The Latest from Iran (16 June): Simmering
Wednesday, June 16, 2010 at 8:23 
2045 GMT: And on the Nuclear Posture Threat. Yet another Iran Government announcement that it will be constructing a second plant with more capacity for uranium enrichment for its medical reactor. The head of Iran's nuclear energy programme, Ali Akbar Salehi, said, "Iran is designing a reactor to produce radio isotopes which will be more powerful than the Tehran reactor and this reactor will be commissioned soon in the country,"
Salehi, following the previous Iranian path of declaring multiple construction (20 last autumn, 10 earlier this year), added, "Our plan is to commission several reactors in the north, south, east and the west of the country so that we can produce radio isotopes for sale and export to the regional and Islamic countries that need them."
2040 GMT: Today's All is Well Update. Back from an extended conference break to find that, in a speech in Shahr Kord, President Ahmadinejad said Iran has $100 billion in foreign currency reserves and does not need to beg for loans. (http://www.twitter.com/sbelg)
1540 GMT: 22 Khordaad. More apparent confirmation that 12 June was far from a "quiet day": video of a claimed "human chain" demonstration at Sistan and Baluchestan University in southeastern Iran. (http://tinyurl.com/3yu27va)
1345 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Mohammad Yousefi, detained on 7 December, has been released. (http://www.irangreenvoice.com/article/2010/jun/16/4511)
1330 GMT: Kurdish Demonstrations. Students in Iranian Kurdistan went on hunger strike on Tuesday over the deaths of protesters and the secret burial of bodies. (http://www.irangreenvoice.com/article/2010/jun/16/4508)
There are also reports of a five-minute work stoppage in memory of the five Iranians, four of them Kurdish, on 9 May.
1315 GMT: The 4 June Fall-Out. Mr Verde can add another another name to his analysis today for EA on the problems for the Supreme Leader from the shout-down of Seyed Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini: Ayatollah Mohammad Javad Fazel-Lankarani has declared that only the Imam's enemies rejoiced over the incident.
(http://www.kaleme.com/1389/03/26/klm-22981)
1300 GMT: The Attacks on the Clerics. In Green Voice of Freedom, Majid Ansari asserts that a special group (kanoun) has been established in Qom to destroy marja (senior clerics), thus destroying the foundations of the Revolution and the Islamic Republic.
Ansari claims that the process started with attacks against former President Hashemi Rafsanjani. (http://www.irangreenvoice.com/article/2010/jun/16/4509)
1215 GMT: Sane'i Hospitalised. Grand Ayatollah Sane'i's website has now confirmed the information, which we heard yesterday, that the cleric has been in hospital with a heart condition.
Sane'i, whose home was surrounded and attacked on Sunday in Qom, is said to be improving, and it is hoped that he will be released soon.
1210 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Fatemeh Shams, the wife of student activist Mohammad Jalaleipour, has described his re-arrest this week.
Shams says that Jalaleipour was summoned to a mosque by authorities to "collect a passport" taken from him. Those "officials" returned with Jalaleipour to his home and then ambushed him, with five beating and detaining the activist. They rampaged through the house, not allowing his mother to wear her hijab and taking away many personal items, including those which belonged to three uncles killed in the Iran-Iraq War.
The family has no news of Jalaeipour's location and situation. There is no formal charge and no idea which Ministry, if any, supervised the men who detained Jalaleipour.
0810 GMT: Culture Corner. Maryam Zandee has reportedly refused a state prize for photography to protest the arrests of her colleagues.
0805 GMT: Economy Watch. Peyke Iran claims that 400 workers at a company opened by President Ahmadinejad last month have gone on strike and that only 40 were fully-employed.
0800 GMT: Watching Your Own. Rah-e-Sabz claims the Government has installed officials "for securing communications" amongst its own employees. (http://www.rahesabz.net/story/17357)
0755 GMT: Which Way Forward for the Greens? As Mir Hossein Mousavi publishes his "Green Charter", Rah-e-Sabz posts a debate amongst activists and analysts, "Project of the 4th Decade". (http://www.rahesabz.net/story/17541)
0740 GMT. However, A Compromise. The Government has reportedly asked the Parliament not to discuss a report on the missing statute of the National Iranian Oil Company, and the Majlis has agreed. (http://www.khabaronline.ir/news-69529.aspx)
0735 GMT: Talking Tough (Against the President). Khabar Online has declared that Ahmadinejad's recent criticism of "morality police" for targeting women with "bad hijab" has united protest from minority and pro-Government factions. (http://www.khabaronline.ir/news-69208.aspx)
Ayatollah Abbas Khabi, a member of the Guardian Council, has insisted that the Government "not fail" in promoting hijab. (http://www.khabaronline.ir/news-69241.aspx)
In contrast, the President gets double-edged support from a reformist, former Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar, who endorses controlling the behaviour of those pretending to be religious, rather than the clothing of youth. Why double-edged? Because Ebtekar's jibe at those "pretending to be religious" elevates the even more serious issue of the recent attacks on senior clerics. (http://www.rahesabz.net/story/16572)
0730 GMT: Talking Tough (Against Foreigners). Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani has waved his finger most aggressively against those who would challenge Iran over Palestine: "If you search our aid ships to Gaza, we will 'handle' your ships in the Persian Gulf." (http://www.khabaronline.ir/news-69257.aspx)
0715 GMT: The Movement Lives. Nobel Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi has told an audience in Vienna, "Violent incidents have increased and anyone that is on the street is arrested ... because of this the demonstrations have taken another form."
