The Latest from Iran (16 April): Grounding the Opposition

1910 GMT: Khatami Grounded but Still Speaks. Former President Mohammad Khatami may have been halted from leaving Iran, but he has not been silenced. Khatami has spoken out against government pressure on newly released Iranian political prisoners “to denounce their connections with certain movements and public figures”.

Khatami claimed that the newly released prisoners “are being forced to make public confessions against their actual opinions and beliefs and they have been told that their limited freedom will be taken away from them if they do not do so".

1830 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. A court of appeal has confirmed a six-year prison sentence for journalist Masoud Lavasani as well as a ten-year ban on any journalism. Lavasani was originally sentenced to eight years after his detention in late September.

Mohammad Reza Lotfi Yazdi, a Mashhad student activist, has been released from Evin Prison after a six-week detention. Ali Sepandar and Behzad Parvin, two members of the Central Council of the Islamic Association at Birjand University, have also been freed.

Iran: A View From Tehran “The New Year Challenges”
Iran: A Note About the Voice of America, NIAC, and the “Journalism” of The Washington Times
The Latest from Iran (15 April): Accepting Authority?

1825 GMT: The Labour Front. Back from an extended break to find a useful summary by Iran Labor Report of developments, including economic downturns, protests over unpaid wages, and strikes.


1145 GMT: The Banning of the Reformists? We are watching this story carefully to see if it develops into the effective suspension of "legal" political activity by reformists in Iran:

The members of Article 10 Commission of Iran which monitors the activities of political parties in the country held a session yesterday asking the Judiciary to ban two reformist parties, Islamic Iran Participation Front (Party) and Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization.

They also submitted a letter to Tehran's Public Prosecutor's Office and requested for issuing a decree on the dissolution of both pro-reform parties. The decision was made through observing their background and actions taken by them.

1155 GMT: Recognising Activism and New Media. Iranian blogger, journalist, and women’s rights activist Jila Bani Yaghoub has been awarded the Reporters Without Borders Freedom of Expression prize for her blog “We are Journalists” at the 6th international “Best of the Blogs” event in Berlin.

Bani Yaghoub and her husband Bahman Ahmadi Amoui were detained last year during the post-election crisis. After her release, she wrote a moving open letter to her still-detained spouse and "Mr Interrogator".

1110 GMT: A Discussion. Seyed Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of the late Ayatollah Khomeini, has met Grand Ayatollah Yusuf Sane'i to consider "the problems of the country".

1055 GMT: Not Forgetting. Golnaz Esfandiari summarises the attempts by Iranian websites and bloggers to ensure that the cases and situations of "lesser-known" political prisoners are not forgotten.

1045 GMT: Corruption Watch. Rah-e-Sabz claims that the Supreme Leader has intervened to order a halt to the corruption investigation of First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi. Several high-profile members of Parliament have led the call for the inquiry against Rahimi, connected with the "Fatemi Avenue" insurance fraud.

1040 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. The Green Voice of Freedom claims it has a letter from a group of detainees in Evin Prison, announcing their plan to fast from 21 April until the anniversary of the election on 12 June. They make five demands: annulment of post-election sentences for political prisoners; release of all detainees on bail until trials are held; respect of Article 168 of the Constitution regarding political and press offences; investigation into illegal and unjust judicial procedures and interrogations at all levels; improving recreation, health and hygiene in all prisons and detention centres in the country.

The letter to the “Great Iranian Nation” states:

You know better than anyone, that thousands of your children who supported reformist candidates during the June 2009 presidential election and [identified with] the Green Movement were arrested at their workplaces or homes --- even in the middle of the night --- and taken to known and unknown detention centres and prisons on baseless grounds and accusations that mostly lacked (and still lack) legal justification. [Their imprisonment] clearly went against the constitution and the country’s current laws and citizen rights.

1035 GMT: The Court in Evin Prison. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has called for the closure of a recently-established “special court” at Evin Prison.

Attorneys for detainees say their work has become "impossible” with the newly established court. One of them, Nasrin Sotoudeh, summarises:

The judges are residing in a space that is under the strict control of the Ministry of Intelligence and during preliminary investigations, which are the most difficult time during a suspect’s prison term, case judges only receive information from intelligence officers, and neither the suspect’s lawyer nor his or her family can provide any information to the judges.

