Interview: Mother's tribute to Neda (Audio + Transcript): Via BBC NEWS | Middle East.

The mother of Neda Agha Soltan, the 27-year-old Iranian protester whose death on 20 June was captured on mobile phone video, has spoken at length to the BBC World Service. The following is a transcript of the interview with Hajar Rostami Motlagh.

How did you first hear about your daughter's death?
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Iran Releases on Bail Last of Nine British Embassy Employees - Bloomberg.com: Via Bloomberg.com .

July 20 (Bloomberg) -- Iran released on bail the last of nine local employees of the British embassy in Tehran, who were arrested following disturbances in the wake of the June 12 presidential election.

“The detention of embassy staff was completely unjustified,” Foreign Secretary David Miliband said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. “I am confident that none of them were involved in any improper behavior.”

Hossein Rassam, the embassy’s senior political analyst, was freed after posting bail of 1 billion rials ($100,000), his lawyer Abdolsamad Khoramshahi said, according to Agence France- Presse.
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In Iran, thousands gather for Rafsanjani sermon: Via Los Angeles Times.

The address by the reformist cleric, who has backed contender Mir-Hossein Mousavi, could add fuel to the opposition protests, but some think he might seek to ease tensions.

Reporting from Tehran and Beirut -- Reporting from Tehran and Beirut – Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iran's premier power broker and a force behind opposition figurehead Mir-Hossein Mousavi, took the podium for Friday prayers today for the first time in eight weeks.

Thousands and some said tens of thousands of supporters of Mousavi crammed into downtown Tehran early this afternoon, some with emblematic green ribbons wrapped around the their fingers, to attend a potentially momentous sermon by Rafsanjani that could herald a new stage in the political drama that has followed the disputed June 12 reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

He began the sermon with a discussion of the Koran, saying he would raise the issue of the country's political troubles later in the afternoon.
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After a long absence, pro-Mousavi cleric Rafsanjani to lead prayers: Via Los Angeles Times.

Former President Mohammad Khatami reportedly will also attend Iran's weekly keynote sermon Friday. The reformists' return to the event can be seen as a challenge to hard-liners or a sign of a truce

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Reporting from Beirut -- A powerful cleric who has been a driving force behind the opposition movement challenging the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will lead Friday prayers this week after a two-month absence that was considered a sign of conflict within the Iranian establishment.

The semiofficial Iranian Labor News Agency reported Sunday that Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani will deliver the nation's weekly keynote religious sermon.
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