UPDATE 1700 GMT: Silliness Upon Silliness. Press TV, probably inadvertently, highlights the idiocy of the Daily Telegraph report by adding…more idiocy. “A senior political analyst specializing in media affairs” says, “These reports are undoubtedly published in line with Israeli interests. In light of the Goldstone report, such reports are obviously designed to divert world attention from Israeli crimes against Palestinians and the use of weapons of mass destruction in the three-week attack on the Gaza Strip.” Oh, yes, he adds that the report “was also meant to undermine” the Geneva talks on Iran’s nuclear programme.
But out of the ridiculousness: I’m sending a note to CNN’s Jim Clancy that “a senior media analyst” might be available for an interview.
You may have noticed that we haven’t said much about the “Ahmadinejad is Jewish” allegation. Apart from the e-mail from a reader who found the whole episode a morning laugh, the only biggest significance was the journalistic a) fraud or b) innocent idiocy of The Daily Telegraph, which claimed an “exclusive” of a story that was eight months old (launched on the blog of Mehdi Khazali, the son of the late Ayatollah) and had already been discredited. Read the rest of this entry »
Atomic Energy Organization of Iran spokesman Ali Shirzadian said on Saturday that International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei’s two-day trip to Iran had previously been planned and is not linked to last Thursday’s talks between Iran and the 5+1 group.
No, the more important loud whisper is that Major-General Hassan Firouzabadi, the head of Iran’s armed forces, is being removed from his post. We held off reporting this, as there was no supporting evidence, but now his office has felt the story was serious enough to issue a denial.
1945 GMT: Mehdi Mirdamadi, the son of Mohsen Mirdamadi, the Secretary-General of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, has been released after 17 days in detention.
1635 GMT: Amidst all the confusion over the claimed drafts of National Unity Plans (see 1040 GMT), Pedestrian offers a thoughtful and pointed analysis. There are two drafts, one which would have be inclusive of opposition figures such as Mousavi and Karroubi and one put about by hard-liners who want to steal the limelight and quash an inclusive arrangement:
Now, the other side doesn’t want to be left behind and is trying to release a plan of their own. They don’t want the Mousavi camp to be the group to come up with “the” national unity plan. Which is just funny, since Mousavi and Rafsanjani after him were the ones who have been talking about a plan for months. RajaNews and FarsNews sound like a kid who suddenly decides to steal his classmate’s homework.
Sure, they could have waited for Mousavi’s and ignored it, but they know that it will be read by a whole lot of people, “national unity” is of utmost importance right now, and as much as they can yell and holler that nothing has happened, they know the cords it will strike and they want theirs to be front page news.
1616 GMT: Spinning Out the Game. First, it was the denial by Saeed Jalili’s spokesman that Iran had agreed to “third-party enrichment”. Now a member of the Iranian delegation from the Geneva talks says not only that no agreement was made on delivery of uranium to a country such as Russia but also that there was no deal on inspection of the second enrichment plant near Qom in the next two weeks: “In the Thursday talks, Iran elaborated on its package of proposals and how to implement them… and it was agreed that negotiations should continue on Iran’s package of proposals and the common points in this package and the package drawn up by the other side, and there was no other agreement.”
1610 GMT: International Atomic Energy Agency Mohammad El Baradei has arrived in Tehran to discuss arrangements for the inspection of Iran’s second uranium enrichment facility.
1435 GMT: MediaCheck (EA v. CNN, Round 78) . Enduring America ($0/story), 2 October, 0700 GMT: “Big Win for Tehran at Geneva Talks”.
1945 GMT: Dr Mehdi Khazali, manager of the publication Hayan, has been released from detention. Khazali, the son of Grand Ayatollah Abulghasem Khazali, a member of the Assembly of Experts, is a strident critic of President Ahmadinejad, whom has accused of having Jewish roots.
1645 GMT: Following up this morning’s story on possible challenges to the Supreme Leader, we’ve posted a summary and analysis of the Supreme Leader’s address to officials and citizens this afternoon. Press TV’s summary leaves no doubt about Khamenei’s target: “The remarks come several days after renewed protests emerged on Friday when influential cleric and politician Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani led prayers attended by hundreds of thousands of people at Tehran University.”
1535 GMT: Where is Bijan Khajehpour? At The Huffington Post, the prominent US-based analyst Trita Parsi highlights the case of the economist who was arrested on arrival at a Tehran airport on 27 June. Because Khajehpour has taught at American as well as Iranian universities and advised companies in Europe, he may prove an “exceptional” detainee for the Western media, despite the fears of his family that “they fear the world will forget about him because they never knew his face and never heard his story”.
2215 GMT: Very little political movement tonight — the interesting manoeuvres start tomorrow with reaction to the Guardian Council’s attempt to close off further dispute over the election. Meanwhile, multiple sources report that “Allahu Akhbars” are louder than ever from Tehran rooftops. Read the rest of this entry »
2215 GMT: Very little political movement tonight — the interesting manoeuvres start tomorrow with reaction to the Guardian Council’s attempt to close off further dispute over the election. Meanwhile, multiple sources report that “Allahu Akhbars” are louder than ever from Tehran rooftops.
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