Iran Today: "Supreme Leader is the Ultimate Decision-Maker"

Khatami Watch

Reformist former president Mohammad Khatami has said that mutual trust between the government and the Iranian people has disappeared during Ahmadinejad's presidency.

Khatami also said that the hopes and trust of the middle classes and young people had also eroded and must be restored. Iran's problems would not be solved, he added, without leadership and coordination.

Khatami said that Iran must first and foremost get over its "atmosphere of suspicion", and that currently a tough security atmosphere prevailed in Iran.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Leader's brother, Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Khamenei, has told the Fars News Agency that Iran's enemies are planning a complex plot ahead of the June presidential election, involving former president Hashemi Rafsanjani.

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The Latest from Iran (23 November): A Wobble Over Gaza

Gaza Prime Minister Haniyeh & President Ahmadinejad1835 GMT: Foreign Affairs Watch (Jordanian Front). Jordanian officials have expressed reservations about remarks by Iran's Ambassador in Amman that Tehran is prepared for a barter deal for oil and energy products for 30 years.

Ambassador Mostafa Mosleh-Zadeh said Iran would provide the oil in return for Jordanian goods and for permission for Shia religious tourism.

Jordanian government spokesman Samih al-Maaytah said Friday that though the government is looking for alternative ways to solve its energy crisis, the Kingdom preferred "relations with the Gulf countries despite the delay in aid".

Officials said that the "political deal...[of] oil for religious tourism and certain political attitudes towards the Syria crisis serve the Iranian position".

Last week a Jordanian Government reduction in fuel subsidies, sparking price rises, fed protests that included calls for the downfall of King Abdullah II.

Jordan's economic situation has been weakened by the loss of financial support from Gulf States. Last year, Saudi Arabia gave Jordan a last-minute $1.4 billion cash handout but has withheld aid this year, officials said.

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The Latest from Iran (26 October): Judiciary to Ahmadinejad "Your Irrational and Illegal Attacks"

See also Iran Feature: "Britain Rebuffs US Pleas to Use Its Military Bases for Attack"
The Latest from Iran (25 October): Ahmadinejad v. the Judiciary, Continued

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1745 GMT: Loyalty Watch. The Supreme Leader's office has put out the reminder:

No one can disobey the decree of the Leader using the pretext that the decree is or may be a mistake....All the people, including the elites and experts, must obey the orders of the Leader.... Everyone is allowed to criticize the law or decrees of the Leader, but criticism is one thing and disobedience another, just as there is a difference between being critical and actively looking for excuses.

But why issue this statement now? And who should be taking notice?

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The Latest from Iran (28 September): The Next Fall in the Currency

See also Iran Snapshot: Why Was Top Military Commander Soleimani in Iraqi Kurdistan?
The Latest from Iran (27 September): A Newspaper is Banned, An Editor is Imprisoned

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Ahmadinejad Returns from New York1705 GMT: Your Tehran Friday Prayer Update. Ayatollah Emami Kashani is not ready to let go of the issue of the US-produced film denigrating the Prophet Mohammad, as he accused Western governments of trying to "belittle Islam and violate its sanctities": "The repercussions of their plots and conspiracies will backfire on them and they will be further disgraced, but Islam will also surely cut off their evil hand.”

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The Latest from Iran (31 August): The Failure of the Charm Offensive

See also Iran, Syria, and the Non-Aligned Summit: 5 Questions and Answers
Iran Special: Regime Show Collapses as Morsi Gives Tehran an "Islamic Awakening" on Syria
The Latest from Iran (30 August): The Big Names Arrive at the Non-Aligned Summit

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Photo: Hamid Forootan/ISNA/REUTERS1543 GMT: Your Tehran Friday Prayer Update. Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani took the podium today to convince the faithful of the success of this week's displya in Tehran, "Holding the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Iran was a show of power and political manoeuvre for Iran under conditions that the country is facing various threats. Such moves foil all plots and destroy them.”

