The Latest from Iran (21 October): How High Is the Rate of Inflation?

See also The Latest from Iran (20 October): "We Will Not Surrender"

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1955 GMT: About 1,000 workers of the Entekhab group have staged a demonstration at the South Korean Embassy in Tehran after an acquisition deal with Daewoo Electronics collapsed because of sanctions.

The demonstrators called for return of a downpayment of $70 million by Entekhab in 2011 to Daewoo, company spokesman Hamid Ghaznavi said.

In November 2010, Entekhab Industrial Group signed a contract for its acquisition of South Korea's Daewoo Electronics for $518 million. Daewoo Electronics, a former subsidiary of the now-defunct Daewoo Group, has been under a debt rescheduling programme since 1999 when its parent company collapsed.

Entekhab is located in the central province of Isfahan and produces appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines and televisions under the brand names Snowa and Haier.

1902 GMT: Parliament v. President. Parliament has approved an urgent plan "to support investment in development [projects] and national production and revise the budget law".

The measure is an attempt to curb the Ahmadinejad Government, accusing of mismanaging revenues. Under the legislation, the Government is barred from using income --- notably oil funds or profits from the difference between the official and open market currency exchange rates --- to provide support payments to Iranians, covering the increased prices from its subsidy cuts.

1511 GMT: Nuclear Watch. Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has said at a news conference today that talks between Iran and the 5+1 Powers (US, Britain, France, Germany, China, and Russia) on Tehran's nuclear programme will "probably" resume in late November.

Salehi added that the venue for the talks has not been decided.

1447 GMT: Curious Political Story of the Day. Reports indicate President Ahmadinejad's request to visit Evin Prison has been rejected for a second time by the judiciary.

Ahmadinejad apparently wants to go to Evin to see Ali Abkar Javanfekr, his senior aide who began serving a six-month sentence in September. Javanfekr was convicted of "insulting Islam" in a special edition of his pro-Ahmadinejad newspaper Iran.

1445 GMT: Foreign Affairs Watch (Syrian Front). Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has said at a news conference, “As of today, we have [begun] contacting some [Syrian] opposition groups about [their] readiness for [talks about] ceasefire....We hope that the [Syrian] opposition would enter talks with the Syrian government."

1355 GMT: Nuclear Watch. Laura Rozen, one of the best-informed reporters on the US and Iran manoeuvres over the nuclear issue, adds vital context to the headline New York Times story of "US-Iran talks" for a resumption of high-level negotiations after November's US Presidential election.

Rosen, quoting "a Washington[-based] Iran analyst", says Gary Samore, the White House's advisor on non-proliferation, has been in "authorized back channel talks with an Iranian official posted to Turkey".

After the Times story broke on Saturday, White House spokesman Tommmy Vietor denied any agreement to "one-on-one talks or any other meeting" after the election. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi also rejected any report of bilateral discussions and said all talks were going through the 5+1 Powers (US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China).

Samore and State Department arms control envoy Bob Einhorn led the US delegation to “experts level” talks with the Iranians in Istanbul on 3 July.

It should be noted that the New York Times reporters, in their dramatic story, do not appear to realise that Iran has taken the initiative to resume high-level discussions --- a development reported by Rozen and her colleague Barbara Slavin --- since July. Tehran officially denies any direct contact with the Americans; however, on 19 September, lead Iranian negotiator Saeed Jalili a four-hour dinner with his counterpart for the 5+1 Powers, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, to discuss Iran's nine-step plan.

1335 GMT: Currency Watch. Back from a break for the Birmingham Half Marathon to find a plea from 1st Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi to exporters: "Don't sell currency on the streets."

0715 GMT: Claim of the Day. Jafar Qaderi, a member of Parliament's Budget Planning Committee, told an audience in Shiraz on Saturday:

The average scientific growth in Iran is 11.5 times more than the world.

If Iran keeps moving with the present momentum, it can ascend to the 4th place from the current 16th (in the world ranking of scientific growth and scientific production) in the next 6 years.

0605 GMT: Nuclear Watch (US Politics Edition). It looks like some officials in the Obama Administration have tried to get an advantage in the Presidential campaign from Iran's approaches for renewed nuclear talks.

The officials feed The New York Times, with the lines, "The United States and Iran have agreed in principle for the first time to one-on-one negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program...setting the stage for what could be a last-ditch diplomatic effort to avert a military strike on Iran."

Sanger continues:

Iranian officials have insisted that the talks wait until after the presidential election, a senior administration official said, telling their American counterparts that they want to know with whom they would be negotiating.

News of the agreement --- a result of intense, secret exchanges between American and Iranian officials that date almost to the beginning of President Obama’s term --- comes at a critical moment in the presidential contest, just two weeks before Election Day and the weekend before the final debate, which is to focus on national security and foreign policy.

It has the potential to help Mr. Obama make the case that he is nearing a diplomatic breakthrough in the decade-long effort by the world’s major powers to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, but it could pose a risk if Iran is seen as using the prospect of the direct talks to buy time.

The report appears to be a conversion of weeks of Iranian approaches for high-level consideration of a nine-point plan in which Tehran's suspension of enrichment of 20% uranium would be traded for removal of sanctions.

Earlier this month, Sanger was featuring the out-of-hand rejection of the proposal by US officials. At the same time, European counterparts put forward the possibility, through other journalists, of a "window" for talks between November and next spring's Iranian Presidential election.

The apparent shift in Sanger's story --- "to help Mr. Obama" in the campaign --- was already running into confusion last night, however. The White House put out the public statement, “It’s not true that the United States and Iran have agreed to one-on-one talks or any meeting after the American elections,” although spokesman Tommy Vietor said that the administration was open to such talks and has “said from the outset that we would be prepared to meet bilaterally.”

0545 GMT: The Central Bank reported on Saturday that Iran's annual rate of inflation crept up to 24% in September.

The news is already being treated with scepticism, and not just by critics of the Islamic Republic. Iran's Statistics Centre had already claimed that inflation was at 27% in August --- compared to the Central Bank's declaration of 22.9% --- and analysts and politicians inside the country have asserted that the "real" rate is even higher.

Khabar Online, linked to Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, features an interview with economist Ali Pakzad which chides the Bank for its "erratic" reporting. Pakzad notes that Saturday's announcement was tucked away in two lines of a longer story.

There is more criticism of the Central Bank in Fars. Its top story is an interview with the Deputy Head of Parliament's Economy Commission, who criticises the "lack of working capital" and the failure to provide a stable currency.