Iran Election Guide

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Monday
Apr042011

The Latest from Iran (4 April): Taking Away Zeroes

1725 GMT: Mona Lisa Watch. The head of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization says Tehran has severed all ties with the Louvre Museum because the French art center has not fulfilled a promise to hold an exhibition in Iran.

Hamid Baghaei said that Iran had put on two exhibitions at the Louvre, one showcasing objects from the Safavid era and the other introducing the ancient Persian Civilization, and had given the French until the beginning of the Iranian year (21 March) for an exact date for the exhibition in Iran and a list of the artifacts to be displayed.

1715 GMT: A Stonewall on Oil. Khabar Online, the conservative website linked to Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, features President Ahmadinejad's press conference answer to a question about $11 billion in missing oil funds: "What answer is there to give?"

Parliament's Energy Commission, the Supreme Audit Court, and other conservative publications have all raised questions about the shortfall in oil revenues.

1710 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Dr Ghasem Shoaleh Saadi, former MP for Shiraz, has been arrested.

1550 GMT: Ahmadinejad, Ahmadinejad, Ahmadinejad. In case you're wondering about the position of the State news agency IRNA, it has no less than nine articles, plus photographs, of the President's press conference.

No real shockers in the headlines, such as "America and its allies are doomed; regional countries are Iran's best friend"; "Interest in establishing relations with Egypt"; "This Year will be year of great change in many sectors".

Amidst this flurry of celebration and rhetoric, two points might be of value.

The first, on the domestic front, was Ahmadinejad's declaration that Iran will create 2 1/2 million jobs this year, with a 40% growth in non-oil exports.

Then there was this nugget on Damascus --- perhaps the first time that the troubles for the Assad regime have surfaced in IRNA --- with Ahmadinejad declaring, "Iran does not interfere in a country's internal affairs. With their wisdom, Syria's government and nation will resolve issues."

1430 GMT: Today's Theme "Bash Obama". Back from a break to find that President Ahmadinejad has held his first press conference of the new Iranian year, and he is dedicating it to his American counterpart, Barack Obama.

Ahmadinejad said that while Obama had promised change, there was little difference between him and his predecessor, George W. Bush: "If one [Bush] has left the political scene, under the successor US policy has left the scene in disgrace."

Ahmadinejad continued that Obama's "beautiful appearance" was a mask that hid thieves, slave owners, and colonisers, but time and again, US policy had been dedicated to "save capitalism".

And, of course, there was a guest appearance for Israel, American's "main base in the Middle East".

Today's Obama-bashing was not just for the President, however. In a preliminary to the press conference, Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani denounced Obama's deceptions, explaining that the US President criticised Tehran over freedom and human rights, even though Iran clearly upheld freedom and rights for its people.

0645 GMT: Ahmadinejad's Peace Mission. President Ahmadinejad has spoken by phone with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, urging him to be "historical and decisive" in resolving issues in the Middle East and North Africa, avoiding "the disaster of Iraq and Afghanistan".

Ahmadineajd emphasized that the UN Security Council, "because of the ill intentions of the US and some European countries" had been hindred in dealing with regional developments.

0550 GMT: Attack on the Police. The Kurdish insurgent movement PJAK has taken responsibility for the attack this weekend on a security post near Marivan which killed four policemen.

0545 GMT: Questions for Khamenei. Uskowi takes a look at the Supreme Leader's weekend declaration, "Almost all analysts in the world acknowledge that the current movement in the Middle East region and North Africa has stemmed from the Iranian nation's uprising," and ponders:

By the latter, it is assumed that Ayatollah Khamenei was referring to the 1979 Islamic revolution and not the more recent movement in 2009. But he did not address the question why it took 32 years for the Iranian uprising to usher in the Arab Spring. And if the supreme leader believes the current movement in Syria has also stemmed from the Islamic revolution.

0535 GMT: At the Movies. AFP reports on a contest in Iran's cinemas between Masoud Dehnamaki's "Outcasts 3", which ridicules Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's opponents in the 2009 Presidential elections, and "Nader and Simin: A Separation" by Asghar Farhadi.

On the surface, Dehnamaki has a box-office victory with $2.3 million dollars from 800,000 tickets, even though it has been critically panned.

Then again, Farhadi may have been working at a disadvantage. Farhadi was initially denied a licence to shoot the movie, after he defended fellow award-winning director, Jafar Panahi, sentenced to six years in jail for "anti-regime activities", and his film, which won the Golden Bear top prize at the 61st Berlin film festival and then several awards at the Fajr Film Festival in Tehran, is being shown on fewer screens.

0500 GMT: Significant news from Iran this morning is scarce, so it is a bit of a search for an exciting opening.

President Ahmadinejad makes his offer with a call to name this Iranian year as "The Year of Economic Jihad". That's not very original, however: the Supreme Leader always made this suggestion last week. And I'm pretty sure we've heard Ahmadinejad's speech before --- cabinet ministers and all Iranian officials should try their best for economic progress, the Islamic Republic has witnessed "considerable growth" despite sanctions, and the subsidy cuts plan is very important. 

So it's over to Nikahang Kowsar, as he looks as a move in the "economic jihad", the removal of three zeroes from Iran's currency, the rial (before it was 10,000 to the dollar; now it is only 10). Kowsar suggests that the removal of another three zeroes might be even more effective:

(In case you're wondering, the honoured three zeroes are the Supreme Leader, Ahmadinejad, and the head of the Guardian Council, Ayatollah Ali Jannati.)

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