Iran Latest: Ahmadinejad "Unilateral Pardon" for US Hikers Bauer & Fattal in 48 Hours

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President Ahmadinejad tells US NBC News that American hikers Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer to be freed in 48 hours

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1250 GMT: Ahmadinejad, who is due to speak at the United Nations later this month, told The Washington Post that he was issuing a "unilateral pardon" of Fattal and Bauer, arrested in July 2009 while hiking on the Iran-Iraq border, as a "humanitarian gesture".

Masoud Shafiee, the lawyer for Bauer and Fattal, said bail for the two men had been set at $500,000 each.

Ahmadinejad had wanted to released Bauer and Fattal last September when a third American, Sarah Shourd, was freed, also on $500,000. However, the Iranian judiciary objected to the release of the two men, as well as Ahmadinejad's planned elaborate ceremony. In the end, Shourd was released with little fanfare.

Bauer and Fattal were sentenced this summer to eight years in prison. Shourd refused to return for the trial.

0950 GMT: It looks like President Ahmadinejad is using his interview with America's NBC News to make a high-profile political move in advance of his trip to the United Nations later this month.

NBC says it was told by Ahmadinejad that Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, the US hikers detained in July 2009 and sentenced last month to eight years in prison on espionage charges will be freed in two days.

NBC posted the claim in a Twitter message. The interview will air later Tuesday on the Today show.

Iran Feature: A Guide to The Political Battle Within Tehran's Establishment (Bakhash)

In the conservative lexicon, Ahmadinejad and his inner circle have joined the reformists as a lethal threat to conservative values.

In their drive for unity, almost all the conservative politicians now label themselves osulgara, or "principlists." Prodded by leading conservatives, such as Assembly of Experts President Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi-Kani, principlists from several conservative organizations have created a council of 15 --- also known as the council of the 7 plus 8 --- to draw up a common platform and list of candidates for parliament.

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When Israel & Turkey Co-operated: West Jerusalem Asks Ankara for Help with Hamas

In a week when Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman threatened to punish Turkey by supporting the Kurdish insurgency PKK, this document, released by WikiLeaks, is a useful reminder of public illusions and private politics --- even as Israel criticised Ankara's acceptance of Hamas as a legitimate political force, it was trying to take advantage of Turkey's relationship with the Gazan leadership.

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A Special for 9/12: The Lessons We Refused to Learn

Instead of being “the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world", the US squandered its greatest opportunity to rethink its position in the world.

Can these mistakes be overcome or reversed? Yes, but only if we acknowledge the mistakes in the first place. In all the memorial services for the dead, in all of the praise for the true heroes of 9/11 (the first responders, firefighters, police, rescue services), and in all the time that has passed since 9/11, we refuse to learn some lessons, because we have refused to ask, and truthfully answer, a single question:

"Is the United States really that beacon of freedom and democracy ?"

The terrorists believe the answer is no, and they are wrong. But the true potential of the United States to be a “beacon” has been blunted, and our refusal to confront that hard facts, and our poor response to 9/11, have made matters worse.

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Iran MediaFail: America's NBC News Proudly Presents "A Day in the Life of Ahmadinejad"

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Long-time EA readers will know that we have been somewhat sceptical in the past about the ability of American television journalists to deal with President Ahmadinejad on an up-close and personal basis. Even a supposed front-line interviewer like Charlie Rose of Public Broadcasting Service found himself ill-prepared for Ahmadinejad's deft evasions and diversions. CNN's Larry King, more attuned to interrogation of celebrity scandals, made little impact, and ABC's Christiane Amanpour's highly-promoted meeting with Ahmadinejad proved little more than a PR platform. (See the dissection of Amanpour's effort by our colleague Masih Alinejad.)

Yet all of these appear as heavyweight interviews in comparison with the latest effort, from Ann Curry and NBC.

Curry sat down with Ahmadinejad in Tehran two years ago, soon after his disputed re-election, and her rather inept presentation, complemented by NBC's glitzy self-advertising, gave "Ahmadinejad and the regime far more legitimacy than they have received from other governments, let alone many of the Iranian people".

Well, Curry's back.

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Iran Snapshot: Revolutionary Guards v. Press TV (Azarmehr)

"Press TV...has a well equipped office in London, with several English reporters and analysts in its employment, including the former UK MP, George Galloway, who is receiving a huge salary, should have counter acted similarly and covered the UK protests more extensively as well as provided ideological leadership to the protesters.  Had Press TV done this,  not only it would have avenged the British government's role during the 2009 seditions but it would have also provided a pro-active offensive attack in the Soft War against Britain."

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Palestine: World Bank Hands Out Urgent Political and Economic Advice

So an economic report from the World Bank gives clear advice to Ramallah not to insist on the UN vote on statehood, in the face of the resistance from Washington: with continuing, sustainable advances in its economy, the West Bank is an excellent candidate to become a state. In the meantime, there are steps to be taken: donations, an easing of Israeli restrictions, and a Palestinian Authority focused on institution-building. And the negotiating table is the "best" way of achieving the sustainable economy as well as political settlement.

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US Politics Analysis: Obama Finally Talks of Jobs Fight, But Will He Last 15 Rounds?

If he does not fight for this plan with all the means at his disposal --- and that means no more conciliatory Mr. President ---  he will be deserted by droves of progressives for his latest betrayal of the Take Back the Dream movement. Conversely, if this speech marks the moment President Obama switched to a more confrontational style of politics, we are in for a rollicking fourteen months in Washington before the next election.

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The Latest from Iran (12 September): The Nuclear Front

2105 GMT: The Battle Within. Yasaman Baji offers an overview of the political tensions as conservative and principlist factions vie for position:

Intense competition among different wings of forces claiming absolute loyalty to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, has created a muddled political environment, making it difficult to speculate about the direction of the country after the term of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad expires in 2013.

The March elections to the Majlis could be a bellwether. In the past, parliamentary elections held right before the president's second term is over have been significant in hinting the future direction the country under the next president.

Today, increasingly acrimonious competition among devoted supporters of the Islamic Republic, known as Principlists, has the country wondering about whether there are plans to continue the country's hard-line direction without Ahmadinejad or whether instead the more- moderate conservative elements within the Principlist camp will take the reins and steer the country in a more centrist direction.

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Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Death in Detention

Protesters in Homs last night give a satirical "welcome" to Syrian President Assad's birthday

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2115 GMT: More criticism for the Syrian regime to consider tonight....

Three prominent Syrian clerics of the Alawite sect, to which President Assad belongs, have denounced the “atrocities” committed by the regime against protesters.

“We declare our innocence from these atrocities carried out by Bashar al-Assad and his aides who belong to all religious sects,” Mohib Nisafi, Yassin Hussein, and Mussa Mansour said in a joint statement from Homs.

The clerics continued, “The daily reports of kidnappings, killings and harassment of members of the Alawite sect are all untrue. They are designed and spread to cause divisions among people united against the regime....“The children of Homs, Sunnis, Alawite and Christians, have lived and will continue to live in coexistence and harmony.”

Then the clerics came out in opposition to the regime:

Six months have passed in this revolution and people have been killed or wounded. The climate is ripe for victory. There is no other way left to save the self except by joining the peaceful demonstrations.

This regime and its president will not rule you forever.

And then there are the nightly demonstrations --- the Kisweh section of Damascus:

Anadan in Aleppo Province:

Rastan in Homs Province:

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