The Latest from Iran (2 September): Tehran Strikes A Defiant Pose

Nikahang Kowsar's view of the isolation of Iran and the Supreme Leader after this week's Non-Aligned summit

See also Iran Snapshot: Head of State TV Admits Mis-Translation of Egyptian President's Speech on Syria
Iran Interview: Ali Larijani on the Nuclear Issue, Syria, and Detained Opposition Leader Mousavi
The Latest from Iran (1 September): After the Summit

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1539 GMT: Currency Watch. With the currency market set to re-open after an extended holiday, the head of the Central Bank has dismissed speculation that the Iranian Rial --- now at 21930:1 vs. the US dollar --- will weaken on the open market to 30000:1.

Bahmani said instead that the Rial would reach 15000:1, its highest level since last summer.

1533 GMT: Finance Watch. Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani has cancelled President Ahmadinejad's right to withdraw money from National Funds without legal directives.

Larijani's step comes amid complaints that Mahmoud Bahmani, the head of the Central Bank, has not delivered a report on government withdrawals of cash from financial institutions in July.

1531 GMT: Economy Watch. Aftab reports that the Isfahan Petrochemical Complex has been shut down because of debts and oil shortages.

1525 GMT: The Battle Within. Hojatoleslam Abbas Nabavi, who is close to prominent Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, has said there are 10 court files with serious charges against the Government but the Supreme Leader has ordered the suspension of proceedings.

1520 GMT: Tough Talk of the Day. Deputy Minister of Defense Mohammad Eslami has declared that Iran is equipping home-made combat drones with missiles: “The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps employed Iran-made unmanned aerial vehicles during its latest military drill and according to plans, we are currently mounting missiles on these drones."

Iran unveiled its first domestically-manufactured long-range drone, named Karrar, in August 2010.

Eslami also said that the Ministry has obtained valuable technical information by studying the US RQ-170 drone, which crashed in eastern Iran in late 2011.

1342 GMT: Revolutionary Guards Watch. Earlier today (see 0941 GMT), we posted the comment of Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammad Ali Asoudi, "In case of Israel’s military attack against Iran, the officials of the Zionist regime [of Israel] will be among first victims of such an attack."

Asoudi also had some pointed words for Washington, “If America were to attack Syria, Iran along with Syria’s allies will take action, which would amount to a fiasco for America."

Indeed, the words may have been too pointed --- the regime-linked Young Journalists Club, which first posted the quote, later appeared to have removed it.

Meanwhile, Ali Fadavi, the Revolutionary Guards' commander of naval forces, has warned about the leaking of Guards' secret information abroad.

1331 GMT: Propaganda Watch. In a separate entry, we post the admission of the head of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting that State TV substituted "Bahrain" for "Syria" in Thursday's speech by Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, diverting his criticism of the Assad regime.

Ezzatollah Zarghami blamed the episode on an errant translator, rather than a deliberate attempt to alter Morsi's message.

Further evidence that the regime is admitting an error comes in reports in Iranian media, including Khabar Online and Press TV, that Bahrain has formally complained to an Iranian diplomat about the event. Khabar, which published a distorted version of Morsi's speech on Thursday, now posts an accurate text which includes the criticism of President Assad's rule.

0949 GMT: Foreign Affairs Watch (North Korean Front). North Korea and Iran have signed an agreement on technology sharing while discussing a "joint anti-imperialist, anti-U.S. front", according to North Korean media.

The Supreme Leader met with Pyongyang's ceremonial head of state, Kim Young Nam, on Saturday. Iranian outlets quoted Ayatollah Khamenei as saying that the two countries have "common enemies, because the arrogant powers do not accept independent states".

0941 GMT: Tough Talk of the Day. Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammad Ali Asoudi has declared, “In case of Israel’s military attack against Iran, the officials of the Zionist regime [of Israel] will be among first victims of such an attack."

Asoudi claimed that "warmongering policies" have induced hatred among Israelis for their officials, provoking many to return to "their homelands in Europe...because of economic, social, and political crises”: “This is while some of the residents of the occupied lands have set themselves ablaze due to economic problems."

Four Israelis have set themselves on fire since mid-July in protests.

0717 GMT: Investment Watch. Aftab reports that Iran's largest deal with China for development has been cancelled because of a lack of capital.

The establishment of the liquified natural gas company was to be worth $3.3 billion.

Beijing has pulled out of high-profile Iranian energy projects, including development of the South Pars field, in the last two years.

Meanwhile, Tehran has reportedly pressured India into a commitment to join development of the Farzad B gas field in the Persian Gulf in a secret meeting last week in Delhi.

An Indian newspaper claimed that India promised $1 billion for exploration and production after Iran said further delay would be an "unfriendly act" leading to cancellation of current contracts and handing of projects to other "friends" --- ironically, a reference to China.

0709 GMT: The Battle Within. Inspector General Mostafa Pourmohammadi has claimed that 19 trillion Toman (about $15 billion) of loans issued by the Government have not been repaid and has asked, "Where is the money?"

Pourmohammadi is one of 15 prominent officials who recently wrote the Supreme Leader, asking him to form a staff from the three branches of Government to run the country.

0700 GMT: After the Summit. Mohammad Reza Naqdi, the head of the Basij militia, has called on President Ahmadinejad to ensure that the Non-Aligned Summit takes place in East Jerusalem by 2018, as part of the effort to destroy Zionism and defend Palestine.

0650 GMT: Economy Watch. A Ministry of Industry official puts out the feel-good assurance that 18 projects will create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

0630 GMT: The regime continued to insist on Saturday, despite the setbacks of the week, that it had displayed glorious success at the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement. The Supreme Leader's office tapped out a series of messages that Ayatollah Khamenei had received foreign heads of state and dignitaries --- the Chairman of North Korean Assembly, the President of Guinea Bissau, the Algerian Parliament Speaker, the Mongolian President, the President of Pakistan --- while politicians lined to declare the Islamic Republic's leadership in international affairs. Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian pronounced, “This summit once again confirmed on an international level that the unilateral pressures imposed by the US with the aim of isolating the Islamic Republic are futile and that this issue was further substantiated by the presence of two-thirds of the United Nations member states in the NAM summit.”

That claim of victory led to some defiance on Saturday. Ali Asghar Soltanieh, the Iranian envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, declared --- in light of the IAEA's latest report and failure on 23 August to agree a process for inspection and supervision of Iran's nuclear programme --- "“Accepting and granting the agency’s requests regarding the ambiguities that it mentions in Iran's nuclear energy program will not be possible before agreeing on a clear framework and modality."

Translation: despite the pressure of sanctions, this week's call by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon for Iranian accession to UN resolutions on its programme, and the threat of Israeli military action, Tehran will be taking a tougher stance in the near-future.