Another defense attorney, Farideh Gheyrat, said she is highly concerned about the inaccessibility of her clients’ files and claims that now even extracting the old “simple and incomplete” pieces of information about cases has become impossible.

1030 GMT: Labour Watch. A Street Journalist provides an English summary of a Deutsche Welle story, reported in EA earlier this week, of workers' protests and strikes in Khuzestan in southwest Iran.

1020 GMT: Economy Watch. As a sign of Iran's economic troubles, Rah-e-Sabz reports a sharp decline in employment in the town Asalouyeh in the south of the country. State companies have not paid wages for several months, and the Government owes owes 40 billion toman (more than $40 million) to private companies, for example in the electricity sector.

The website also reports that Iran's social security organisation is in deep trouble with a large deficit building from 2007. It claims that the head of the organisation has gone to Qom to seek help from clerics.

1015 GMT: A Subsidy Compromise? Khabar Online reports that the Parliament and Government have reached an agreement allowing President Ahmadinejad to take in and control more revenue from subsidy cuts.

Parliament had set the extra revenue at $20 million, half of the President's demand, but according to Khabar, "this week the Parliament gave a free hand to the government in arranging a schedule for implementing the plan, to define new prices for subsidized goods and above all adding tax incomes to the 200 trillion rials ($20 billion) budget".

EA's sharp readers will already note the double-edged sword for the Government if this compromise has been struck: it may indeed take in more money but only by raising prices --- through the subsidy reductions --- further on basic provisions such as food and energy.

1000 GMT: Clerical Intervention. Ayatollah Javadi Amoli has taken a swipe at the Government with the declaration that society must be governed with respect and fed so it can stand on its own feet. It is not difficult to govern with mercy.

Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani has added that the majority must be kept satisfied. If the Iranian people have reasonable demands, they should be addressed.

0950 GMT: And Take This, Opposition. Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati has issued a forceful denunciation of those challenging the regime. He claimed that they wanted to weaken the system of velayat-e-faqih (ultimate clerical authority) after the Ahmadinejad victory last night. The culprits included monarchists, Baha'i, reformist parties such as Mojahedin of Islamic Revolution and Islamic Iran Participation Front, National Front, communists, and secularists. (An EA reader wonders, "Is there anyone left who is not an opponent?")

0930 GMT: We return from extended break to follow up on yesterday's report that former President Mohammad Khatami was planning to attend a global disarmament conference in Japan next week.

EA readers quickly wrote us that the Iranian authorities intervened to prevent the journey. Parleman News wrote that Khatami, who was supposed to leave the country on Wednesday night, was not blocked at the airport or had his passport has not been withdrawn, but he succumbed to pressure and cancelled the trip at his own initiative.

Khatami remains a major international figure for his approach of "global dialogue", which he promoted in the late 1990s as an alternative to the notion of a clash of civilizations. More immediately, his presence in Japan would have deflected from Iran's own attempts to take the nuclear high ground with its own conference on nuclear disarmament, scheduled for Saturday and Saturday.

The Latest from Iran (13 April): Getting Beyond the Sideshow

1830 GMT: Economy Watch. It is reported that, in the "slow death" of domestic production because of Chinese-made goods, more than 75% of Iran's imports are now consumer items.

1815 GMT: Rubbing It In. The President's "establishment" opposition are crowing over his supposed retreat over the subsidy cut and spending proposals: they claim that Ahmadinejad has begged the Parliament to let him have a free hand in implementing the plan.

Iran: Mousavi to Students “Spring is Unstoppable”
The Latest from Iran (12 April): Signals from Mousavi & Rafsanjani?

1800 GMT: The 15 June Dispute. Some Government officials have been saying, rather curiously, that the mass marches of 15 June, three days after the election, had been granted a permit by the authorities.

Morteza Tamaddon, the Governor of Tehran Province, has issued a denial, carried in Khabar Online: there was no permit for the "fitna" (sedition) rally.


1150 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Journalist Emad Bahavar has told his wife that he is still being kept in solitary confinement.

1140 GMT: Labour Watch. More than 50 workers of the Abadan municipality have gone on strike to protest over more than three months of unpaid wages.

1130 GMT: The Latest on Scholarship. Rah-e-Sabz reports that a Government-sponsored conference on "Nuclear Iran" at Elm-o-Sanat University was boycotted. Two university has also expelled two more professors.

