Iran Snapshot: Kentucky Fried Chicken or No Kentucky Fried Chicken? That is the Question

On the surface, the story is a tribute to the fortitude of the human spirit --- or at least the fortitude of making money, no matter how difficult the situation --- and the global power of Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Amidst the economic doom and gloom of international sanctions, which has affected supplies of rice, grains, and palm oil to Iran, businessman Amir Hossein Alizadeh said KFC and its iconic founder, Colonel Sanders, would soon be appearing in the country. The first franchise had opened in Karaj near Tehran, according to Fars, and others would open in the capital and other major cities.

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The Latest from Iran (25 February): A Far-from-Simple Election

A man sweeps up discarded flyers for the Parliamentary campaign

See also Iran Snapshot: Expecting an Unhappy New Year in Tehran
Iran Analysis: Elections and Power --- This is More Than The Supreme Leader's Show
Iran Document & Snap Analysis: The IAEA Report on Tehran's Nuclear Programme
The Latest from Iran (24 February): Here a Deviant Current, There a Deviant Current

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1735 GMT: Bank Fraud Watch. Voice of America has posted video of Amir Mansour Khosravi, the man at the centre of the $2.6 billion bank fraud, detailing bribes of 600 billion Toman (then about $500 million) to officials from Transport, Industry, & other Ministries, as well as banks.

1725 GMT: Elections Watch. Digarban notes conservative and principlist bloggers who are calling for an election boycott next Friday, including Ahmad Najmi from Qom, Mohammad Saleh Meftah of "Tribune of the Disenfranchised", and Hesameddin Motahari of "Ketab-e Esha".

The pro- Ahmadinejad "Armanshahr" (Utopia) and "Khat-khati" (Criss-cross Lines) blogs also doubt that the Parliamentary vote will have any value for people.

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Iran Snapshot: Expecting an Unhappy New Year in Tehran (Dehghan)

Woman Passes Election Posters in TehranThis is the time of year when Iranians prepare for the most important holiday of the Persian calendar, Nowruz, the ancient Zoroastrian festival marking the spring equinox. Carpets are washed, furniture wiped down, tables set with painted eggs and children are bought new clothes. Family come to visit: there are many faces you get the chance to see only once a year.

This year, the 13-day family celebration which is meant to blow away the fatigue of winter is clouded by the fear of war, exhaustion and public anger caused by political discontent at home and western economic sanctions.

"How can I keep my head held high in front of my children with an empty pocket at this time of the year?" asked Mohammad, a 35-year-old high school teacher from Tehran with two sons. "I'm supposed to give them happiness and joy. Instead I feel ashamed at not being able to fulfil their expectations."

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Intervention is Here

A funeral in the Khalidiaya section of the Syrian city Homs --- the six victims are wrapped in shrouds because there are no coffins left amidst the deaths and regime siege

See also Syria Special: Intervention is Coming --- So How Should It Be Done?
Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Meeting in Tunis

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1800 GMT: One of the protests at today's funerals in Aleppo, Syria's second city (see 1148 GMT):

An anti-regime protest in Taibat Imam, Hama Province today:

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Iran Analysis: Elections and Power --- This is More Than The Supreme Leader's Show

This week there has been a sudden bandwagon of comment that the Supreme Leader is the only man in town when it comes to Iranian politics.

So that's it, then? Not just the elections but all the political conflict of the last three years has been a show, with Ayatollah Khamenei sitting comfortably in power the entire time?

Not quite.

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Syria Special: Intervention is Coming --- So How Should It Be Done? (Hirsh and Slaughter)

Claimed footage of a firefight in Homs on Friday between regime forces and the Free Syrian Army

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Friday's developments, both in public and behind the scenes, indicated that international intervention is not just on the way for Syria --- it has already begun. On Monday, an EA analysis assessed the options, concluding that arming the opposition could do more harm than good but that a no-fly zone protecting both insurgents and civilians might be possible.

Two new analyses pick up on this. Michael Hirsh writes how history indicates the US and Western Europe will eventually intercede in the crisis, so we should do it sooner rather than later. Anne-Marie Slaughter analyses how the world could intervene in Syria in order to stop the Assad regime.

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The Latest from Iran (24 February): Here a Deviant Current, There a Deviant Current

See also Iran Document & Snap Analysis: The IAEA Report on Tehran's Nuclear Programme
Iran 1st-Hand Video: A 53-Minute Look at Life, Politics, and the Economy
The Latest from Iran (23 February): Don't Panic!

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2045 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Dr. Sadegh Akhoundi, associate professor in the Department of Orthodontics at Tehran University's School of Dentistry, has been arrested.

1950 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Police in Sanandaj in northwest Iran arrested dozens of people at a meeting of a mountain climbing group last Friday.

The reason for the detentions is not clear.

Since the arrests, families of those arrested have gathered daily outside the Intelligence Office for news. A source said the Intelligence Office has promised the families to release the detainees on bail of about 40 million Toman (about $2000) each.

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Iran Document & Snap Analysis: The IAEA Report on Tehran's Nuclear Programme

I suspect there will be a lot of fuss this weekend about today's quarterly report from the International Agency Energy Agency, much of it made without actually reading the document. Many in the mainstream media are already primed to see a likely if not inevitable military showdown, and they will be fed soundbites that prove Iran's confrontational approach.

In fact, the major shift is not in substance --- "the Agency continues to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material" is the same clause in its conclusions of the last two years --- but in tone.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Meeting in Tunis

Shelling of the Baba Amr section of Homs in Syria this morning

See also Syria Feature: Asking Again, "Will Aleppo Rise?"
Bahrain Feature: The Long Tentacles of the Regime's PR Octopus
Sudan 1st-Hand: Protests and Raids at the University of Khartoum
Thursday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Deaths of The Journalists

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2142 GMT: The Local Coordination Committees of Syria are now reporting that 97 people have been killed today nationwide, including victims of two "massacres."

Two massacres were committed while the Friends' of Syria Conference being held The Syrian regime committed two new massacres today in Homs and Hama; where the number of martyrs in Hama reached 30 in two separate massacres and the number of martyrs in the Khaldieh massacre in Homs reached 33. The number of martyrs in Syria today is 97 so far in different cities. The Local Coordination Committees regrets the world's inability to stop the regime's brutal violence, which is increases steadily and kills more innocent Syrian victims every day

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Syria Feature: Asking Again, "Will Aleppo Rise?" (BSyria)

Students demonstrate at Aleppo University on Thursday

See also Syria Feature: Will Aleppo Rise? (27 June 2011)

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Aleppo's dismal reputation among Syria's revolutionaries is slowly changing. The regime's hold on the city has been increasingly challenged: Recent Fridays have witnessed sizeable protests, and the residents of the lower-income neighborhoods of Fardous, Marjeh, and Sakhour are taking to the streets regularly.

Aleppo is also becoming increasingly violent. Assad's security forces shot dead 13 people in the city last Friday, according to local activists -- on par with the number of fatalities in other hotspots. On Feb. 10, twin car bombings targeting Aleppo's Military Intelligence bureau killed 28 people. The growing Free Syrian Army presence in the areas around the city is also making it hard for Aleppo to remain a bystander to the revolution.

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