The Latest from Iran (3 March): After the Vote

Khatami and Neda: Former President Mohammad Khatami is criticised for his "betrayal" in voting in Friday's elections

See also Iran Special Analysis: The "Invented" Election
Iran Opinion: Elections, Power, and Political War in Tehran

The Latest from Iran (2 March): The Parliamentary Elections

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2225 GMT: Khatami Watch. Reformist journalist Hussain Nooraninejad, a close friend of former President Mohammad Khatami, has written on his Facebook page:

Today, I spent an hour with Khatami and asked him about his voting. The first thing Khatami said in reply was, "he decision was very hard. I know I have upset a lot of friends and youth, but I had received a number of worrying news in the last two days about extremists having some plans, and I hope I have ruined their plan by my vote."

Khatami has said that on his vote paper, he has written “Islamic Republic”.

Nooraninejad said Khatami will have a "direct dialogue" with people in the near-future to "clear up some of the misunderstanding".

Former Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi has said, "I assure you that Khatami has not voted to make the regime happy because the regime will not do any good to him....The decision of Khatami to vote is one of his wisest decisions. [The reason] will be clear in the near future."

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The Latest from Iran (23 January): Hibernating While The Currency Falls

1944 GMT: Sanctions Watch. Fars, citing an "informed source", dismisses today's sanctions adopted by the European Union, which included a ban on oil imports starting 1 July and an immediate tightening of restrictions on deals with Iran's Central Bank.

"One of the sanctions announced recently was blocking the Central Bank's assets in the European countries, while the CBI does not have even one single Rial (Iran's currency unit) in Europe," the source said.

Fars, reflecting the regime line that the dollar can be bypassed (see 1325 GMT), insists, "During the last two years, Iran has been replacing dollar with other currencies in its trade with the outside world."

Iranian officials have said that arrangements have been made for trade with Russia in rubles and the Iranian Rials, and Tehran is pursuing exchange with India in yen as well as rupees.

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