LATEST Iran Video and English Summary: Mehdi Karroubi after 5th Night of Pro-Regime Siege (3 September)
Iran Breaking: Karroubi on Election Fraud; House Surrounded by Pro-Regime Crowd

UPDATE 3 September: Student Supporters of Karroubi and Mousavi have issued a statement calling for a demonstration of support on Saturday at around 7:30 p.m. local time in front of Karroubi’s residence..

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Tags: Ayatollah Yusuf Sane'i, BBC Persian, Deutsche Welle, Fatemeh Karroubi, Fereshteh Ghazi, Hossein Karroubi, Iran, Mehdi Karroubi, Negar Irani, Qods Day, Radio Farda, Rah-e-Sabz, Rooz Online, Saham News

2030 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Kalemeh reports that leading reformist politician Mohsen Safaei Farahani, one of seven detainees who recently filed a complaint alleging military interference and manipulation in the 2009 Presidential election, suffered a heart attack three days ago and is in the Evin Prison medical facility.

2025 GMT: We are updating urgently in our separate entry on the siege of Mehdi Karroubi’s house. Latest reported developments: a bodyguard in a coma, shots fired at assailants, electricity, water, and phones cut off. Fatemeh Karroubi, Mehdi Karroubi’s wife, says the pro-regime crowd is “trying to kill her husband”.

1905 GMT: Karroubi (and Qods Day) Alert. A fifth night of the “siege” of Mehdi Karroubi’s house has begun, with Molotov cocktails fired and Karroubi’s bodyguard firing into the air.

Meanwhile, we have posted the first video of tonight’s rooftop “Allahu Akbars” (God is Great) . The chants have been a sign of protest throughout the post-election period.

NEW Latest Iran Video: The Rooftop “Allahu Akbars” (2 September)
NEW Pro-Regime Media Asks, “Which is Worse: Stoning or Prostitution?”
NEW Iran Document: Karroubi-Mousavi Meeting on Eve of Qods Day (31 August)
UPDATED Iran: The Latest on the Karroubi “Siege” and the Qods Day Rally
Iran Special: Thoughts on Protest, Stoning, and Human Rights (Shahryar)
The Latest from Iran (1 September): The Threat of Stoning

1900 GMT: Sports! (and Stoning). Football’s Francesco Totti, striker and captain of Roma and star of the Italian national side, has signed the petition for clemency for Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, sentenced to death for adultery.

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Tags: Abdolfatah Soltani, Abdolreza Tajik, Ali Chenar, Arjang Davoudi, Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, Ayatollah Ali Mohammad Dastgheib, Basketball, Der Westen, Deutsche Welle, Foreign Policy Magazine, Francesco Totti, Germany, Heydar Moslehi, Hooman Majd, Hossein Sajedi-Nia, Iran, Islamic Association of Democracy, Islamic Iran Participation Front, Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, Jafar Panahi, Kalemeh, Kamran Daneshjoo, Khalil Bahramian, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Max Fisher, Mehdi Karroubi, Mehdi Kouhestani-Nejad, Mehr, Middle East Online, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, Mohammad Mostafaei, Mohammad Oliyayifard, Mohammad Seifzadeh, Mohammad Sharif, Mohammad-Hossein Saffar-Harandi, Mohsen Safaei Farahani, Mostafa Tajzadeh, Nasrin Sotoudeh, Peyke Iran, Qods Day, Ramin Mehmanparast, Rooz Online, Saeed Sohrabpour, Saham News, Sajad Ghaderzadeh, Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, Saleh Nikbakhit, Swine Flu, Tehran Bureau, Tehran University, uranium enrichment, Vienna Group, Yousef Sobouti, Zahra Rahnavard, Zanjan University

Claimed video of tonight’s rooftop “Allahu Akbars” (God is Great), a sign of post-election protest:

We are still working on the tribute to our new favourite Iran website, www.barackobama.ir. Who is behind its latest news, incisive analysis, and essential question, “Is Obama the First Jewish President?”

In the meantime, we bring you today’s top story from the site, “Why did Iranian Media call Carla Bruni a ‘prostitute’?”

In view of the fact that committing adultery as well as being an accomplice in spouse’s murder is described as ‘pure love’ by Carla Bruni without paying any attention to religious beliefs of Iranians relying on her immoral mentality, she has to be ready for Iranian people’s judgment.

“According to the recent reports Carla Bruni- Nicolas Sarkozy’s wife who became accidentally the French ‘First Lady’ in a night party- supported Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani who was sentenced to death because of committing adultery and being an accomplice in her husband’s murder.” Iranian Media reported.

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Tags: Carla Bruni, Nicolas Sarkozy, Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, www.barackobama.ir

Juan Cole summarises and analyses:

Three explosions hit Shiite processions in the old city of Lahore around 7 pm Wednesday,killing at least 35 persons and wounding about 250. The first explosion appears to have been a pre-set bomb, which went off near to the Karbala Gamay Shiite shrine. Two suicide bombers subsequently struck near Bhati Chowk. The attacks occurred near to the Datta Ganj Bakhsh Sufi shrine, which was bombed last summer.

