The Latest from Iran (14 August): Returning to the Streets?

1800 GMT: Economy Watch. Kalemeh reports that the unemployment rate has risen across Iran by 3.5% since last spring. In 26 of the country's provinces, the average is now 14.6%.

1745 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Labour activist Pedram Nasrollahi has been sentenced to four months in prison for “acting against national security” and “propaganda against the system by joining the women’s council”.

Kurdish painter Mokhtar Houshmand, the secretary of the Marivan Society of Visual Arts, remains in prison after his detention order was renewed for a month. His family has reportedly been denied a meeting or talking with him on the phone. The family has also been prohibited from talking to the media.

1735 GMT: The Hunger Strike. Kalemeh reports that five political prisoners who recently ended a hunger strike were threatened by the director of Evin Prison to six months in solitary confinement. Those warned were journalists Ali Malihi, Bahman Ahmadi Amouie, Keyvan Samimi, and Kouhyar Goudarzi and Ashura protester Gholamhossein Arashi. 4 of them are journos, Arashi is a Ashura protester, severely beaten in prison.

1725 GMT: Spinning Bushehr. Washington has tried to convert the news that Russia will supply the fuel needed to make Iran's nuclear plant at Bushehr operational --- finally, after repeated delays --- into a case that Tehran does not need to carry out its own uranium enrichment.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said, "Russia is providing the fuel, and taking the fuel back out....(This) underscores that Iran does not need its own enrichment capability if its intentions, as it states, are for a peaceful nuclear program."

1510 GMT: The President's Right-Hand Man (cont.). How significant is the movement against Ahmadinejad's Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai? An EA correspondent summarises:

*Javan News --- connected with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps --- now quotes Hassan Firouzabadi, chief of the General Staff, Habibullah Asgarowladi, secretary of the "conservative" Front of the Followers of the Path of the Imam, Ayatollah Kaabi, a member of the Association of Teachers and Researchers of Qom, and Hojatoleslam Moe'tamed as condemning Rahim-Mashai's statements about "the school of Iran," which they call "nationalist" and a threat to the international and Islamist character of the Islamic Republic.

*Jomhouriye Eslami writes in an editorial that "support of higher authorities [Ahmadinejad] for Rahim-Mashai makes the situation worse".

*Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi: "Once more Mr. Mashaei has involved himself in discussions not worthy of him and has made wrong and unsuitable statements....It is not to the benefit of the regime, the office of the Presidency and the person of the President --- who has always been in the line of the leader and a supporter of religious foundations --- that his chief-of-staff engages in expert discussions about issues about which he is ignorant and harms his own dignity and those related to him even more."

*Alef News accuses Rahim-Mashai of "eclecticism" and condemns his statements about "human beings having the capacity to become God".

* MP Ali-Reza Zakani warns of a "new discord", likening Mashaei's statements with statements of former Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan "who confessed that his conflict with His Holiness the Imam [Khomeini] was that we want Islam for Iran, but the Imam wants Iran for Islam".

1420 GMT: Shutting Down Green Media. A week after it was launched, the website of the new Green channel, Rasa TV, has been filtered by the Ministry of Intelligence.

1410 GMT: Challenges to the President (cont.): MP Ahmad Tavakkoli has criticised Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for disregarding the laws ratified by the Parliament and the Expediency Council.

Tavakkoli accused the president of intransigence, and said, “I am sorry that the president values his personal interpretation too much.”

MP Parviz Sorouri also criticized the President, “Any law that is ratified should be implemented. The president is not in a position to say whether a particular law is correct or not."

1230 GMT: But Those Other Friday Prayers Might Be A Problem....

Away from Ayatollah Jannati's Tehran Friday Prayer, trying to deflect attention from problems for the regime, other sermons point to, well, problems for the regime.

In Qom, Mohammad Saeedi indirectly criticised the President while bolstering Ayatollah Khamenei, saying someone who manages the country has to follow the Supreme Leader as the representative of Prophets. Saeedi declared everyone has to abide to the laws ratified by Parliament and approved by the Guardian Council.

