Iran Live Coverage: Engineering June's Presidential Election
The Supreme Leader's senior aide Ali Akbar Velayati announces plans for the Presidential election at a Sunday press conference
See also Sunday's Iran Live Coverage: Revolutionary Guards v. Ahmadinejad
1818 GMT: Economy Watch. The Financial Times picks up on one of the hot topics of conversation as Iranian New Year approaches --- the sharp rise in pistachio prices.
The nuts, a staple of the Nowruz celebrations, have soared in cost at home as farmers --- able to make three times as much as a year ago in foreign currency because of the falling Iranian Rial --- send their pistachios abroad.
One kilogrammes of pistachios cost 200,000 Rials last year. This March, the price is between IR540,000 and IR780,000.
In recent days, the Government has forced shops to sell pistachios at 300,000 Rial per kilo, but the intervention has had little effect so far.