The Latest from Iran (11 June): A Fraud Case Reaches the Government

2030 GMT: Fraud Watch. Next week's Moscow talks on Iran's nuclear programme will proceed after European Union foreign policy representative Catherine Ashton and top Iranian negotiator Saeed Jalili spoke for one hour on the phone tonight.

There was chatter that the discussions were in jeopardy after days of increasingly negative exchanges in the media between the two sides, but a Western diplomat said, “Moscow is a green light."

A European diplomat maintained that the US and Europe had held the line on no preparatory talks before Moscow, unless Iran discussed issues of political substance: “Jalili went on and on about need for a technical meeting. Ashton stayed firm.” He continued:

[The Iranians] have now backed down from that and appear prepared to engage on our proposals, which is important for us. We will respond to their ideas --- note the different terminology. We have concrete proposals, they have issues/ideas.

A spokesman for Ashton set out the apparent deal: Ashton and Jalili “agreed on the need for Iran to engage on the E3+3 proposals", while Ashton "conveyed the E3+3′s readiness to respond to the issues raised by the Iranians in Baghdad".

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Turkey Live Coverage (11 June): The Government's Carrot-and-Stick on the Kurdish Issue

See also Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Regime on Its Last Legs?

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2000 GMT: It is claimed by Today's Zaman that the Obama administration will anoounce seven countries including Turkey that will be exempt from sanctions since they have significantly cut oil purchases from Iran. 

1835 GMT: Turkish deputy prime minister Bulent Arinc said that no revision is planned to abolish specially authorized prosecutors and courts as part of a government plan to overhaul the Turkish criminal code. 

1505 GMT: It is claimed that the arrestment of BDP members including Van Mayor Bekir Kaya had been known in advance. According to this assertion, some prison cells had been emptied and readied even before they were detained. 

1500 GMT: Firat News Agency known by its close ties with the outlawed PKK, says 'KCK Executive Council member Cemil Bayık' evaluated the meeting between AKP and CHP as 'the usual policy of “trying to strain Kurds and making them surrender”'.

Besides, in response to the government's new initiative, KCK political committee reportedly declared that "any discussion or decision taken on the struggle of freedom without the will of our movement and our people is void!"

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Regime on Its Last Legs?

2016 GMT: Syria. The discussion continues (see last 2 updates) - Hama Echo offers another blog post that has analyzed videos coming from this artillery site. However, according to the analysis, the second video we've posted is older than the 1st one that claims to have been taken today.

The blog post also analyses what weapons appear to be used, and where those weapons appear to be located. The post focuses on comparing the videos of this camp to the ordinance that has reportedly been used against the city of Homs in the past. It's complicated, but a good read.

Our conclusion? The two videos taken together serve as fairly convincing evidence that shabiha are conducting military operations inside the artillery camp, and are being directly trained by the Syrian military. The evidence is compelling, but not indisputable. The blogger Bjørn H Jespersen offers compelling evidence that the videos show an artillery base in El Waer, Homs, with mortars firing in the direction of the populated city.

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Iran Video Feature: Wedding Films Banned by the "Morality Police"

Radio Zameneh reports the announcement of Iranian police that people who use satellite programmes to transmit their wedding films are in breach of the law and will face prosecution. Brigadier General Ahmad Rozbehani said:

Any form of collaboration or activity by any Iranian with satellite channels, including the forwarding of documentaries and such, has to be approved by the Ministry of Guidance and Culture. Sending wedding films and photos to satellite programs is illegal, and we will deal with such offences according to the law.

So let's have a look at some of the dangerous footage (hat tip to Payvand):

Here are some more subversives:

And Laleh and Ahmed are on the cutting edge of regime change (and nice shoes):

Syria Feature: Checkpoint Humour Amid the Conflict (Harkin)

It’s late February, and I have just returned to Syria on an undercover reporting trip, one of several I’ve made in the past year, when I run into my friend Amjad outside my hotel in Damascus. Amjad is himself only just back in the city, having months ago fled into exile as a result of his association with another Western journalist. We are keen to catch up, but neither of us wants to attract the attention of Syria’s secret police, so coffee is out of the question (the cafés are thick withmukhabarat). Instead, we keep walking, and as we walk and talk, Amjad tells me the latest checkpoint jokes.

