Rooyesh

The Tehran City Council defied hard-line government pressure on Wednesday, re-electing a moderate-leaning mayor who is seen as a potential rival to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The government had been campaigning to keep Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf from being picked again as mayor of the capital. But the City Council vote appeared to indicate waning support for Ahmadinejad, especially in the city he used to lead. “Mr. Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf once again was elected as Tehran mayor,” state-radio reported, saying he received eight of the 15 council votes.

Continued

A former Iranian nuclear negotiator who reportedly faces espionage charges was released on bail Wednesday, state television said. Hossein Mousavian was part of Iran’s nuclear negotiating team under former President Mohammad Khatami, the reformist predecessor of the current hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Mousavian also is seen as close to one of Ahmadinejad’s top rivals, Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who preceded Khatami as president.

Continued

Although U.S. and allied intelligence services have broken up parts of the nuclear-parts trafficking network run by A.Q. Khan, creator of Pakistan’s atomic bomb, Iran has constructed a new — and possibly larger — clandestine network for acquiring nuclear technology, according to a new report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a respected London-based think tank.

Continued