But, she continued, "Just because there are less people on the streets does not mean that the movement has weakened. The criticism has taken a different form."
Ebadi mentioned the protests of mothers of detainees who meet, dressed in black, and display photos of their children. She said that opposition supporters have used the Internet to post photos and videos to ensure their position was heard and seen.
Ebadi asserted, "The more violent acts against the people, the more angry they will become and the government will be weakened."
(http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-49333920100616)
0730 GMT: We begin today with two features based on recent --- and important --- events. We have posted the English translation of Mir Hossein Mousavi's "Green Charter", and Mr Verde analyses the growing, possibly self-inflicted political crisis for the Supreme Leader in recent attacks on Ayatollah Khomeini's grandson and senior clerics.
Reader Comments (9)
French FM Kouchner demands Iranian government to protect Karroubi
http://www.europe1.fr/International/La-France-appelle-l-Iran-a-proteger-Karoubi-214054/" rel="nofollow">http://www.europe1.fr/International/La-France-a...
Al Arabiya reports on a letter of the SL to the parliament, on behalf of which the case of Mohammad Reza Rahimi's (AN's first vice) corruption file was closed (unconfirmed): http://www.peykeiran.com/Content.aspx?ID=18141" rel="nofollow">http://www.peykeiran.com/Content.aspx?ID=18141
Homylafayette has a detailed report on the ceremony in Paris conferring honorary citizenship on Shirin Ebadi: http://homylafayette.blogspot.com/2010/06/long-live-free-iran-paris-mayor-calls.html" rel="nofollow">http://homylafayette.blogspot.com/2010/06/long-...
Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë invoked his own city's tumultuous battles for liberty minutes before he made Nobel peace prize laureate Shirin Ebadi an honorary citizen:
'At this particular moment in time, June 10, I would like to tell all Iranians if they are able to hear me, Paris stands alongside you. The Paris of the French Revolution, the Paris which with its people and its allies overcame Nazism at the liberation of this city on August 25, 1944. In exactly eight days, we will commemorate General de Gaulle's call for resistance, dignity, and love for the homeland, which unified, by the way, all religions, cultures, origins, and even all political opinions. The struggle of Iranians today is simply a struggle for Iran. It is a struggle for the greatness and nobility of this people.'
Film Corner
Iranian Director Farmanara hiring amateurs to thwart state restrictions on filmmaking
Renowned Iranian director Bahman Farmanara is hiring an amateur crew for his new film in order to frustrate new state restrictions on filmmaking. His new film entitled "Journey to Konya" is about a team of Iranian university students who begin a trip by bus to visit the tomb of Rumi in Konya.
Source: Mehr News Agency, Tehran
http://www.payvand.com/news/10/jun/1137.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.payvand.com/news/10/jun/1137.html
Economy Watch
Iranians Lose Faith in Cheques
More and more cheques bounce as economy struggles.
Iran is falling out of love with the cheque, partly because a vast and rising number bounce every year.
Figures from the Central Bank of Iran show that in the year to March 2010 only 47 million cheques were written compared to 63 million in the same period of the previous year and 79 million in 2007-2008.
But the proportion of cheques bouncing has been rising over the same period to about 10.7 per cent - more than one in ten - in the latest year, from 7.7 per cent in the previous year and around five per cent in the years up to 2007
http://www.mianeh.net/en/articles/?aid=327" rel="nofollow">http://www.mianeh.net/en/articles/?aid=327
Here's an extensive follow-up (to be published in 2 parts) on the Tajzadeh apology story by Prof. Sahimi of Tehran Bureau:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2010/06/tajzadeh-reformists-should-ask-the-nation-for-forgiveness.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranb...
New Tactic Against Leaders of Green Movement
Although one year after the Khordad 22 election coup, complaints filed by families of post-election martyrs are still being ignored, the regime is now forcing the families of martyrs, through threats and intimidation, to speak out and file complaints against the leaders of the green movement.
To this end, the Fars news agency, affiliated with the military-security apparatus, has published interviews with family members in which they blame Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi for the post-election violence. But in exclusive interviews with Rooz, the families of Sajad Sabzalipour and Meisam Ebadi, two of the green movement’s martyrs, denied Fars’s report and announced that they will file formal complaints against the news agency.
http://www.roozonline.com/english/news/newsitem/article/2010/june/16//new-scenario-against-leaders-of-green-movement.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.roozonline.com/english/news/newsitem...
Re 1215: Saanei has been released from hospital this morning - according to the Facebook page linked to Mousavi (http://www.facebook.com/mousavi" rel="nofollow">http://www.facebook.com/mousavi) :
"Following the reports that Grand Ayatollah Saanei, pro-reform senior religious figure, has been hospitalized due to a heart problem the official website of Grand Ayatollah Saanei in an official announcement while thanking people for their well wishes and concerns about the wellbeing of the Grand Ayatollah confirmed the report and added that the overall condition of Grand Ayatollah Saanei has been improved and he was dismissed from the hospital this morning."
[...] meest actuele nieuws in een hele korte samenvatting (meer op deze onvolprezen weblog, Enduring America): (a) ayatollah Saanei is inderdaad met hartproblemen in het ziekenhuis, (b) Koerden grepen vandaag [...]