Latest from Iran (1 September): A Defiant Mehdi Karroubi Found

1445 GMT: Environment Watch. Hojatoleslam Gholamreza Hassani, the Friday Prayer leader of Orumiyeh, has suddenly taken notice of the crisis of Lake Orumiyeh: he warned in his Eid ul-Fitr address that the lake will dry up in four years and that people's demands to deal with the situation are leagal and righteous.

An EA Correspondent notes sharply, "I guess Hassani got orders from the Supreme Leader's office to calm down the situation."

1435 GMT: Cartoon of Day. Maya Neyestani presents his vision of the drying-up of Iran's largest lake, Lake Orumiyeh, turning to salt because of drought, dams, misguided irrigation, and development:

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The Latest from Iran (28 August) It's the Ecology, Stupid

An overview of the ecological problems facing Lake Orumiyeh in northwest Iran

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1420 GMT:The US Hikers. The lawyer for US citizens Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer, sentenced earlier this month to eight-year prison sentences on charges of espionage and illegal entry has said that he has filed an appeal.

Fattal and Bauer were arrested, along with American Sarah Shourd, who in July 2009 while hiking along the Iran-Iraq border. They had 20 days to appeal the sentence.

Shourd was freed on $500,000 last September and did not return for trial.

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