Must Read:

RFE:  Why is Iran Releasing Some Postelection Detainees? The Iranian authorities in recent weeks have begun to release former officials, activists and intellectuals detained in last year’s post-election unrest.  Rafsanjani has called for the release of post-election detainees as one of the steps to end the crisis the Islamic Republic is facing. Opposition leaders Mir Hossein Musavi and Mehdi Karrubi have also called for the release of political prisoners. Haghighatjoo, who is currently a visiting scholar at the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts, says international pressure and overcrowded prisons are among other factors that are forcing the Iranian establishment to gradually release some of their high profiles detainees.  Paris-based reformist journalist Seraj Mirdamadi says the release of a number of the detainees is partly a move by the Iranian regime to demonstrate that it has managed to put an end to the post-election crisis.  “The establishment is trying to show itself as having the upper hand following the engineered state demonstrations marking [ the anniversary of the 1979 revolution ] and demonstrate that it has reached victory.”

FT:  Iranians switch to informal savings funds Ordinary Iranians are exp­an­ding an informal network of savings funds because the established banks are struggling under the impact of international sanctions and bad loans totalling $45bn (€33bn, £30bn).There is no estimate for how many of these funds exist, but the anecdotal evidence suggests their number is growing and middle-class people are becoming involved in this parallel financial system. Obtaining loans from banks is becoming more difficult, forcing people to make their own arrangements.

About 30 drivers in a taxi agency in Tehran have shares in sandogh, or fund, number 3. Each share costs $2 per day; every month four members of the fund receive loans of $600 each. All member are guaranteed one loan per share during the 10 months the fund is supposed to last.

“It is a savings fund and doesn’t have the uncertainty of the banking system, which might or might not give you a loan,” says Ahmad, one of the drivers who has four shares and hence can receive four loans. “My mother is also saving money in a fund of housewives among our female relatives.”

The head of the taxi agency, along with a driver who is a retired teacher, are jointly trusted to run the fund. “The retired teacher receives the money every day and puts a check mark by the names of those who pay. He is trusted by the head of the taxi agency, while other drivers respect him as an educated, honest man.” Free Iran:  Iran is becoming ripe for Ponzi schemes.

Another driver said the fund helped “us buy the things we cannot afford under normal conditions, like a washing machine, for instance, for which we have zero chance to get bank loans”.

The government denies that the formal banking system routinely refuses to extend loans, but the authorities have admitted severe problems. Asghar Abolhassani, the deputy economy minister, said on Tuesday that overdue loans for the banks exceeded $45bn for the year ending on March 20. That represents a 66 per cent rise since the previous year – and a ninefold increase since Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad won the presidency in 2005. He introduced populist economic policies, ordering banks to offer generous loans to the poor at low interest rates.

Some reports suggest that 25 per cent of all loans are now overdue, meaning that Iran’s financial system is technically bankrupt. Economists believe the banks could not keep their doors open without support from the central bank.

US Policy:

WP:  Clinton warns Netanyahu that U.S.-Israeli relationship is at risk Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday that the U.S.-Israeli relationship is at risk unless Israel took immediate steps to demonstrate it was interested in renewing efforts at a Middle East peace agreement.  Clinton’s phone call, made in the wake of the embarrassment suffered by Vice President Biden this week when Israel announced it would build 1,600 housing units in a disputed area of Jerusalem, was an unusually tough message for the longtime U.S. ally. It came two days after Biden condemned the action while in Israel, and demonstrated that Netanyahu’s efforts to mollify the administration have fallen short. He has claimed that he did not know the announcement was coming but has not canceled the project.

BBC:  Clinton rebukes Israel over East Jerusalem homes US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has sharply rebuked Israel over its recent decision to build new settlements in East Jerusalem. She told Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu by telephone that the move was “deeply negative” for US-Israeli relations. Correspondents say the sharp language underlines Washington’s growing irritation with Israel.

Free Iran:  How would this new development impact the possibility of any potential Israeli attacks on Iran?  On the surface, it would seem to minimize it but it is also conceivable that the right wing Israeli leaders may become less inclined to listen to America’s cautions going forward.

CSIS:  Geopolitics of the Iranian Nuclear Energy Program The author poses the question: Do sanctions work? Iran has been variously sanctioned since 1987, and efforts are now underway to secure more punishing sanctions through the good offices of the UN Security Council. These new sanctions, if agreed to, would strike at Iran’s dependence on gasoline imports and at the expanding economic and nuclear influence of the Islamic Republican Guard Corps. The author in effect answers his own question by offering a quote from the Iranian ambassador to the International Atomic Agency who thanked Americans for sanctions because they have united his country.

CFR:  Confronting a Nuclear Tipping Point The idea of nuclear disarmament is gaining support internationally, with the United States leading the charge and China and Russia expressing interest, says George P. Shultz, Ronald Reagan’s secretary of state from 1982-89. But talks on concluding a second Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty with the Russians and the pending Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty should emphasize verification, says Shultz. Supporting de-nuclearization efforts must also include forcefully countering a nuclear proliferation tipping point, he says. “Iran has to be confronted; North Korea has to be confronted; the nuclear fuel cycle has to be confronted, and so on,” he warns. “A lot of concrete things will have to start getting done.”

Washington Institute:  The Perfect Handshake: Prudent Military Strategy and Pragmatic Engagement Policy

Domestic:

ICHR:  Abbasgholizadeh: Suppression has changed Iranian women’s priorities In an interview with International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, women’s rights activist, researcher and documentary filmmaker Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh analyzes the condition of Iranian women’s movement and civil society activists in Iran after the June 12, 2009 elections.