1110 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. An Iranian activist is reporting that Abdollah Momeni, a leading member of the student organisation Advar-e Takhim Vahdat, has been summoned to court and rearrested.

Momeni has been out on $800,000 bail. Last week he was a prominent participant in a meeting with Mir Hossein Mousavi.

1040 GMT: Militarising the Judiciary? Rah-e-Sabz is pondering the significance of a General Muhammad Bagher-Zolghadr being nominated as the new cultural, social, and anti-crime deputy of Iran's judiciary.

Last September, Zolghadr outlined the notion of “soft war” in a speech: “In a hard war, the line between you and the enemy is clear, but in a soft war there is nothing so solid. The enemy is everywhere.”

1030 GMT: Handing Out Justice. The head of Iran's judiciary, Sadegh Larijani, has assured a Parliamentary commission that, "if culpable, even my relatives would be persecuted".

I don't think this means that Ali Larijani should watch his back. Instead, Sadegh Larijani is trying to fend off growing pressure for the prosecution of First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi over corruption allegations.

1025 GMT: The Battle Within. While we wait for confirmation of the reports, in Press TV (see 1010 GMT) and Khabar Online, that the President has backed down in the fight over the subsidy plan, more signs that all is not well within the dominant "principlist" faction:

As the members of the Principalist fraction of Iranian Parliament Majlis have expressed different views on the actions taken by the faction’s presidium, Majlis speaker Ali Larijani is to settle their dispute.

....Mohammad Ali Bozorgvari a member of the Principalist fraction of the Parliament delivered a speech last week blasting the members of fraction's presidium and Larijani in particular. He asked them to give clear answers to those criticisms.

Significantly, the report is in the pro-Larijani Khabar Online.

1015 GMT: When Sideshows Get Silly. Here is one reason why we were somewhat dismissive of press coverage of the first day of the Obama nuclear summit (see 0850 GMT), which converged on the line that China was ready to back a US-led sanctions resolution in the UN. For months, Beijing has played the cautious game of appeasing American sentiments by saying, Yes, We'll Talk, while in complementary statements saying, No, We Don't Do Anything Drastic.

So, hours after reporters fed by US officials were declaring Washiington-Beijing unity on the sanctions path, this from the Chinese Foreign Ministry: "We believe that the Security Council's relevant actions should be conducive to easing the situation and conducive to promoting a fitting solution to the Iranian nuclear issue through dialogue and negotiations."

Bless 'em, Reuters are still trying to wedge that tactically convoluted statement into their Monday story-line that All is Going Well: "[The] comments appeared to leave scant doubt that Beijing accepts that fresh Security Council action over Iran is coming, even if China wants room to negotiate over the sanctions proposed by Western powers."

1010 GMT: A Presidential Subsidy Climbdown? Rooz Online offers a lengthy analysis, "Continuation of Conflict Dangerous", but Press TV may have put up the signal that the battle is ending with a Parliamentary victory.

The website reports that, at the start of the Majlis session today, Deputy Speaker Mohammad Hossein Abu Torabi announced, "In a meeting with a group of Iranian MPs, the President has agreed to facilitate the implementation of the subsidy bill without introducing a complementary bill."

That would seem to indicate that Ahmadinejad has given up his attempt to get $40 billion in extra spending from subsidy cuts, rather than the $20 billion authorised by Parliament.

1000 GMT: Now to Important Matters --- Karroubi. The latest statement of Mehdi Karroubi has slipped under the radar, with his meeting last Thursday with the reformist Mojahedin of Islamic Revolution party only emerging on his website yesterday.

Karroubi criticised the recent speech of Ahmadinejad in Azerbaijan: “The language used is by no means appropriate for a president....[It is] an insult to thousands of years of Iranian civilisation.” He dismissed the President's attempt to focus attention on the US v. Iran. American threats against the country “were not something new” and, in the event of any attack, “we will all defend the country”:

Creating enemies is not a big deal. A big deal would be to respond to threats with reason and logic so that the public opinion of nations and [the opinion] of governments are drawn towards the truth such that threats are eliminated and turned into opportunities.

