The Latest from Iran (2 August): Worrying About Syria

January 2012: From left to right --- Iran's Supreme Leader, Syria's Assad, Yemen's Saleh, Libya's Qaddafi, Egypt's Mubarak, and Tunisia's Ben Ali

---

2048 GMT: Nuclear Watch. Laura Ashton reports that the lead nuclear negotiators for the 5+1 Powers (US, UK, France, Germany, China, and Russia) and Russia spoke by phone today.

The European Union's Catherine Ashton, speaking to Saeed Jalili, "impressed the need for Iran now to address issues". The two, speaking for the first time since high-level talks in Moscow in mid-June, agreed to reflect and speak again at the end of month.

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (8 November): That Ahmadinejad Speech....

2110 GMT: Currency Watch. The Iranian rial continues to slide against the US dollar. Having broken the 13000:1 barrier for the first time this summer, it sank from 13100:1 on Sunday to 13280:1 today, also falling against the British pound and Euro.

Meanwhile, economic expert Bijan Abdi has sharply criticised, "Our benefit from the Year of Economic Jihad" --- declared by the Supreme Leader in March --- "is next to nothing." He blamed the Ahmadinejad Administration and Parliament for the failure.

2100 GMT: That Ahmadinejad Speech. Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani has pushed back hard against President Ahmadinejad.

Without naming the President, Larijani said, "We are confronted with political 'lumpenism', politicians should not agitate society mentally."

The Speaker used the derogatory term "laat-baazi", referring to the indecent behaviour of a rascal, as he indicated, "A certain political person has not enough manners or honour."

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (1 August): Brain Drain and a "Brain Tumour"

1650 GMT: Back to the Brain Drain. An EA reader has kindly asked us about the context for our morning report (see 0630 GMT) of an Iranian official revealing that 97% of Iranian Ph.D. students are pursuing their degrees abroad.

The story came from an interview, with the Director General of Home Affairs at the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, in Daneshjoo News (Student News).

Subsequently, another official at the Ministry told Fars that the "97%" claim was "not true" because it was taken out of context.

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (4 February): The Supreme Leader's Big Day?

2305 GMT: A Reply to the Supreme Leader. Looks like Ayatollah Khamenei's Friday Prayer has fallen flat with his target audience....

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has issued this response: "[We] regard the revolution as the Egyptian People's Revolution, not an Islamic Revolution....The Egyptian People's Revolution includes Muslims, Christians, from all sects and political [factions]."

2255 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Journalist Mehran Faraji has been released on bail after almost two months in detention.

Faraji had worked with the Presidential campaign of Mehdi Karroubi.

Click to read more ...