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Entries in Mohammad Ali Shirzadi (1)

Wednesday
Jun232010

The Latest from Iran (23 June): Baghi Freed

2010 GMT: We've posted the English text of this morning's meeting between Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. Analysis is likely to follow tomorrow.

1815 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Documentary filmmaker Mohammad Ali Shirzadi has been released from detention. He leaves prison on the same day as Emad Baghi, whom he served as cameraman during the journalist's interview with Grand Ayatollah Montazeri (for which Baghi was allegedly arrested).

NEW Iran Document: The Mousavi-Karroubi Meeting (23 June)
NEW Iran Eyewitness: An “Army of Strollers” and Allah-o-Akbar on 12 June (Tehran Bureau)
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard & the US: Oil Spills Are Thicker than Hostility?
Iran: To Lead or to Follow? 4 Cartoons on Mousavi and the Greens
The Latest from Iran (22 June): Rumbling On


1630 GMT: Mousavi-Karroubi Meeting. The Facebook page supporting Mir Hossein Mousavi has posted a Persian summary of this morning's discussion.

1340 GMT: Today's Nuclear Posture. Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, has declared, "We have already produced 17 kg of 20 percent enriched uranium, and we have the ability to produce 5 kg each month but we do not rush."

Salehi said in February that the Tehran medical reactor required around 1.5 kg of fuel per month. By early April Iran had produced 5.7 kg, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

1240 GMT: Mousavi & Karroubi Meet (and Even Bigger News --- Baghi is Free). Apologies for limited service because of academic business. Let's catch up....

The first item to note is one that might turn the day. Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi have met this morning to discuss plans.

But, for the moment and while we await further information, let's dwell on this information: journalist Emaduddin Baghi (pictured after his release) has been freed after six months in detention. According to his website, Baghi posted a $200,000 bail and is facing trial on 3 July.

1120 GMT: Economic Front. Central Bank Governor Mahmoud Bahmani has announced that Iran has doubled the denomination of its highest banknote to 100,000 rials (10,000 tomans or about $10).

The move has prompted speculation that it is due to inflationary pressures in Iran. The Iranian Government claims that the annual rise in prices is about 10 percent, though some analysts think the actual figure may be much higher.

0845 GMT: After a  series of clashes within the "establishment", a slow start to Wednesday. There is still chatter about the Parliament v. President dispute over control of Iran's largest university, as well as the fight over economic policy. Given Ali Larijani's defiant position on Tuesday, including a speech to the Majlis rejecting any interference --- except for the supervision of the Guardian Council --- with legislation, it looks like the ball is back in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's court.

On the opposition side, we are looking for any follow-up to Mohammad Khatami's Tuesday statement. On the surface, the speech maintained pressure on the Government through the criticism of attacks on senior clerics and tried to sustain the spirit of resistance with the invocation of freedom and civil rights.

Meanwhile...

Political Prisoner Watch

Rah-e-Sabz claims that all leave for political prisoners has been suspended.

The website also says that student leader Majid Tavakoli and six other prisoners have been transferred to the "high-security" Section 350 of Evin Prison.

International Front

Contradicting earlier reports, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said that Islamabad would not suspend a deal with Tehran to construct a gas pipeline by 2014, despite pressure from US officials.

Walking a careful line, Gilani said Pakistan would reconsider the deal if it violated U.N. sanctions, but the country was "not bound to follow" unilateral U.S. measures. He said media reports claiming, from Gilani's statements, that Pakistan would heed the warning of President Obama's envoy Richard Holbrooke were incorrect.

Meanwhile, Iranian state media is playing up the meeting of the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili, with Syrian Vice-President Farouq ash-Shara. Not many details on specific topics, however, beyond "the latest international and regional developments".