Bringing attention back to the domestic front, Karroubi warned of the consequences if Ahmadinejad continued putting down the Parliament and its importance: “If he degrades the Majlis today, tomorrow, the Parliament will lose all respect,” Denouncing the treatment of political prisoners and arguing for the respect of women's rights, he asserted, “We demand the implementation of the Constitution and stand even more firm than ever before.”

0900 GMT: Economy Watch. On another public-relations, Press TV tries to whip up some hope over Iran's international economic position:

Brazil has opened its doors to Iranian businessmen and welcomes any project, which will help the economy and encourage trade between the two countries.

"Iran is a big country in the region and enjoys considerable capacity to develop cooperation with Brazil," Brazilian Development, Industry and Foreign Trade Minister Miguel Jorge said Monday in Tehran after visiting his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Mehrabian.

0850 GMT: OK, let's deal with the sideshow now so we can concentrate on other matters later in the day.

The "nuclear summit" in Washington, at least for the mainstream press, turned into an All About Iran festival. Laura Rozen, one of the best journalists for inside information in the US capital, turned herself into a spokesperson for that line: "On summit sidelines, many conversations about Iran". That's courtesy of a "Washington Gulf expert" --- “With the Chinese, Russians and Turks, folks that need to come along on the sanctions track", the show is all about a forthcoming UN resolution --- and National Security Council staffer Jeff Bader: "The President in the meeting made clear the sense of urgency, and the Chinese made clear that they are prepared to work with us." (Bader is also probably the unnamed "US official" in other reports optimistically pointing to China's support.)

Of course Mahmoud Ahmadinejad didn't take this lying down, not with the opportunity to substitute US v. Iran for any internal matters. From his measured description of foreign leaders as "retarded people" to his call on the UN to investigate how the US Government used the 11 September attacks to set up wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, it was a red-letter day for finger-pointing by the Iranian President.

Ahmadinejad's declarations are propped up by Iranian state media by other signs that the sanctions hammer won't fall on Tehran: there is a speech outside the summit from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that there is "no evidence indicating that Iran's nuclear activities include efforts to acquire a nuclear weapon".

Mousavi: "Can Repression & Brute Force Solve Iran's Problems?"

Green Voice of Freedom summarises yesterday's meeting between Mir Hossein Mousavi and the reformist Mojahedin of Islamic Revolution party. Khordaad 88 also has a version:

Mousavi said that the Islamic Republic is facing problems “far deeper” than the widespread street protests, and cannot simply be resolved by putting an end to the protests.

“Our [Islamic] system is facing problems and its manifestation is not limited to the protests on the streets. The issues and problems are far deeper than this. One of them is that the state believes that by ending the street protests the protesters’ concerns are [also] resolved.”

The Latest from Iran: Dialogue or Conflict? (9 April)

The former prime minister said during the meeting that all the things that give legitimacy to a state are being “destroyed” in Iran. “Regimes normally use brute force (police, military and security forces) in the end to survive at any cost, but this is happening in our country and this is cause for great thought and attention,” he added.



Mousavi stressed the issue of lies and deceptions in all levels of the state. “The issue of lying has become our main concern and people have an objection towards it,” Mousavi said. “It has created mistrust amongst people towards the very base of this troublesome system and [has created doubts] towards their beliefs. Ethical issues, foreign policy, widespread corruption, etc, these have all created a sense of mistrust towards authorities and the state.”

“Is this problem solvable through repression and using brute force?” Mousavi asked.

During the meeting, the 2009 presidential candidate told the members of the reformist party, “The current situation has totally disrupted the flow of investment into the country because the future has become unpredictable unlike a society like that of Japan’s where the history of investment in certain families is more than two centuries old.”

Mousavi stated that the quick-return of interest [profit] had become the target in Iran because “there is no hope for the future and due to the current condition, no one is seeking to invest in production, in the long-term and in creating long-lasting jobs. Doesn’t the continuation of the current conditions mean more unemployment and poverty?”

Mousavi pointed out that despite the government’s massive spending; Iran was actually far behind in attracting foreign investment: “Is this not a catastrophe?”

On the issue of the current dispute between Ahmadinejad and the Parliament over the government’s proposed subsidy cuts, Mousavi said that the main source of dispute was about the government’s permission to spend around $1 million to buy votes in the rigged June election. Mousavi stated that the sense of mistrust towards the regime was “eating the system and making it void from within.”