The cleric called for expanded influence for the organisation, "This movement should be deepened and should move towards providing security in the world."

There is no indication that Emami Kashani spoke about the address by Egyptian President Morsi or the remarks of United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

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The Latest from Iran (27 July): "No Serious Plans to Combat the Sanctions"

See also The Latest from Iran (26 July): Mixed Signals on Syria

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1703 GMT: Loyalty Watch. The Supreme Leader's representative Ali Saeedi said before the Tehran Friday Prayer, "Ayatollah Khamenei paves the way for [the return of the] Hidden Imam, and Sepah [Revolutionary Guards] will be his tool."

Meanwhile, Digarban rounds up Friday Prayers across the country with an analysis paralleling ours (see 1606 GMT): "Khamenei supporters ask people to endure sanctions, resist, and obey the Supreme Leader".

1700 GMT: CyberWatch. Reporters Without Borders has expressed concern over the detention of pro-Ahmadinejad bloggers, imprisoned for their criticism of the Iranian system.

Reza Moini, the head of RWB's Iran desk, made the comments in an interview with Radio Farda.

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The Latest from Iran (6 July): Tehran Puts Out Positive Nuclear Messages

See also The Latest from Iran (5 July): Chest-Thumping

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2030 GMT: Sanctions. Canada's TD Bank Group has begun closing the accounts of some of its customers, saying it is complying with new federal regulations for economic sanctions against Iran.

The bank has sent letters to clients telling them that, under recent changes to the Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulation, Canadian financial institutions are forbidden from providing financial services to anyone in Iran or for the benefit of Iran. That includes any use of an account to send or receive money via wire transfer to or from friends and family in Iran.

So far, no other Canadian bank has taken similar action.

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The Latest from Iran (8 June): Preparing for the Fallout

See also Iran Analysis: US Officials on Nuke Talks "We Have A Cunning Plan" (Not Really.)
The Latest from Iran (7 June): Nuclear Talks Fallout

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1705 GMT: Nuclear Watch. The International Atomic Energy Agency has said that no progress was made in "disappointing" talks with Iranian officials today at at IAEA headquarters in Vienna.

Herman Nackaerts, the IAEA's global head of inspections, said no further talks had been set.

1642 GMT: Loyalty Watch. Ali Saeedi, Ayatollah Khamenei's representative to the Revolutionary Guards, has said that the Islamic Republic's leadership is exercised on the three levels of prophets, Imams, and velayat-e faqih, the system in which the Supreme Leader's rule is paramount, that are equivalent.

Saeedi continued that obeying velayat-e faqih is required (vajeb) and that religious rule has no value without the Supreme Leader.

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The Latest from Iran (16 March): The Oil Squeeze

See also Iran Video Interview: Leading Official Larijani on the Nuclear "Grand Bargain"
The Latest from Iran (15 March): OK, Folks, Show's Over....

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2109 GMT: The Battle Within. According to Serat News, the battle over the next Speaker of Parliament has started --- Hamid Rasaei of the Islamic Constancy Front said an effort will be made to force out Ali Larijani as the head of the Majlis.

2100 GMT: Political Personality Watch. It looks like Ali Motahari, the conservative MP who has led criticism of the President, has gotten a boost in recognition from the campaign --- he is second in voting amongst Khabar Online readers for Personality of the Iranian Year.

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The Latest from Iran (16 December): Re-Visiting the Drone

See also Iran Feature: Is This How Tehran Took Down the US Drone?
The Latest from Iran (15 December): A Bigger Question in the Saudi Mystery

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1515 GMT: Press Watch. The managing editor of the reformist newspaper Etemaad, Elias Hazrati, has been ordered to pay a fine of 15 million rials (about $1150) for "publishing lies" and "disturbing public opinion".

The authorities suspended Etemaad last month after it published a controversial interview with President Ahmadinejad's media advisor, Ali Akbar Javanfekr.

1445 GMT: On the Air. The Deputy Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance has warned that there are 1,123 foreign channels broadcasting in Persian against the Islamic Republic.

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