The Rundown - August 7

Iran
# Standard Chartered processed $250 billion in transcations for Iranian clients (the statement)
# Iran will unplug some ministries from the Internet next month
# Syrian rebels say three Iranians were killed in an air strike in Damascus
# A dispatch from Ramadan in Iran
# "Five Myths about the U.S.-Iran Conflict" - Marashi & Sanati, "National Interest"

Russia
# "Pussy Riot vs. Putin" - Julia Ioffe, "The New Republic"
# Russia and Turkey are "quietly sparring" over Kurdistan
# Mikhail Khodorkovsky on the Pussy Riot trial
# A harrowing report on drug culture in Yekaterinburg
# "How Syria Pits Russia Against United States" - Alon Ben-Meir, "Moscow Times"

Afghanistan/Pakistan
# "Keeping Each Other Honest in Afghanistan" - William Byrd, "Foreign Policy"
# "South Waziristan Festers" - Editorial, "Dawn"
# In Pakistan, the "cafe class" is in hot water for not fasting during Ramadan

Of Interest
# "The Economist" on upcoming elections in Ukraine
# "The View From Ishkashim" - Navruz Nekbakhtshoev, "Registan"

U.S. Politics/Foreign Policy
# Freedom House: 10 critical human rights challenges for the next president
# "Deadly Aid" - Sanchez-Moreno & Roht-Arriaza, "Foreign Policy"