According to the popular reformist politician, the misuse of religious and revolutionary values by authorities was playing an important role in portraying an unreal image of Islam, Imam Khomeini, and the Revolution.
Mousavi criticised the violent behaviour of security forces towards people who had recently gathered near the Orumiyeh Lake [in Azerbaijan] protesting the drying of the lakebed as a result of wrong government policies. Mousavi said, “Can all problems be resolved through [increasing] security and militarisation? They want to run the system with the rule of a certain group which is not possible.”

Mir-Hossein Mousavi told those present, that he would even accept the fraudulent results of the 2009 presidential election if the current rulers possessed a “relative efficiency” in running the country: “But we don’t even have this. For instance the government is unable to even carry out an [oil] project in Assaluyeh, and there is a problem in foreign policy every day and the situation is becoming more critical. The nuclear case in the past year is the best example for this.”

Mousavi said that even those currently in power in Iran lack any consensus and asked, “What does this show?”

Once again, Mousavi stressed the importance of the full implementation of the Iranian Constitution as a main demand of the Green Movement. “Many articles of this constitution which guarantee the rights of the people have been forgotten,” Mousavi said. He added:

If these are brought about well enough, an overall consensus will be reached within the movement. The base for any change in society is an idea and this idea has been created in our society and the will for change and amendment has become widespread. The people must be warned that the interests of a few in certain bodies is not allowing for them to easily surrender to the demands of the [Green] Movement and the nation.

On the future of the Green Movement and its activities, the wartime prime minister said, “We must bring about and redefine clear ideas and spread them through resisting and steadfastness and finding ways of working in a more organised way. The regime and state should be told that the least costly way for governing the country is the free activity of groups, media, associations and civil society, not confronting them.”

Mousavi called for more links between the different social groups inside the Green Movement and said that the goal of the movement was to create a better life for everyone, especially more impoverished and vulnerable sectors of society. He defended the rights of workers and teachers and acknowledged their important roles in Iranian life.

Mousavi also urged authorities to return to the Constitution, to remove the current security and military atmosphere in the country, and to open up. “If they do not choose this path, we will be forced to stand firm,” Mousavi said, expressing hope that authorities would return to the path of sanity as soon as possible:

We must stand firm until the issues and problems are resolved. The people have paid a heavy price during this period and they are used to paying such prices because they have great and righteous aspirations. You can see how prisoners have become the champions of the people and how they are welcomed [upon their freedom] and this is a sign of the ineffectiveness of these actions in confronting the [Green] Movement and the people’s demands.

Mousavi concluded with a call for the full usage of the capacity of political parties and an expansion of their activities. He also invited them to issue statements and analyses and to be in constant contact with the people for a “better tomorrow”.

The Latest from Iran (8 April): Speeches, Visits, & Pictures

2155 GMT: Break in Service. Apologies for halt in updates today because of extended academic duties.

We'll be back early Friday morning to catch up with all the news and offer analysis.

1355 GMT: You Might Be Catty But Can You Debate Us? Gholam-Reza Mesbahi-Moghaddam, a member of Parliament's Economic Committee has challenged the President to debate him and Ahmad Tavakoli, another high-profile critic of the subsidy/spending plan.

Earlier this week Tavakoli had issued a similar statement, saying Ahmadinejad must follow the Parliament's will.

1345 GMT: Catty Comment of Day. OK, here's the gossip from Rah-e-Sabz:

So key Iranian figures are with the Supreme Leader trying to resolve the Parliament-Ahmadinejad feud over subsidy cuts and revenues. Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani says to Ahmadinejad that Parliament is expecting the Government to follow the law. The President is having none of it, however: he says he will not follow what Parliament says and that they "better tell this to the person they congratulated on the evening of the Presidential election".
Whoa. I think that is a reference to the long-standing tale that Larijani told Mir Hossein Mousavi on the evening of 12 June that he had indeed triumphed in the polls.

And that may be why Ayatollah Khamenei then said that in important decisions "we should be united".

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The Latest from Iran (7 April): Ahmadinejad’s Support?

1340 GMT: Mousavi Meets the Reformists. Mujahedin of Islamic Revolution party members have met with Mir Hossein Mousavi. The take-away line from the meeting --- we hope to have more later --- is Mousavi's declaration that they "must stand up to the ruling group and return to the Constitution" of the Islamic Republic.