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EA on the Road: Community Day at the University of Birmingham

EA WorldView will be "going home" to where this all began 3 1/2 years ago, appearing at the University of Birmingham's Community Day, showing off the website and talking to people about our news coverage and plans for the future.

If you are nearby, stop by the exhibition and say hello, as well as enjoying the other events and activities ---- from the Fun Fair to the Volcanic Eruption to Anatomy Body Painting.

The Community Day will be across campus from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. We'll see you there!

The Latest from Iran (10 June): Tough Talk Takes Over

See also Iran Feature: Lost Files --- Families of 55 Post-Election Victims Still Seek Justice
The Latest from Iran (9 June): Spiralling to a Nuclear Breakdown

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1627 GMT: CyberWatch. Kamal Hadianfar, the head of a special police cyber-unit, has repeated that Iran is poised to launch a crackdown on Virtual Private Networks.

VPNs use a secure protocol to encrypt users' data, circumvent online blocks by Iranian authorities.

"It has been agreed that a commission (within the cyber police) be formed to block illegal VPNs," Hadianfar said. He claimed "about 20 to 30%" of Iran's 36 million web users employed VPNs.

Hadianfar said legal VPNs would only be used by "the likes of airlines, ministries, (state) organisations and banks", and these would be monitored.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: 96 Die Amid International Fiddling

A Saturday evening rally in the Bustan Al Qasr section of Aleppo

See also Syria Feature: Razan Ghazzawi's Speech for Her Human Rights Defenders Award
Egypt Video Feature: State TV's "Don't Talk to Foreigners" Warning
Saturday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Fighting in the Streets of Damascus

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1930 GMT: Libya. Fighting between government forces and Toubou tribesmen has continued for a second day, with at least 16 people killed.

Government officials said the fighting began after members of the Toubou tribe attacked a checkpoint and tried to gain access to a security building to steal vehicles. However, representatives of the Toubou tribe said they were shelled by the Libya Shield Brigade, former insurgents under Government control, with residents killed and houses burned.

Meanwhile, in Tripoli, officials confirmed that Assembly elections planned for later this month has been postponed to 7 July. The authorities have said that extra time is needed to consider the applications of more than 4000 candidates.

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Iran Feature: Lost Files --- Families of 55 Post-Election Victims Still Seek Justice (Alinejad)

Amir Javadifar, killed in Kahrizak Prison, July 2009On the eve of the third anniversary of the 2009 [Presidential] elections, families of the victims of post-election protests, who have filed claims against authorities demanding accountability and are disappointed at the futility of their struggle, speak of their plight.

During the demonstrations that broke out in the aftermath of June 2009 presidential elections in Iran, many protesters lost their lives as they were shot point-blank, severely beaten, as they inhaled tear gas, pushed off bridges or buildings, or run over by security forces’ trucks. Many others were arrested and killed in detention as a result of fatal beatings and lack of medical attention, according to their families and even official records released by the judiciary and armed forces. The coroner’s reports released to the victims’ families confirm the victims’ deaths by firearms.

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Syria Feature: Razan Ghazzawi's Speech for Her Human Rights Defenders Award

A tribute to Mazhar Tayara, a citizen journalist who died in the regime assault on Homs, 4 February 2012

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I find myself honored to be the person chosen for such appreciation, and to tell you the truth, I believe I don’t deserve such honor, I see the award as an award for Bassel Shehada, for Mazhar Tayyara, for Ghiath Matar, for Bassel Al-Sayed and for all the citizen journalists who died trying to tell the world what’s happening in Syria, when the traditional media have failed to do so. The traditional media that focuses on people’s misery not on their undefeated will to resist. Syrian citizen journalists and filmmakers tell the revolution in all its colors, through the good times and the bad times. And many have died doing so.

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