Iran Today: Presidential Election --- Rouhani Ramps Up Campaign

Rouhani Talks About House Arrest of Mousavi and Karroubi

Moderate Presidential candidate Hassan Rouhani's campaign team have published a short excerpt from a Q&A session Rouhani gave at the Sharif University of Technology on May 13, in which he discusses the house arrests of former Presidential candidates Mousavi and Karroubi.

In the video --- taken before the Guardian Council disqualified former President Hashemi Rafsanjani from the election --- the audience applauds as a student asks Rouhani what his plan would be regarding the house arrests of Mousavi and Karroubi.

Rouhani answers:

I believe that the next President of Iran… If I become the next President… but now that Mr Hashemi has registered, we have to wait and see… [applause, students chant 'Praise to Hashemi']… the next government, you see, continuing this split is not in our best interests…the gap, which is getting wider every day, should be eliminated. I believe the election itself could work to reduce the gaps, but I hope that the next government is able to bring about a non-securitized environment.

I don't think it will be difficult to bring about such condition in the next year, in which not only those who are under house arrest, but also those who have been detained after the 2009 elections will be released. [Applause, chants of "Rouhani, we love you".]

Rouhani also tweeted that people have a "natural right" to express themselves without fear of reprisals:

People have a natural #right to express themselves, including their #issues, without any concerns. #Rouhani2013 #hope #ruleoflaw

— Rouhani Campaign (@HassanRouhani) May 29, 2013

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Iran Today: News from the Economic Front

Presidential Election Watch: Rouhani Edition

Rouhani Appears on State TV

The campaign of former nuclear negotiator Hassan Rouhani has live-tweeted the candidate's appearance on Iranian State TV's primary channel tonight.

#Rouhani starts program by introducing himself. His father told him to #work with agriculture/carpet weaving in the summer from age 11.

— Rouhani Campaign (@HassanRouhani) May 28, 2013

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Iran Analysis: Presidential Election --- It's About "Management" & The Economy

Saeed Jalili explains how he would solve Iran's economic problems as President

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With the exclusion of leading politicians, such as former Presidential Hashemi Rafsanjani from the Presidential race, a leading theme in media converage is that the election is now merely a contest of "shades of gray" between supporters of the Supreme Leader.

That headline, while it has an element of truth, is a reduction of the contest and Iran's internal situation for two reasons.

First, the economic issue --- and not nuclear talks with the West or other foreign policy issues --- is likely to be the dominant concern of Iranian voters.

Second, while each of the eight approved candidates can find security in criticism of the Ahmadinejad Government, each has to prove that he will be able to remedy the economic problems --- from rampant inflation to falling production to unemployment to currency difficulties --- that plague the Islamic Republic.

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Iran Today: Presidential Election --- Jalili Vs. Supreme Leader Advisor Velayati

Presidential candidate and Supreme Leader advisor Ali Akbar Velayati speaks about the economy

See also Iran Analysis: Presidential Election --- It's About "Management" & The Economy
Sunday's Iran Today: Presidential Election --- Focus On The Economy

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Presidential Election Watch: Supreme Leader Edition

The Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei spoke to students at Imam Hossein University --- a military university belonging to the Revolutionary Guards --- said that Iranians should participate in the June 14 Presidential Election and said through this many of the country’s problems will be solved.

Khamenei criticized the U.S., saying that "those Americans who say our election is not free, have not yet closed Guantanamo Bay and are killing many people in Pakistan and Afghanistan."

He added: "Our people should know that the reason Americans are saying these things is because of the importance of the election, therefore the [Iranian] people should create a political epic."

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Iran Today: Presidential Election --- Focus On The Economy

Presidential candidate Mohammad Gharazi (credit: PressTV)

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One More Week in Trial of Defendants in Kahrizak Abuse Case?

The head of Tehran Criminal Courts, Judge Mohsen Eftekhari, says three defendants --- Presidential advisor Saeed Mortazavi and two senior judges --- have one week to provide the court with their defences.

Eftekhari said, after that, “the jury will decide on the verdict".

Earlier reports had indicated the defence had concluded its response, and the court had 10 days to deliver a decision.

The three men are accused of complicity in the abuse and killing of three post-election protesters at the Kahrizak detention centre after the disputed 2009 Presidential election.

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Iran Feature: The Week in Civil Society --- The Presidential Election (Arseh Sevom)

The 8 Approved CandidatesThe disqualifications of former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s former chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashai were big news, if not entirely surprising. 

The electoral field is now dominated by hardliners loyal to the Supreme Leader.

However, the fictional campaign of Zahra continues to pick up steam with the endorsements of prominent lawyers Shirin Ebadi and Mehrengiz Kar. 

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Iran Today: Jalili Ramps Up Election Campaign

Jalili Supporters At Friday's Tehran Rally

Presidential Election Watch: Qalibaf To Hit Yazd On Campaign Trail

Presidential candidate and Tehran mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf is to visit Yazd Province on Sunday, Fararu reports.

Qalibaf's campaign chief, Gholam-Ali Sadih, said that the Tehran mayor will address various groups of people in Yazd, including students and faculty from various universities and other higher education institutes there.

In a speech Friday on the anniversary of Iran's liberation of Khorramshahr during the Iran-Iraq War, Qalibaf said that Iran had tremendous natural and human resources but "mismanagement, deficiencies and a move away from Jihadist culture" is hampering the country.

The liberation of Khorramshahr was a "turning point" for Iran, and a symbol of Iran's "sacrifice, struggle and resistance" as well as of those who were the "true followers of the Imam", he added.

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Syria Analysis: Dissecting the "Iran Arms to Damascus" Video & Narrative

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This episode points to both the potential and the risks of drawing open-source intelligence from videos. Clips such as these can give clues to political and military developments, but those clues can be diversionary or misleading --- if the aim is to provide "truth", rather than spin or wishful thinking --- without contexts.

Contexts in this case would include the relationship between Hezbollah and Iran as well as between the Lebanese organisation and Damascus, the state of the conflict in Damascus Province, and the interests of the insurgents who have put out the video.

And there are wider contexts beyond this. The supply of arms by Iran and Hezbollah to Syrian forces is not one-sided. It takes place in a larger arena in which the "West", Turkey, and Arab States provide their own weaponry to the insurgency.

None of this is to deny the need to assess this video. It is an argument to assess it properly.

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Iran Today: Beyond The Presidential Election --- Human Rights

Presidential Election Watch: Will Larijani Support Qalibaf?

Iran's powerful Parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, hinted at possible support for Presidential candidate and Tehran mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf, lauding his achievements regarding construction of the Imam Ali Expressway in Tehran.

Larijani said the project showed Qalibaf's "jihadi efforts".

Regarding the election, Larijani said that there would be a good turnout and that the Iranian people could not be forced to vote a particular way by the West.

However --- in a hint that Presidential hopefuls need to unite behind a consensus candidate --- the parliamentary speaker warned candidates to be attentive, lest Western countries turned apparent disunity into internal divisions.

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Iran Analysis: Hype & Substance --- 3 Key Points on Latest IAEA Nuclear Report

The International Atomic Energy Agency has completed its latest quarterly report on Iran's nuclear programe. As always, extracts were leaked by "Western diplomats" to compliant reporters to portray an escalating Iranian threat, buttressed by "analysis" from the Institute for Science and International Security.

So, cutting through the propaganda, what are the significant points about the report?

1. AN INCREASE BUT NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN IRAN'S NUCLEAR CAPABILITY

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