1315 GMT: The International Sanctions Dance. President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev two-stepping today after signing the treaty for reduction of nuclear arms....

Obama predicted there would be "strong, tough” sanctions against Iran in coming weeks, which he has to say to keep the all-out sanctions folks in Washington at bay. Medvedev expressed an openness to the idea, since he doesn't want to be rude to the US, as bargains are being stuck on other fronts. Then, however, he drew line: “smart sanctions” rather than sweeping sanctions,  and protection of Russia’s national interests (i.e., no measures that significantly cut Russian trade).

No change in this dance step....

1030 GMT: Converting the Bad News. Press TV notes the development, which we reported yesterday, that Russia's LUKOil is stopping imports to Iran but races to this assurance:

Speaking on April 3, the head of Iran's Committee for Transportation and Fuel Management said Iran was capable of becoming self-sufficient in gasoline production during the current Iranian year (ending March 20, 2011).

"Iran's gasoline consumption stands at 62 million liters (16.38 million US gallons) per day, of which 45 million liters (11.89 million US gallons) are produced domestically," said Mohammad Rouyanian.

0830 GMT: We have posted a purported video of the audience at the Ahmadinejad speech in northwest Iran yesterday.

0700 GMT: Look Over There! The US is Doomed! Continuing his attempt to focus Iranian eyes on the international front, President Ahmadinejad declared Wednesday night, "The US is so bogged down in a quagmire in Iraq and Afghanistan that it is doomed to be defeated whether it stays or escapes."

0525 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. More than 3,500 people, including international journalists, writers, and activists have written to the Supreme Leader, asking him to release all journalists, writers, and bloggers currently imprisoned in Iran. The initiative was organised by Canadian Journalists for Free Expression.

RAHANA reports that detained student activist Peyman Aref was taken to Modarres Hospital in Tehran after he suffered a heart attack. EA also has reliable information that reformist leader Abbas Mirza Aboutalebi has suffered a heart attack.

Student activist Behrooz Javid Tehrani is in the eighth day of a hunger strike.

University lecturer Rahmatollah Bastani, arrested on 28 March during the funeral of Ayatollah Montazeri’s wife in Qom, has been released on $50,000 bail. Journalist Borumand Rostami of Bistoon has been released on $20,000 bail

0520 GMT: Strange Bedfellows. Iranian state media eagerly embraces former Bush Administration official John Bolton, which may seem a bit unusual since Bolton has called for airstrikes against Tehran. The reason? Bolton bolsters the Iranian Government's line, "New Sanctions Won't Work". (Press TV doesn't mention that Bolton is putting out this message to justify military action.)

0510 GMT: A Very Different Picture and Signal. The image is of Mehdi Karroubi visiting the reformist leader Feizollah Arab Sorkhi, still on temporary release from his detention. Karroubi also saw the mother of Sohrab Arabi, killed 15 June by Iranian security forces.





0500 GMT: Thursday begins with a look at contrasting images and signals. As we noted last night, President Ahmadinejad has tried to turn a visit to Azerbaijan in northwestern Iran into a show of support for his Government, but the pictures are conflicting, to say the least. Fars News uses close-up shots at the stadium and images of crowds rushing Ahmadinejad's car en route to claim a large, enthusiastic turnout. Other pictures circulating on the Internet are not so positive:



An EA correspondent offers an explanation:

The Fars photos do not disprove the set on the Internet. Look at the stadium pictures, all close-ups of the front of the crowd. I have been to Ahmadinejad events --- the people you see are right at the front. There is nothing between them and the President

The crowd mobbing the car, apparently en route to the stadium could be edited. It counts for nothing. All the people behind could be easily photo shopped.

The Latest from Iran (5 April): Repression

2230 GMT: To close this evening, a photograph of reformist leader Feizollah Arab Sorkhi, temporarily released from prison today, with his family (inset).

2215 GMT: Mousavi's Statement. Back from an evening break to find a summary of Mir Hossein Mousavi's discussion with reformist members of Parliament. We'll have an analysis in the morning but here is the substance....

Mousavi advised Iranian authorities to return to models set up by Ayatollah Khomeini and base policies on “collective wisdom” to remedy the post-election crisis. Had that wisdom prevailed earlier, “we would not have witnessed such bitter incidents.”

