) The US channel agreed to an advance, glowing profile of "A Day in the Life of the President". I am certain that the list of questions was submitted to Ahmadinejad's office in advance, and I strongly suspect that NBC agreed that it would ask only those questions, with no follow-ups on Ahmadinejad's points. At points, interviewer Ann Curry is embarrassingly deferential --- note, for example, her obsequious, almost apologetic, introduction of a question (at the 18:00 mark) of a question about Iran's co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. At no point does she interrupt to challenge or even clarify Ahmadinejad's answers, which last up to five minutes without pause.

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The Latest from Iran (13 September): The Danger of Half-Naked Men

See also Iran Latest: Ahmadinejad "Unilateral Pardon" for US Hikers Bauer & Fattal in 48 Hours
Iran Feature: A Guide to The Political Battle Within Tehran's Establishment
Iran MediaFail: America's NBC News Proudly Presents "A Day in the Life of Ahmadinejad"

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2110 GMT: Denial of the Day. According to Fars, via Khabar Online, President Ahmadinejad's office continues to deny that 1st Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, suspected of involvement in fraud, has been dismissed.

2000 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. Here's a wrinkle in the hard-line blogosphere in Iran: the blogger "Grain of Character" has asked the Supreme Leader to end his support for Presidnet Ahmadinejad and allow his istizah --- an interrogation possibly leading to impeachment -- by Parliament.

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Iran Latest: Ahmadinejad "Unilateral Pardon" for US Hikers Bauer & Fattal in 48 Hours

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

President Ahmadinejad tells US NBC News that American hikers Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer to be freed in 48 hours

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1250 GMT: Ahmadinejad, who is due to speak at the United Nations later this month, told The Washington Post that he was issuing a "unilateral pardon" of Fattal and Bauer, arrested in July 2009 while hiking on the Iran-Iraq border, as a "humanitarian gesture".

Masoud Shafiee, the lawyer for Bauer and Fattal, said bail for the two men had been set at $500,000 each.

Ahmadinejad had wanted to released Bauer and Fattal last September when a third American, Sarah Shourd, was freed, also on $500,000. However, the Iranian judiciary objected to the release of the two men, as well as Ahmadinejad's planned elaborate ceremony. In the end, Shourd was released with little fanfare.

Bauer and Fattal were sentenced this summer to eight years in prison. Shourd refused to return for the trial.

0950 GMT: It looks like President Ahmadinejad is using his interview with America's NBC News to make a high-profile political move in advance of his trip to the United Nations later this month.

NBC says it was told by Ahmadinejad that Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, the US hikers detained in July 2009 and sentenced last month to eight years in prison on espionage charges will be freed in two days.

NBC posted the claim in a Twitter message. The interview will air later Tuesday on the Today show.

The Latest from Iran (23 August): Worried About Libya?

1950 GMT: Economy Watch. More on the attack on the Government's economic management by leading MP Ahmad Tavakoli (see 1410 GMT)....

Tavakoli, singling out Minister of Economy minister Shamseddin Hosseini for not appearing in Parliament, said huge embezzlements have been committed by government financial groups at the expense of the deprived. He asked, "Why have some received huge credits to establish banks during [Iran's] economic stagnation?"

1800 GMT: Unity Watch. Conservative website Khabar Online claims that conservative faction Islamic Constancy Front is falling apart only a month after its launch, deserted by former Minister of Interior and tycoon Sadegh Mahsouli.

In recent days, the Constancy Front has been embroiled in verbal battles with other conservative/principlist groups set up to promote "unity" before the 2012 Parliamentary elections.

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The Latest from Iran (21 August): Punishing the US Hikers

Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal (see 0650 and 0910 GMT)1910 GMT: Energy Watch. Minister of Energy Majid Namjoo is not a happy man: he says the Government owes $8 billion to banks and companies, and the power producers' union fears bankruptcy. Namjoo says he asked the Supreme Leader for help, but experts do not expect any government payments to the banking system and power plants in the near future.

1525 GMT: Justice Watch. A couple more snippets from the press conference of Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Doulatabadi (see 1400 GMT)....

Doulatabadi said the file of 15 "spies" for Israel would go to court within 10 days. Even more interesting, however, was his claim that four members of the "deviant current" --- often used as a label for the advisors around President Ahmadinejad --- would be tried soon.

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The Latest from Iran (31 July): So This is Freedom of the Press....

2010 GMT: Clerical Intervention. Grand Ayatollah Sane'i, challenging the Government's portrayal of "security" in Iran, has asked, "Is it safe?" when figures like Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi are kept under prolonged house arrest.

2000 GMT: You Gotta Laugh. President Ahmadinejad was in northwest Iran today, celebrating the inclusion of the Tabriz Grand Bazaar on the list of World Heritage Sites. However, it was this episode earlier in the week that made us smile:

In a meeting of the cabinet with provincial governors and other senior government officials around the country, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said sarcastically, "Anybody who sits next to us is arrested." He made the statement after asking Hamid Baghaei, his vice president for executive affairs, to sit next to him. Over the last few months there have been persistent rumors that Baghaei's arrest is imminent.

Ahmadinejad will want to hold on to that sense of humour. Reformist MP Dariush Ghanbari, who has struck out at the Government this week, continued his criticism in Parliament today with the declaration that the people of Iran have become "debtors or unemployed" under Ahmadinejad's leadership. He sent the message to the President, "Rather than oil money reaching Iranian households, [people] are receiving court orders to repay their debts or report to jail, because your administration has mishandled the restructuring of subsidies."

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The Latest from Iran (2 July): Watching Out for the Tehran Mayor

Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf1925 GMT: Reformist Watch. Mojtaba Vahedi, an opposition spokesman based in the US and an ally of Mehdi Karroubi, has criticised former President Mohammad Khatami for his call for "reconcilation" with the regime.

Vahedi said there is nothing is left of Parliament to contest in 2012 elections, as everything is controlled by the Supreme Leader and Guardian Council. He specifically denounced leading MP Mostafa Kavakebian as "no reformist" --- "All real reformists are in prison".

1920 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, speaking to scholars of Qom universities and seminaries, has declared, "If we don't keep a majority of ppl satisfied, there will be no bright future" for the Iranian system.

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The Latest from Iran (11 May): Assessing the Revolutionary Guards

Jafari and Ahmadinejad2045 GMT: So You Thought the Battle Was Over (one to end the evening)? President Ahmadinejad hits back at Ali Larijani in the Government v. Parliament battle over the merger of ministries (see 0800 GMT): "The respected speaker of the Majlis believes that he is the law, which is not true."

2005 GMT: So You Thought the Battle Was Over (continued even more)? And now the conflict expands to take in supporters of Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf....

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