GVF:  Father of murdered doctor: ‘Find my son’s killers’ “Forensics have said that Ramin died due to poisoning, but this opinion is very ambiguous and we cannot accept this theory. They should explain how he was poisoned and by whom,” Mr Pourandarjani said, while maintaining that he would try to pursue the case into his son’s death through legal means and would not politicise the matter.

Uskowi:  Photos: Tabriz Law Enforcement Parade Some pictures of the regime trying to intimidate the population by showing off its forces.

Zamaaneh:  Conservative cleric advises Iranians to hide faults of their system Tehran’s Friday Mass Prayers Leader, Emami Kashani told worshippers today: “If the Islamic Society has shortcomings, they should be covered and not publicized and talked about.”

Zamaaneh:  Students urge university president to help release their peers Two thousand students of Sharif University have written a letter to Saeed Sohrabpour, President of Sharif University, urging him to demand the release of their peers, Mehdi Kelari, Kohyar Godarzi and Tara Sepehrifar.  The students criticize the “silence and diplomacy” of university officials in the matter saying: “Rather than reacting against the recent events, we have witnessed a complete surrender to outside institutions on behalf of the University which has led to disciplinary sentences being issued by University officials against the students.”

P2E:  Foad Shams’s Letter after Release: “I Am Still Alive to Tell the Story” The experience of prison in the second half of this year [Persian Calendar year] was the best thing that happened to my life.  It is an experience that will not be repeated. Prison was not as limited for us as the prison guards had hoped for. Quite the opposite, our generation turned the page and the prison became a completely creative place for us. The hosts of this party were asking us to forget our ideals, but it did not happen. We were dreaming, even in prison. They tried to limit us by using their methods. Well, maybe they restrained us a little. But in my solitary confinement, when I thought that they had taken everything away from me, it was my dreams that would fly me through the window slots on a full moon night; just like a butterfly.

Gozaar:  The Seven Traits of the Green Movement’s Islamists During the course of the Green movement, an array of forces both religious and secular have refrained from all-embracing and unconditional support of Musavi, Karrubi, Khatami and Islamist reformists in general.  Is this a realistic fear to harbor in present conditions? What criteria can we consider to distinguish Islamist reformists from the current proponents of political Islam?

Sanctions:

Telegraph:  David Miliband to press China to support Iran sanctions David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, will press the case of tougher sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme during a trip to China.

Reuters:  Britain says China won’t risk isolation over Iran Britain’s ambassador to China said on Friday that Beijing risks isolation if it fails to join international efforts to impose sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme.

AFP:  Saudis deny discussing pressure on China over Iran with US Saudi Arabia denied on Friday that its officials had discussed with US Defence Secretary Robert Gates putting pressure on China to back a new round of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear ambitions.

Persian Gulf:

Forbes:  Middle Eastern Mirage Dubai’s spectacular collapse has destroyed vast fortunes and exposed the dangers of doing business in the Gulf. What have investors learned?

CNN:  Bahrain crown prince: We’re creating a future away from oil Economic reformer, champion of education and sports enthusiast, Sheikh Salman Al-Khalifa has been Bahrain’s leading political figure since being named Crown Prince in 1999.  The Western-educated 40-year-old is credited with opening up an era of progressive government reforms and introducing a liberal economic strategy to the small island country in the Arabian (Persian) Gulf.

CNN:  Bahrain’s covered history Traditional burial mounds dating back to the Bronze Age once covered the tiny archipelago kingdom that is believed by some to be the site of the Garden of Eden.

GulfNews:  America cannot wish Iran away As much as the US and Iran share a common hatred of each other, they need to understand one thing: the problem in Afghanistan is not isolated to the country alone. It is a regional problem which is spiralling out of control.

Iraq:

WP:  Iraqi vote results trickle in slowly Preliminary results from Iraq’s March 7 parliamentary elections continued to trickle in Friday amid continued allegations of fraud and misconduct, but it remained unclear who had won a plurality of votes across the country.

MSNBC:  Iraqi PM starts laying groundwork for new govt The Iraqi prime minister’s bloc said Friday it has started laying the groundwork to form a coalition government, signaling growing confidence after preliminary election results showed it winning in at least three provinces in the southern Shiite heartland.

WP:  Book review: ‘Eclipse of the Sunnies,’ by Deborah Amos Amos, a journalistic veteran of the Middle East, is not much interested here in the palace coups, rigged elections, official corruption and failed negotiations that make up standard histories. Her thesis is that the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, whatever its justification, has had a catastrophic effect on the people of the region, unleashing sectarian hostilities that had been bottled up for centuries, not just in Iraq but in Lebanon and other Arab states as well.

Other:

CS Monitor:  Turkey coup plot: What’s behind the tumultuous identity crisis In addition to the Armenian genocide resolutions roiling Turkey in recent days, the country has also been shaken up over the arrests of top military officials in an alleged Turkey coup plot. How the turmoil affects Turkey’s EU bid and its regional ambitions.

BW:  Lula Says Leaders Afraid Israel May Attack Iran If Talks Fail Lula, who makes his first trip to Israel next week, said in an interview with Israeli newspaper Haaretz that countries involved in Middle East peace talks have “grown tired” of the process. Bringing new mediators such as Brazil to the table is the only way to advance, according to a transcript of the interview released by the Presidency.

WSJ:  Pictures of the Week: March 8 – March 12