Mousavi, as he has done before, criticised both Iranian state media and foreign media. Iran's national broadcaster was “destroying the doctrines of the Imam (Khomeini)”: “In my opinion Seda va Sima [Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting] and the foreign media have been acting like the two edges of a pair of scissors in distorting the luminous face of the Imam.”

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The Latest from Iran (4 April): Renewal

Mousavi also invoked Khomeini to claim the "ability of the country to pass through the crises of the time” was through direct connection of the people with the regime, the government, and the leadership. In Khomeini's time, decisions were made through “rational discussions” and the Imam “provided a basis for the presence of different factions and opinions without barring anyone’s presence”.


1745 GMT: Spin of the Day. Press TV rewrites the critical letter of Ali Larijani (see 1615 GMT) to the President:

"As the Ahmadinejad government and Parliament move to iron out the details of the subsidy reform bill, Speaker Ali Larijani said Monday lawmakers would do their utmost to cooperate with the president, asking him to do the same."

1740 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Kalemeh reports that the release from detention of senior reformist Feizollah Arab-Sorkhi (see 1340 GMT) is for only five days and comes with a bail of $1 million.

1615 GMT: Larijani Responds to Ahmadinejad. We noted earlier today that the President had made an appeal, in a letter to Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, for revision of the legislation on subsidy reform and spending.

Larijani has now replied sharply. In his letter, he defends the approach of the Majlis and criticises Ahmadinejad's speeches and request for a public referendum. He accuses the President of intervention and interference in the Majlis' affairs.

Larijani aligns himself with the Supreme Leader's recent advice for more co-operation between the Majlis and the Government. However, he asks Ahmadinejad to answer two questions:

Firstly, what is the Government forecast for the rate of inflation in each of the two scenarios of an extra $20 billion spending (The Parliament-approved bill) and an extra $40 billion"(Ahmadinejad's demand)?

Secondly, what would be the Government's estimate of economic growth in each of the scenarios?

1600 GMT: Nowruz Snub for Ahmadinejad? According to Khabar Online, only one-third of the Majlis' members attended the Norouz meeting held with the President.

Ali Larijani (head of Parliament), Mohammad Hassan Abutorabi Fard (First Deputy Speaker) , Mohammad Reza Bahonar (Second Deputy Speaker), Ahmad Tavakoli (Director of Majlis Research Center), Elyas Naderi, and a number of other well-known MPs are amongst those who did not attend the meeting.

1340 GMT: Arab-Sorkhi Released. EA has learned from a reliable source that Feizollah Arab-Sorkhi, the leading member of the Mojahedin of Islamic Revolution party detained since last summer, has come out of Evin Prison.

1320 GMT: Mahmoud's Nuclear. Oh, good, this should lead to a lot of heated press speculation. The head of Iran's atomic energy programme, Ali Akbar Salehi, has foreshadowed Iran's revelation of a "series of scientific achievements" on National Nuclear Technology Day: "The President [Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] will have good news for the nation on Friday."

1245 GMT: Economy Watch. Kalemeh that 150 workers of a textile factory in Ardebil province in northwestern Iran gathered in front of the governor's office of the governor to protest unpaid wages for the last seven months.

The demonstration is politically significant because the factory was launched as part of the Ahmadinejad economy agenda in his re-election campaign. It is reported that the factory has cut its workforce by 85%.

1240 GMT: So Much for Development. Mizan Khabar reports that the Industrial Development and Renovation Organisation has prohibited the use of laptops, external drives, and other hardware by its managers on their foreign trips.

1235 GMT: Nuke Chatter. The Iranian Foreign Ministry has repeated its current line, without any sign of compromise, "Iran is still ready to negotiate a solution to its nuclear stand-off with the West, but only on the condition that foreign powers agree to a fuel swap on Iranian territory. "

1140 GMT: President's Subsidy Appeal. The Iranian Labor News Agency reports another intervention from President Ahmadinejad on the issue of subsidy reform and spending. He has written Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani to claim problems in the implementation of the Parliament-approved proposal and to call on the Majlis to help the Government.

1130 GMT: The Big Repression Question. An EA correspondent gets to the politics of the recent nes of detentions, in particular the contest with former President Hashemi Rafsanjani:

The next big question is whether all the high-profile political prisoners will go back to Evin, given that they were let out for the Nowrouz holidays and we are way past the end of them. In the case of Marashi, Rafsanjani's close associate, it seems that his period of liberty has come to an end.

