The Latest from Iran (17 November): The Regime Mobilises...for Occupy Wall Street

2118 GMT: Rumour of the Day. The hard-line Raja News claims that the President cancelled his attendance of the meeting of gas-exporting countries in Doha at the last minute because of Qatar's support for the suspension of Syria from the Arab League.

2115 GMT: Bank Fraud Watch. According to the "hard-line" Arya News, MP Mahmoud Ahmadi-Bighash has asked the judiciary to publish the names of 10 legislators involved in the $2.6 billion bank fraud.

2105 GMT: Press Watch. Rah-e Sabz reports that Parliament has banned critical journalists from covering its proceedings.

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Syria, Kuwait (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Another Meeting, Another Occupation, More Deaths

2206 GMT: An impressive evening demonstration in Harasta, Damascus, on the outskirts of the city (MAP). The logos of the Syrian State media, as well as other news logos (we saw NBN, Lebanon's National Broadcasting Network) are scratched out, but international news logos are raised high:

2159 GMT: More details on the sitaution near Ma'arrat an Nouman:

Idlib: Maarat Nouman: Rocket propelled grenades and tank shells shower the residents of Wadi Aldayf following the defection of soldiers and news of civilian casualities

According to the LCCS, house to house raids have also started in the city and surrounding towns.

2141 GMT: More military bombardment is reported in Ma'arrat Shamsheh, near Ma'arrat an Nouman, Idlib province (MAP). The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported a death in the area (MAP):

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Syria Feature: The Economic Implosion is Underway (Starr)

Stephen Starr writes for Foreign Policy magazine:

Syrian business leaders, with much to lose and deeply fearful of the regime's security apparatus, are unlikely to join the country's ongoing revolt anytime soon. Even the businessmen interviewed for this article blanched upon seeing their remarks about the dismal state of the Syrian economy in print, quickly requesting anonymity to express themselves freely. The government's rose-tinted pronouncements about the condition of Syrian finances aside, there is no doubt that the country's economy is in dire straits.

The official line is that Syria's economy is fine. In an August interview, Central Bank Governor Adib Mayaleh said that foreign reserves remain strong at about $18 billion -- the same figure he was quoting earlier in the summer. President Bashar al-Assad has been somewhat more honest, arguing in June that "the most dangerous thing we face in the next stage is the weakness or collapse of the Syrian economy".

But the facts on the ground are irrefutable. The International Monetary Fund projected in September that Syria's economy will shrink by about 2% this year. Tourism, worth about 12% of GDP, has ceased completely. Employees in the huge and overburdened state sector have been asked by the authorities to "donate" 500 Syrian pounds (about $10) from their monthly salaries to help boost state funds. Deposits in Syria's private banks declined as much as 18% in third quarter of this year, according to figures released by the Damascus Securities Exchange, despite high interest rates meant to shore up bank coffers.

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Iran Analysis: "The Supreme Leader Has Tied His Fate to That of Ahmadinejad" (Siavashi)

Ahmadinejad's domestic opponents, including the Supreme Leader would like to contain Ahmadinejad, and I am certain that if it was politically expedient or even possible, they would have already done so.

The problem for the Supreme Leader, is that he made some judgement calls which have reduced his options. He has essentlally cornered himself. He cannot get rid of Ahmadinejad without the potential of incurring potentially fatal damage to his own reputation.

Ayatollah Khamenei's fate is, in this way, tied to Ahmadinejad's.

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Syria Special: "Phase 3" --- Consolidating the Opposition, Moving to Armed Conflict

Members of the Free Syrian ArmyNeither Emile Hokayem nor EA is saying that the peaceful protesters will pick up arms and join a civil war. What we may be looking at, however, is a situation with similarities to Yemen, where a militarised wing of the opposition begins to attack the regime in order protect a peaceful protest movement.

In any case, the Free Syrian Army is clearly growing and is more organised and far more aggressive. The protests are still large and widespread, and the rate of military defections appears to be accelerating. This third phase, a bloody phase, may be the decisive one.

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The Latest from Iran (16 November): Non-Appearances

A Green Movement poster opposing any military attack on Iran

See also Iran Analysis: Ahmadinejad --- A Phoenix Rising from the Ashes?
The Latest from Iran (15 November): After the Explosion

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2100 GMT: The Explosion. Digarban goes back into the question of the death toll of Saturday's blast at the Revolutionary Guards base and --- contrary to the latest claim of the Guards of 17 deaths --- comes up with the names of 36 people who were killed.

The list is taken from accounts in IRNA, Fars, and Mehr.

2050 GMT: CrimeStoppers. MP Hosein Harati has declared that the Supreme Leader is the leader of the movement preventing crime in Iran.

If so, Ayatollah Khamenei has gone a big task --- Harati said that, in a country of 75 million people, there are 10 million criminal files.

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Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: An Attack on a Major Military Complex?

