The Latest from Iran (29 August): Side-Stepping Syria at the Summit

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon meets the Supreme Leader today

See also The Latest from Iran (28 August): The Propaganda Display at the Summit

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2040 GMT: Summit Watch. Looks like the meeting between United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and the Supreme Leader was quite feisty for a diplomatic encounter....

Ayatollah Khamenei replied to Ban's concerns on the nuclear issues (see 2015 GMT) with the challenge that the United Nations is "defective", given the "dominance" of the US and its allies in the Security Council.

The Supreme Leader also spoke at length on Syria and "the victimisation of the innocent people of this country", criticising "a flood of weapons" to "irresponsible groups" and the opposition for a "proxy war".

Ayatollah Khamenei's website did not present his responses to Ban's comments on human rights issues and "offensive and inflammatory statements" on Israel.

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Syria Audio Feature: The Escalating Issues of Refugees and a Transitional Government --- James Miller with Monocle 24

Al Jazeera English on the "ghost town" of Salma in northwest Syria

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EA's James Miller spoke with Monocle 24's The Daily last night about latest developments in the Syrian crisis, notably the reaction to French President Francois Hollande's declaration that he would recognise a transitional government and the growing pressure of Syrian refugees in Turkey.

To get to the discussion, go to The Daily's homepage and click on the programme for 28/8. The conversation begins at the 43:55 mark.

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Disputing a Car Bomb in Damascus

2045 GMT: Syria. Despite all the violence, there are still protests, and those protests offer a united front against the Syrian government. It is the protests that first drew the fire of the regime, and it was the protests that first gave credence to the slogan "the people want the execution of the President," and it was the protests that first gave the Free Syrian Army legitimacy in the first place. Because of the violence, protests are smaller and less frequent - but even after more than 22,000 deaths, they are never far away.

The LCC posts a video claiming to show a night protest in Harasta, a suburb of Damascus where bombs and shells have fallen for days (map):

2015 GMT: Afghanistan. Yet another "Green on Blue" attack, where Afghanistan forces fire on NATO soldiers:

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Syria Snapshot: The Defecting Senior Officers in Jordan's Camps (Halaby/Gavlak)

A UN-Run Refugee Camp in JordanIn an isolated stretch of Jordanian desert, a heavily guarded, secret compound houses 1,200 senior police and army officers who defected from nearby Syria.

The men live in trailers with fans but no air conditioning, surrounded by barbed wire, and they pass their days browsing the Internet and watching TV for news of Syria's civil war, longing to join the fight --- but they are largely unable to leave.

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The Latest from Iran (28 August): The Propaganda Display at the Summit

The car in which an Iranian nuclear scientist was killed is displayed atop a platform at the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Conference Center (Photo: Barbara Slavin)

See also The Latest from Iran (27 August): Meanwhile, Away from the Non-Aligned Summit....

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2035 GMT: Sedition Watch. Yadollah Javani, the head of the Political Bureau of the Revolutionary Guards, has declared that former President Mohammad Khatami was the head of the 2009 "sedition" and pronounced that the system will not allow him 2 run for office again.

1900 GMT: Tough Talk of the Day. General Massoud Jazayeri, the deputy head of armed forces, has said the Islamic Republic will hit back at the blocking of Iran's assets by the US:

If it takes 50 years, we will take back the frozen assets in the US even if by force.

The blocking of the assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran is economic terrorism and financial theft in which, unfortunately, the US is adroit like in other forms of terrorism and physical elimination of human beings.

They should be sure that we will seize back our assets from the Great Satan. It will not take long before the tables are turned to Iran's interests and the evil regime of the US will have to give many times more than Iran's frozen assets back [to the Islamic Republic] and the American people should take note of this issue.

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The Latest from Iran (27 August): Meanwhile, Away from the Non-Aligned Summit....

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi addressed the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement on Sunday

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1941 GMT: Foreign Affairs Watch (Saudi Front). There had been signs this month of an Iranian-Saudi accommodation, with President Ahmadinejad going to Riyadh for the extraordinary meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and a Saudi delegation coming to Tehran for the Non-Aligned Movement's summit.

This, however, does not appear to be part of the rapprochement --- former Minister of Culture Mohammad-Hossein Saffar-Harandi has reportedly said the Saudi king drinks wine, hates Shiites, and propagates filthy Wahhabism.