Hassan Lahuti, Faezeh Hashemi's son and Rafsanjani's grandson, will have to face court proceedings and will therefore be barred from returning to London. The court proceedings of Rafsanjani's children, Mehdi and Faezeh Hashemi, are also going to happen within the near future, according to Rah-e-Sabz.

1035 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. The authorities have not only put Hossein Marashi, ally of Hashemi Rafsanjani and a former Vice President, in jail; it appears they have also taken his blog off-line. A cached copy of Marashi's last entry, written on Sunday just before he was returned to prison, seems to be available.

(An EA correspondent reports that he can access Marashi's latest post, but I am still having no luck. In it, Marashi confirms his return to jail and says that he does not see the new period as that of a prisoner of the Islamic Republic but rather as a new duty and experience.)

1030 GMT: Economy Watch. The Central Bank of Iran claims that the annual inflation rate has declined sharply to 10.8% for the year ending 20 March 2010. This compares to 25.4% for the previous 12 months.

0900 GMT: One to Watch. Parleman News reports that delegates of the coalition of reformist parties, the Imam Khomeini Line, are in meetings with Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, Hashemi Rafsanjani, and Mohammad Khatami. Details are promised soon.

0830 GMT: Journalist and filmmaker Mohammad Nourizad, the imprisoned journalist and filmmaker, will appear in court today, offering his family the first chance to see him during his 107-day detention. Nourizad was reportedly not allowed to make a phone call for more than three months because of his refusal to accept interrogators’ demands and conditions. In the only call allowed to his famtily, he assured, “I am standing firm with an iron will.”

0545 GMT: One of the striking features of the debate over Iran's legal and political situation on Race for Iran, the blog of Flynt and Hillary Leverett, is the near-total refusal of regime and Ahmadinejad advocates --- including the Leveretts --- to discuss or even acknowledge the Government's detention and treatment of opponents. (That is a major reason why they focus on the question of the vote count in the Presidential election; it allows them to shut away the less savoury developments of the next 9 1/2 months.)

Occasionally, there will be a repetition of the regime line that the abuses at Kahrizak Prison, including the three deaths, were recognised by the Supreme Leader, but this is followed by the implication that this resolved any difficulties.

So this morning we begin with more news of political prisoners. Yesterday, we reported from an absolutely reliable source on the poor health of detained journalist Emad Baghi and the harassment of his family. In a few minutes, we'll post a disturbing message from the wife of imprisoned film director Jafar Panahi on concerns for his well-being.

In an audio interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, the son of journalist Isa Saharkhiz says his father’s condition has deteriorated since a hunger strike in March. Mehdi Saharkhiz said that his father has lost 20 kilogrammes (45 pounds) over the past few months and that solitary confinement and the harsh prison environment have threatened his health.

Pedestrian reports on a bit of good news with the release of student Sourena Hashemi after more than three months but adds this context: there is no word of the fate of his friend Alireza Firouzi, who was detained at the same time.

One of the reasons for Hashemi's arrest was his appearance in a campaign video for Mehdi Karroubi. All the students involved were expelled or suspended from their universities.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M-Q_gyPkw0&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Of course, these are events which are not highlighted by the Iranian state. Yesterday, for example,there was a focus on the declaration of Iran's top nuclear negotiatior, Saeed Jalili, after his trip to Beijing that there were increasingly close relations between Iran and China. (More importantly, no word from Jalili about the substance of the negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme and threatened international sanctions.) Look also for big play of the story that China and India will attend Tehran's conference on nuclear disarmament on 17-18 April.

And many in the Western media can be distracted. A lot of the US press corps is being taken along with the book promotion of a "former Revolutionary Guard turned CIA agent", Reza Kahlili (a pseudonym), a story which could be true but is more than a decade old. Still, that doesn't stand in the way of headlines for Kahlili's headline assertion, "Iran will be a nuclear-armed state in the very near future....The only way to stop that from happening may be to attack Iran now, before it gets a nuclear weapon."

Top prize for scary distraction, however, goes to the  Financial Times which, with almost no support, announces, "US Fears Iran Could Use Powerboat as a Weapon."