The Latest from Iran (29 July): US Presents "Contingency Plan" for Attack to Israel

2015 GMT: Supreme Leader Watch. Ayatollah Khamenei has told an audience of "researchers, specialists, and innovators" that there is no insurmountable obstacle to Iran's "incessant" march of progress, “The Iranian nation is determined to reach its marked point through [strong] determination and resolve....The Iranian nation is in the middle of [events] and problems and pressures fall short of [influencing] decision, resolve and ideals of this nation.”

Then came the notable theme --- after months of denying the effect of sanctions on Iran, the Supreme Leader has declared a "resistance economy":

The economy of resistance is not a slogan, but a reality which should be realised.

One of the best manifestations and most effective components of the economy of resistance is knowledge-based companies which can make the economy of resistance more sustainable.

1800 GMT: Reformist Watch. A move for a new political alliance? Leading reformist Dariush Qanbari has said that former President Hashemi Rafsanjani is "a central reformist figure".

1750 GMT: Foreign Affairs Watch (Syrian Front). Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of the Expediency Council and candidate for President in 2013, has claimed that the US "attempt to overthrow" President Assad is preparation for regime change in Iran.

Mehr headlines the "continued failures of mercenaries" and concern of "anti-Syrian states".

1735 GMT: All The President's Men. The legal and political saga of Presidential advisor Saeed Mortazavi continues....

Minister of Justice Morteza Bakhtiari has said the judiciary must speed up the handling of the Kahrizak detention centre case, in which Mortazavi is accused --- as then Tehran Prosecutor General --- of responsibility for the abuse and deaths of three protesters after the 2009 Presidential election.

Conservative activists as well as the opposition and Green Movement have called for Mortazavi to face trial, with 16 MPs presenting a petition this month.

1715 GMT: Protest Watch. MP Hamed Ghadermazi has said Iran may face a shortage in wheat for bakeries because “wheat farmers have been forced to sell their harvest to livestock farmers in order to make up for their expenses".

Ghadermazi claimed the Government was offering farmers a price of 420 Toman per kilogramme, lower than their costs, so they were taking 470 Toman from wheat farmers.

1600 GMT: Protest Watch. Elementary teachers, owners of grain silo owners, and rural telecom employees have all gathered in front of Majlis Parliament today to protest over temporary employment and unpaid wages.

1055 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Student activist Bahareh Hedayat, who is servıng a 9 1/2-year sentence, has been released from prison on a three-day medical furlough.

Hedayat has been in detention since December.

0855 GMT: Foreign Affairs Watch (US-Israel Front). An Israeli official has denied the report, put out by Haaretz citing a "senior US official", that US National Security Advisor Tom Donilon assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of American contingency plans to attack Iran.

"Nothing in the article is correct. Donilon did not meet the prime minister for dinner, he did not meet him one-on-one, nor did he present operational plans to attack Iran," the "senior Israeli official" said.

0845 GMT: Foreign Affairs Watch (Syrian Front). Iranian engineer, Abdolkhaleq Sahneh, abducted by armed men in Syria in December, has arrived in Tehran after being freed.

Sahneh is the last of the five kidnapped engineers to be released. Two Iranians who went to Syria in December to investigate the fate of the engineers were abducted and are still missing.

0625 GMT: Tough Talk Alert. Fars uses the rhetoric of an Iranian MP to declare, "Enemies Stunned by Iran's Cyber Defense Capability".

Mansour Haqiqatpour, a member of Parliament's National Security Committee, declared: "Today, the Islamic Republic of Iran has achieved such scientific advancement in the field of cyber operations that it can defuse any attack at the shortest possible time. Therefore, any attempts by the US and the Zionist regime (Israel) to infiltrate and attack Iran's nuclear facilities with the aim of creating disruption, will fail."

0520 GMT: We begin not with Tehran but with Washington, which has reportedly given Israel its clearest assurance that it is prepared to attack Iran. Barak Ravid of Haaretz reports:

The U.S. national security adviser has shared with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the United States' contingency plans for a possible attack on Iran.

According to a senior American official, National Security Advisor Tom Donilon briefed Netanyahu on the plans during Donilon's visit to Israel two weeks ago. According to the official, who requested anonymity, Netanyahu hosted Donilon at a three-hour dinner. For part of the time, Israel's national security adviser, Yaakov Amidror, was on hand.

Donilon sought to make clear that the United States is seriously preparing for the possibility that negotiations will reach a dead end and military action will become necessary. He said reports of such preparations were not just a way to assuage Israel's concerns.

Donilon's talks in Jerusalem were the most significant so far between American and Israeli officials here in recent weeks. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Deputy Secretary of State William Burns have been in Israel as well.

Of course, the US always has contingency plans for military plans. What is distinctive here is the high-profile consultation with Israel and the Obama Administration putting out the message to journalists.

So the questions: is Washington posing tough just to buy time and/or to ratchet up psychological pressure on Tehran? Or is it really putting out a timeline for an airstrike if there is no resolution of the nuclear issue?