Elsewhere, alongside condemnation of US sanctions and praise of Lebanon's Sayyed Hassan Nasrullah for his stand against Israel, there were attacks on the President because of his aide Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai's "Iran principle", placing Tehran as a source of emulation ahead of Islam. In Mashhad, Ahmad Alamolhoda said any ruling against the Supreme Leader is obsolete. In Kashan, Abdolnabi Namazi directly said Rahim-Mashai's presence disturbed the Iranian clerics and people.

1200 GMT: International Front. Not sure what to make of this....

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of Parliament's National Security Commission, claims that the Vienna group (US, France, Russia, International Atomic Energy Agency) has accepted the Iran-Brazil-Turkey statement on uranium enrichment, so there is no necessity for Brasilia and Ankara to join talks with the "5+1" powers of the US, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany.

1155 GMT: Put-Down of the Day? Khabar Online claims a large banner with President Ahmadinejad's picture was removed from the Qur'an exhibition at Tehran's Grand Mossalla.

1145 GMT: Oil Squeeze. Alireza Mir-Mohammad Sadeghi, the deputy to Minister of Oil Mirkazemi --- a target of Khabar Online for "wrong policies: --- has allegedly said that 12,000 oil managers are on the verge of retirement.

1045 GMT: Getting Jannati's Line Right. Press TV gives the proper spin to Friday's Friday Prayer by Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, the head of the Guardian Council, after recent difficulties over his speeches. Jannati, without re-stating the "$51 billion" coup allegation, warned against the discussions with the US:

You have forgotten what they (Americans) have done, you think they have changed…. They are the same….When they flash a green light it is [always] chicanery and a scam.

Jannati continued:

They think the Iranian people will give in under sanctions and adversities.…but the West's problem is that they do not know the Iranian nation and do not know who they are dealing with.

1025 GMT: The President's Right-Hand Man. The conservative Resalat devotes its main article to the "unacceptable statements" of Ahmadinejad Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai.

The newspaper says the comments provide a welcome excuse for conservatives to attack the Government and demands, "Mr Ahmadinejad, let the passengers without a ticket get off the (Government) train!"

Key MP and Government critic Ali Motahari goes farther and harsher, claiming that the thinking of the President and his followers about Islam is like the Forghan group who killed his father, Ayatollah Motahari, in 1979.

Motahari alleged that Ahmadinejad's and Rahim-Mashai's ideas do not comply with Islam. According to the MP, the President is neither a conservative nor a reformist, but because he is supported by the Supreme Leader, other clerics support him as well.

The Motahari's call for resistance: a MP must decide by himself, not according to the Supreme Leader's opinion. He strengthens the demand with the regret that MPs should have protested clearly against the Kahrizak abuse and the allegation that Ahmadinejad's refusal to implement laws is a sign of dictatorship.

1015 GMT: Three Islamic Revolution Guards Corps soldiers have been killed in clashes with members of the Kurdish separatist group PJAK.

1000 GMT: More on the "Jannati Line". Alongside Ayatollah Jannati's appearance at Friday Prayers, there is support for him from Esmail Kowsari, deputy head of the National Security Council, who claims the Majlis was informed about the documents for Jannati's claim of the $51 billion US-Saudi-opposition coup plan. Kowsari says the proof is in the Ministry of Intelligence.

MP Zohreh Elahian, a member of Parliament's National Security Commission, claims the documents will be given to prosecutors.

0915 GMT: Challenging Ahmadinejad. Khabar Online devotes its "headline" news to an analysis by Professor Pirouz Mojtahedzadeh, who criticises the President's foreign policy.

Mojtahedzadeh claims Iran's "turn to the East" led to damage to its nuclear energy programme, as Russia delayed completion of the Bushehr reactor, and to a quadrupline of imports from China.

(Last night, Voice of America claimed the cost to Iran of the Bushehr reactor was now close to $1 billion.)

The professor adds a significant comparison: during the Presidency of Hashemi Rafsanjani (1989-1997), the east-bound policy was advisable, but it has now led Iran "to this mess". Instead of battling with one set of foreign powers (US, Europen Union) and making advances to another (Russia, China), Tehran should follow a balanced policy towards all.