2152 GMT: Another clip of the occupation of the Kuwaiti Parliament tonight:

2042 GMT: In Kuwait, after months of discontent at the lack of reform and the failure to seriously tackle corruption, 20 opposition members of parliament boycotted a parliamentary session earlier today. In the evening, thousands of protesters descended on the Parliament building. AFP reports:

Thousands of Kuwaitis stormed Parliament on Wednesday after police and elite forces beat up protesters marching on the Prime Minister's home to demand he resign, an opposition MP said.

"Now, we have entered the house of the people," said Mussallam al-Barrak, who led the protest along with several other lawmakers and youth activists also calling for the dissolution of Parliament over alleged corruption.

The demonstrators broke open parliament's gates and entered the main chamber, where they sang the national anthem and then left after a few minutes.

The police had used batons to prevent protesters from marching to the residence of Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, a senior member of the ruling family, after staging a rally outside parliament.

Video of the occupation of the Parliament building has been posted. In this clip, occupiers sing as they move into the building:

Protesters are reported to have now moved into Erada Square --- a man raises the Kuwaiti flag:

The background to tonight's development, from the Kuwait Times:

In one of the most "exciting" political dramas in Kuwait, the government and its supporters in the National Assembly succeeded in scrapping a grilling against the prime minister, but the opposition immediately filed a fresh quiz, setting the stage for a fierce confrontation.

Several opposition MPs meanwhile warned the government that popular anger was growing rapidly and could explode anytime if the government insisted on protecting the prime minister against grillings.

The drama began when Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi put for debate a government request to scrap a grilling filed against prime minister in March by MPs Ahmad Al-Saadoun and Abdulrahman Al-Anjari, claiming that it is unconstitutional following a constitutional court ruling last month.

The court said in a controversial ruling that the prime minister cannot be grilled for violations committed by his ministers and he can only be questioned for issues under his direct authority.

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Middle East/North Africa Analysis: The Rise of a "Civic Islamism"? (Sadiki)

Rachid Ghannounchi, leader of Tunisia's EnnadhaCivic Islamism is linked with the novelty of the context, the Arab Spring, and the new dynamic of legalised Islamism as in Egypt and Tunisia. Civic Islamism displays features of impressive organisation for the contest of power, coupled with an aptitude to penetrate secular civil society through coalition-building with non-Islamists.

Only through inclusion, competition, participation and the tests of "power", will this force learn to moderate its politics, gradually learning to take its place amongst the progenitors of civic politics in the Arab spring states.

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Iran Analysis: Ahmadinejad --- A Phoenix Rising from the Ashes?

Ahmadinejad may slip some of the immediate shackles. As we noted yesterday, he is no mug, with a tenacity and determination that has prevailed over many of his political foes. But he faces checks at every turn. His economic high-point of the subsidy cuts packages has quickly descended, amidst problems with the programme, wider economic tensions, and the $2.6 billion bank fraud. His play for renewed discussions with the US appears to be going nowhere fast (thanks to both the US and to his domestic opponents). And his political base is shrinking rather than than expanding.

The pendulum does not swing that far. Rocky does not throw a climactic punch. The Phoenix does not rise.

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Occupy Wall Street Follow-Up: The Return to Liberty Square

See also Occupy Wall Street Document: The Court Decision on Protests in Liberty Square
Occupy Wall Street (and Beyond) LiveStream: Police Move on Liberty Park in New York
Occupy Wall Street 1st-Hand: "All Around Me, Peaceful Protesters Were Being Pepper-Sprayed and Zip-Cuffed"

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After Tuesday's early-morning eviction by New York City police and a day of shifting court decisions, ending with the verdict that demonstrators can meet in Zuccotti/Liberty Square but cannot bring in tents and tarps, protesters returned to the park last night.

A first-hand report gives a flavour of a movement which, despite the legal setback, feels like it has re-gained energy with this week's developments:

First they tried to divert the trains from taking people [to Liberty Square]....That was fun.

We met a woman on the train who came with us to the GA [General Assembly].

The park is now fenced in by barricades and the police monitor who comes in and out. You cannot enter if you are carrying items that they deem to be too large, and they are filming people.

But a lot of people came out tonight.

Hundreds of people who are still determined to work hard and to rebuild.

Trinity Church is letting OWS use their property to prepare food for everyone.

We all talked together and passed food around while the cops stood by and watched us.

It was empowering. It was energizing. People figuring out solutions together. Breaking bread.

This attack on us has given us even more momentum, even more drive.

So I thank you, NYPD and Mayor Bloomberg, for giving us yet another burst of energy, and for growing the support for this movement amongst the people. Every time you try to beat us, we just get stronger. So thanks.

You can’t stop this.

A medical facility and kitchen had already been set up, and the "People's Library" had dozens of books, replacing the more than 5000 that were confiscated by police on Tuesday morning.  

Sully Ross, a carpenter, told the crowd, “We can’t fill this park with tents right now, but we can still fill it with our energy. We can fill it with our bodies and we can fill it with our ideas....We’re declaring this night a night of celebration and a night of planning.”

Another protester added, “We must...recognise our strength. If you lost a little bit of spirit yesterday you're in the right place to get some of it back."