Although the local police had set up checkpoints and taken basic security measures, the crowd blamed them for having allowed the bombings, and attacked them. They burned police cars and mobbed the nearest police station. Police had to fire in the air to disperse the angry crowds, which they only succeeded in doing around 8:30 pm. The 35,000 Shiites were commemorating the assassination of Imam Ali, who they consider to be the successor of the Prophet Muhammad, in 661. Ali’s shrine is in Najaf, Iraq.

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Tags: Asaf Ali Zardari, Dawn, Imam Ali, Juan Cole, Lashkar-i Jhangvi al-Alami, Pakistan, Pakistan Muslim League (N), Pakistan People’s Party, Shahbaz Sharif, South Asia Terrorism Project

Starting question for today’s direct Israel-Palestine talks in Washington: as a group lacking the legitimacy of being a state, both in the eyes of Palestinians and of the international community, can the Palestinian Authority get any traction for its negotiating position?

Palestinian negotiators will first urge Israelis, as move towards resolution of the status of borders, to reach a solution on settlement construction both in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem. Before agreeing on drawing the borders, Israel will urge its “partner” to come as close as possible to a proposal based on its “security needs”. That in turn will take talks to a broader agenda beyond Ramallah’s demands, which means an early victory for Israel.

Palestine to Israel: “What Kind of State Does Netanyahu Have in Mind?” (Yenidunya)
Israel-Palestine Talks: Will Confidence-Building Measures for Ramallah Work? (Yenidunya)
Gaza Latest: UN’s Flotilla Interviews Start, More Aid Ships?, Worry Over Hamas
Israel-Palestine: Were 4 Settlers Killed to Sabotage Talks? (Yenidunya)

The only exit for Palestinians from this outcome is standing firm against the broader agenda while re-stating its conditions, including the extension of the settlement freeze to East Jerusalem.

And thus a more specific question: will the settlement freeze issue replace the status of Temple Mount at the 2000 Camp David talks as the breaking point of discussions?

Tags: al-Quds al-Arabi, Benjamin Netanyahu, Bernard Kouchner, European Union, Fatah, France, Hamas, Israel, Ma'an news agency, Mahmoud Abbas, Palestine, Palestinian Authority, Palestinian Liberation Organization, Quartet, Russia, United Nations

Before flying to Washington for this week’s talks with the Palestinian Authority, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a series of statements ruling out any immediate movement on on key issues. After Sunday’s Cabinet meeting, he said: “We have held talks with the Americans and there is no change in our stance. I assume that there will be problems, but the framework of negotiations is the way it was established, without preconditions. I do not know that there is any intention to go beyond discussion on procedure in Washington.”

On Monday, the Israeli Prime Minister told his Likud ministers that Israel had made “no proposals” to the Americans on the settlement freeze. Netanyahu said that the future of settlements is not different than other core issues such as borders, Jerusalem and refugees; all of which are to be decided at the final stage.

Israel-Palestine Talks: Will Confidence-Building Measures for Ramallah Work? (Yenidunya)
Gaza Latest: UN’s Flotilla Interviews Start, More Aid Ships?, Worry Over Hamas
Israel-Palestine: Were 4 Settlers Killed to Sabotage Talks? (Yenidunya)

On the same day, Netanyahu told Likud activists at a pre-Rosh Hashana toast in Tel Aviv that he would be cautious during the talks and insist on security guarantees, so an Israeli withdrawal would not be met by the firing of hundreds of rockets. Indeed, Netanyahu said that he was not “naive”.

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Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu, Danny Ayalon, Israel, Israeli settlements, Jerusalem, Likud, Mahmoud Abbas, Palestine, Palestinian Authority, Salam Fayyad

The English translation, provided by the Facebook page supporting Mir Hossein Mousavi, of  the Saham News report on Wednesday’s meeting between Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi to discuss Qods (Palestine) Day, which takes place tomorrow:

.In this meeting, which lasted two hours various issues of ociety and the country were discussed….

In this meeting, Mehdi Karroubi, while commiserating about the economic hardship and living condition of the people, stated that elimination of the experienced and expert personnel on one hand and the government’s lack of attention to the plans and long term goals on the other have resulted in the inability to use the country’s rich resources in general and the proper use of energy in particular. Mehdi Karroubi added that currently Qatar is very active in the shared gas field and is enjoying its benefits, while the Iranian government has not paid the least attention to this important topic to explore and use this field. He also added if the fourth Development Plan was correctly implemented, today we would be extracting more than 6 million barrels of oil daily while our extraction is now less than 3.5 million barrels a day…..Mehdi Karroubi reiterated what is not important for the government in all these developments are the Iranian people and their national interests.

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Tags: Green Movement, Heydar Moslehi, Iran, Israel, Mehdi Karroubi, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Palestine, Qatar, Qods Day