1915 GMT: Economy Watch. Fakhrollah Molaei, Deputy Minister of Industry, has stated that the Iranian economy is suffering a serious lack of liquidity, with 68% of Iran's production units lacking the required capital to operate effectively. A weak domestic market, disagreements between trading partners, and shortages of raw resources or machinery were secondary problems identified by Molaei as being significant.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Will a Few Thousand Deaths Change Anything?

1938 GMT: Syria. The LCC's deathtoll is even higher than the CFDPC's. According to the Local Coordination Committees, 224 people have been killed nationwide by regime forces:

148 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs (including 42 martyrs in Zamalka, 39 in a new massacre in Daraya, and 25 in Mouadamiyeh) 27 in Daraa (including 11 in Jiza; most of them are women and children), 12 in Idlib; most of them in Ariha, 10 in Aleppo, 8 in Deir Ezzor, 10 in Homs (including a person who was martyred in Tadamun neighborhood, Damascus), and 9 in Hama.

Dissecting the numbers, it's worth noting that Zamalka is on the other side of the capital as Darayya and Moudamyah.

1927 GMT: Syria. The CFDPC has posted this summary of events in Zamalka, an eastern suburb of Damascus, where battles and shelling have been reported since dawn:

Tanks and helicopters of regime forces began to shell the Zamalka suburb of Damascus early morning causing the collapse of entire buildings on their residents.

So far the number of dead is about 30, among them children, while about 150 people were injured (some of them are in critical condition).

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The Latest from Iran (26 August): Summit of Non-Aligned Movement Opens in Tehran

See also The Latest from Iran (25 August): Bigging Up the Non-Aligned Summit

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1515 GMT: Press Watch. The hard-line Raja News launches an attack on Reuters, condemning the agency for its reports on Iran's nuclear programme, economic tensions, and political situation.

The Reuters bureau in Tehran was effectively closed this spring by authorities, with its reporter Parisa Hafezi summoned to court and forbidden from leaving the country.

1447 GMT: Nuclear Watch. Fereydoun Abbasi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, says Tehran has no problems with snap inspections of nuclear facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency: "“Iran's nuclear programs are transparent and the IAEA inspectors can inform us of their decision two hours in advance and then visit our activities.”

“However, the [IAEA inspectors] should have adequate rationale to justify their demands for the inspection of certain sites or provide us with sufficient reasons for their allegations so that we would be convinced."

Talks on Friday between Iranian officials and the IAEA failed to resolve outstanding issues over inspections and supervision.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: "Several Hundred Bodies" After Regime Offensive in Darayya

See also Iraq Feature: The Critical Issue of Succession in Kurdistan
Saturday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: More Deaths, More than 200,000 Refugees

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1658 GMT: Bahrain. For the second time in four months, prominent activist Maryam Alkhawaja is being held at Cairo airport and denied entry. Alkhawaja, the international representative of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, has been providing a running report via Twitter:

Saying order is from intelligence and reson is "top secret" as to y im not allowed in #egypt

— Maryam Alkhawaja (@MARYAMALKHAWAJA) August 26, 2012

Theyre putting me under observation with the police cuz im insisting on knowing y im not allowed into #egypt

— Maryam Alkhawaja (@MARYAMALKHAWAJA) August 26, 2012

They want me to sign docs and im refusing, told them i want lawyer @amr_imam present #egypt

— Maryam Alkhawaja (@MARYAMALKHAWAJA) August 26, 2012

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The Latest from Iran (25 August): Bigging Up the Non-Aligned Summit

See also Iran Feature: Kafka in the Islamic Republic --- An Interview with Cartoonist Mana Neyestani
The Latest from Iran (24 August): Nuclear Talks Resume With IAEA

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1522 GMT: The House Arrests. Prominent Tehran-based analyst Sadegh Zibakalam has said that the house arrests of opposition figures Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi Karroubi are "useless" and that Mousavi's popularity remains unchanged: "Mousavi and Rahnavard cannot be eliminated from people's minds."

1520 GMT: Economy Watch. Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammad Jafar Assadi has said the Iranian economy is "in the situation of Shaab Abi Taleb", the 7th-century conflict in which Prophet Mohammad and his followers were forced to live under an economic and social blockade for three years.

The Supreme Leader, who has called for a "resistance economy", had dismissed the allusion in January.

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