The Latest from Iran (7 October): "We Have No Political Prisoners"

1935 GMT: Clash in Kurdistan. According to Iranian state media, five people, including four policemen, were killed and nine others wounded when two gunmen opened fire on a police patrol in Sanandaj, the capital of Kurdistan.

Deputy provincial police commander Ebrahim Kazeminejad said,"At 5:10 pm two assailants from anti-revolutionary groups fired on a patrol and passers-by in Azadi Square of Sanandaj in which four policemen and a passer-by were martyred. In this terrorist act also five policemen and four passers-by were wounded."

1930 GMT: Academic Corner. According to Rah-e-Sabz, Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad Hosseini has told pro-government academics, "Hopefully all universities will be purged."

1920 GMT: Breaking the Reformists (cont.). Another voice challenging the supposed ban on the reformist Islamic Iran Participation Front: Ayatollah Mousavi Tabrizi has said the dissolution of the party is illegal and cannot be done without a full court hearing and appeal.

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Iran Dispute: Number of Ahmadinejad Fans --- 2.2 Billion or 31?

France 24 looks at the audience scorecard for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech at the United General Assembly on 23 September.

The initial tally from Fars News, citing reader comments on an article on France 24.com, was 2.2 billion --- or about one comment for every three people on Earth and 1 1/2 comments for every Web user on the planet. 

Unfortunately for Iranian media and for Ahmadinejad, France 24 did some checking. Its article on the speech, in French and English, prompted 25 comments on the French version and six on the English. version, and 25 for the French. 

Fars' original article has now disappeared, but France 24 provides a very helpful screen-shot.

The Latest from Iran (5 October): The Economy, Arrests, and Ahmadinejad v. Parliament

1729 GMT: Nuclear Watch (Better Late than Never). The head of Iran's atomic energy organisation, Ali Akbar Salehi, said today, "The start-up process of the Bushehr power plant is progressing well and we hope to see it connected to the national electricity grid by late December, or a few weeks earlier." 

The Bushehr plant was supposed to be operational this month but Iranian official said last week that the launch would be delayed. Salehi said this was because of a "small leak" in a pool near the plant after stories circulated that Bushehr might have been hindered by the Stuxnet computer worm.

1725 GMT: Mousavi Watch. In his latest interview on Kalemeh, Mir Hossein Mousavi has declared that President Ahmadinejad's foreign policies are destructive and his performance should be judged in a referendum.

1720 GMT: Currency Watch. Iranian Labor News Agency reports that lines in front of governmental currency exchange shops are 10 meters long. Dollars are being traded at open rates, as opposed to the government's official rates, elsewhere.

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Israel-Palestine: Netanyahu Seeks Cabinet Agreement to 2-Month Extension of Settlements Freeze

While Washington has denied that President Obama sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving assurances in return for an extension of the moratorium on settlement expansion in the West Bank, the London-based newspaper Asharq al-Awsat quoted Israeli officials on Monday that Netanyahu has agreed to extend Israel's freeze for 60 days. 

According to rumours, Obama's offer included a continued Israel Defense Forces presence in the Jordan Valley, continued US political and military support with an annual increase of $3 billion, a commitment to veto any anti-Israel UN Security Council resolution in the next year, an agreement not to ask for any more extensions of the freeze, with that the fate of the settlements dealt with only as part of a final status agreement with the Palestinians, a series of guarantees to prevent the smuggling of weapons and missiles into a Palestinian state, and a comprehensive regional defense pact for protection from Iran. 

At a meeting of Likud ministers, Netanyahu hinted at a freeze extension, saying there were "a lot of reports on the subject, most of which are wrong, and we can't deny or correct everything".  He added: "Now there is interest in continuing the peace negotiations... Peace is a vital interest for the State of Israel."

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Following Up EA's Stories: Strikes on Pakistan, Flotilla Raid, US Military v. Obama, Israel's Settlements, Twitter and Activism

Putting this week's stories on EA WorldView into context....

The Strikes on Pakistan: On Tuesday, we considered, "Stepping Up the Drone Killings (And How to Accept Them)".

The political tensions continue to increase. Dr Zalmai Rassoul, the Afghan foreign minister, has issued a pointed warning: "On many occasions from this podium, the Afghan delegation has drawn the attention of the global community to the reality that terrorism and the ideologies of extremism and radicalism are spawned beyond the borders of Afghanistan." 

Rassoul said that, as long as" certain state and non-state actors" provide Al Qaeda and its affiliated individuals and entities with sanctuary, arms and financing, they would remain formidable and murderous adversaries.

Yesterday Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari said to members of his party that "international forces were whipping up a storm against the government" and pledged not to bow to the pressure.

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Iran Feature: Naming the Officials in the Attacks on Karroubi's House and Qoba Mosque

In the five nights before Qods (Palestine) Day on 3 September, the residential complex of opposition cleric Mehdi Karroubi was surrounded by a pro-regime crowd. Violence escalated until, on the fifth night, a group tried to storm Karroubi's apartment. Several people were injured; Karroubi's bodyguard was reported to have been seriously wounded.

On Qods Day, a pro-regime crowd launched an assault on Qoba Mosque in Shiraz, the base of opposition cleric Ayatollah Dastgheib. They entered the mosque, injuring worshippers and forcing the abandonment of services.

Now Tagheer website, linked to Karroubi, claims that Mohammad Larijani, Governor of Shemiranat country in Tehran Province, was involved in the assault on the Karroubi home. It adds that Mohammad Larijani was in regularly telephone contact with Morteza Tamaddon, Governor of Tehran, reporting on the attacks from the scene.

On the Qoba Mosque front, Arshama3's Blog posts the list from opposition websites of 41 alleged attackers. Of the 41, only Hojatoleslam Voldan has been arrested; he was released on 25 September on bail.

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Iran Feature: Top Tehran Analyst Zibakalam "Sanctions Have Worked"

These remarks from Professor Sadegh Zibakalam, one of Iran's top analysts of international affairs are striking, especially when set against President Ahmadinejad's all-is-well assurances. They were featured in Aftab News last week:

We should not wonder why the Koreans have joined the group of countries sanctioning us....South Korea exports $40 billion worth of car parts to the United States. Should Korea not give into American pressure, it could lose the American market....

I believe the next countries to sanction Iran will be China and Turkey....Turkey exports $15 billion to the 25 countries of the European Union each year. Should the EU give Turkey trouble and should Turkey be forced to choose between Iran and the EU, it is only natural that the Turks will choose them, just like...when Japan and South Korea chose to do so.

It would be most unpleasant if the Americans make trouble for the Chinese....China has for some time decreased its investments in and oil purchases from Iran. There was a time when we were the second-largest oil exporter to China in the Persian Gulf region, but today we come in eighth. Our oil exports to China have decreased to 200,000 barrels per day from 800,000 barrels per day.

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