0455 GMT: Execution (Ashtiani) Watch. Human Rights Watch has condemned the treatment of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, sentenced to death for adultery and presented on national TV on Wednesday with her "confession".

HRW women's rights researcher Nadya Khalife said, “The men who run Iran apparently have no shame at all, first pronouncing the barbaric sentence of death by stoning and then resorting to a televised confession. Under the circumstances there is every reason to believe that this so-called confession was coerced."

0430 GMT: We begin this morning with a look to the future, provided by an EA correspondent:

Roughly 3 weeks to Qods Day and a lot of chatter, whether Mousavi and Karroubi will invite the people to protests.

Another idea is going to the streets on the 27th of every month in accordance with Article 27 of the Constitution, assuring freedom of assembly.

Qods (Jerusalem) Day is the annual commemoration of Palestine. Last September, opposition supporters used the occasion to press their demands publicly in one of the largest post-election rallies.

Meanwhile....

47 Baha’is Currently In Prison
Following the recnet sentencing of seven Baha’i leaders in Iran to 20 years in prison each, Diane Ala’i, the representative of the Baha’i International Community has said that there are currently 47 members of the Baha’i Faith are inside Iranian prisons.

According to Ala’i, the Baha’is are not facing charges of mohareb (enmity with God), which carry the death penalty. They are accused of “acting against national security”, “participating in illegal groups", and “propagating the Baha’i Faith”.

Ala'i added that the seven leaders have been moved from Evin Prison to Rajai Shahr Prison in Gohardasht, Karaj. Families have been able to visit the prisoners once every two weeks for 10 minutes. They are allowed to see male relatives one week and female relatives the next, so the entire family cannot meet at the same time.

Ala'I said the verdicts for the seven Baha’i leaders have not yet been served in writing.

Cyber-Challenge

The Persian 30mail site, which features news roundups, has launched a competition for IT specialists to write a programme feeding news from Green sites to e-mail accounts and mobiles in Iran. Programmers selected in the first round receive $1000, and the finalist wins another $4000.

The Latest from Iran (12 August): Prisoners, Confessions, and the "War Diversion"

1745 GMT: Bazaar Battle Continues. Ahmad Karimi Esfahani, the Secretary General of Islamic Bazaar Association has complained about the announcement of the Consumer Protection Organization that guilds have debts of $24 million, asking why government debts are not published.

Esfahani claimed the announcement Is meant to incite people against the Bazaar and said the vendors won't accept this slander --- guilds are not responsible for high prices, instead it is due to the mismanagement of government, which then tries to pass the blame.

1730 GMT: The Battle Within. Another challenge to the President, this time from the Ansar Hizbullah daily Yalthareth....

The newspaper notes that Ahmadinejad protested against a seven-month prison sentence for former IRIB chief Mohammad Jafar Behdad for slander against the Larijani brothers and Hashemi Rafsanjani and asks, "Would he do the same for a normal journalist if he had insulted the President? Would he defend a nobody?"

The newspaper continues, "For some justice has no meaning and they allow themselves to mock and humiliate judiciary, because they disagree with a court ruling."

Behdad is a member of the President's Council for Policy-making and Propagation.

1545 GMT: All the President's Men (cont.). The "conservative" Jomhooriye Eslami daily has attacked Presidential Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, declaring that his number of offices is unprecedented in the past 30 years and asserting that he has made stupid statements on every matter from heaven to earth, inciting the anger of the people and political figures.

The newspaper continued that, instead of Rahim-Mashai being disciplined, his superiors praise him and repeat his words, which makes the situation even worse. Jomhooriye Eslami says that such a person should be reminded once and for all that he should "talk in his own realm" and refrains from inciting protests amongst the people.

MP Gholam-Hossein Masoudi Reyhan has stated that 1st Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi's words are "an insult to science and professors", criticising the Vice President's assertion that all Iranian universites are of poor quality.

1540 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Reformist Mohsen Safaei Farahani has declared that he will not withdraw his complaint over unjust and abusive treatment and will return to prison.

Farahani was arrested on June 20, 2009. Sentenced to five years in prison, he is currently on leave

1330 GMT: The Battle Within. A interesting summary, "The Clerics Turn Away; Iran in Fever" by R. Chimelli in Süddeutsche Zeitung last Friday:

The opposition movement has lost the battle on the streets. Organized demonstrations do not come about, because police, militia and thug forces are too powerful, and --– maybe more importantly --– because of the horrible accounts of torture and illegal detention centers, given by those arrested during the protests. Censorship has never been as repressive as today and reaches out to the print media as well as the internet. Iran’s most renowned journalists and its best-known student leader are currently on hunger strike in prison. Hardly noticed abroad, smaller or larger labor disputes are arising everywhere in the country, (but) union leaders like the head of Tehran’s bus driver union, Mansur Osanloo, have been jailed for several years....

However, Ahmadinejad and the spiritual leader Khamenei could not win people’s hearts or minds. There is not a single renowned writer, artist or filmmaker who would take sides with the country’s rulers. The regime is creating a climate of intellectual poverty, and more and more leading clerics are turning their backs to the regime --– sometimes so visibly that they are answered with violent attacks.

Chimelli notes the significant incident --- which we covered closely on EA --- where the Supreme Leader's office approached Grand Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi for the "I am the Rule of the Prophet" fatwa. (Makarem-Shirazi declined, unless Ayatollah Khamenei put the pronouncement in the form of an answer to a question from a follower.)

1300 GMT: Britain Does Not Recognise Foreign Affairs Greatness of 1st VP Rahimi. This week we have been noting the emergence of 1st Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi as a commentator on international relations and events.

Unfortunately, it seems there is one observer who has failed to give due regard to this. The UK Ambassador to Iran, Simon Gass, said comments about the English as “a bunch of thick people” were “illogical and worthless” and showed “a lack of respect for human dignity”.

Mr Rahimi, in a speech on Monday, called Australians “a bunch of cattlemen” and said South Koreans should be “smacked in the face until they become human”. But his finest remarks were reserved for the land of Queen Elizabeth II:

England has nothing. Its inhabitants are not human, its officials are not responsible, and it doesn’t even have any natural resources. [They are] a bunch of thick people ruled by a mafia. They have plundered the world in the last 500 years and the young lad in charge now is even more stupid than his predecessor.

1200 GMT: Karroubi Watch. More from Mehdi Karroubi's e-mail interview with The Guardian of London:

Karroubi said he believed the Green movement had not been defeated: "It's no longer possible for the opposition movement to pour out en masse into the streets ….But we also do not think it's necessary any more to do this....People were out in the streets to inform the world of what is really happening inside Iran, and they succeeded in doing so. Now the world knows what is the problem in Iran."

Karroubi added his conception of the Islamic Republic: "I should make it clear that we are a reformist movement, not a revolutionary one … We are seeking nothing more than a free election."

The cleric, asked about the notion of leadership in the opposition responded, "In my opinion, it's an advantage that no specific person is the leader. I think that the only reason the Green movement has not been stopped yet is because it doesn't have one leader or unified leadership. If it had, then by arresting that leader they could have controlled the whole movement."

1145 GMT: Mystery Solved. Last week non-Iranian heads were scratched over President Ahmadinejad's aphorism, in the middle of a speech to the Iranian diaspora conference, "The bogeyman snatched the boob."

Iranian commentators went as far as to suggest there might be a bit of Viagra in the water of Tehran's politicians, but Golnaz Esfandiari has offered the explanation, "The expression is one used by mothers in Iran when they are weaning their children off breast milk."

Thus, for an Ahmadinejad scoffing at Washington's efforts to punish Iran over its nuclear programme, "the bogeyman snatched the boob" from the Americans.

0930 GMT: All the President's Men (cont.). Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has brought Gholamhossein Elham, who failed to be re-appointed to the Guardian Council, back into government by naming him as his legal advisor.

An EA source says there is a rumour that Elham will soon replace the controversial Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai as Chief of Staff.

0825 GMT: All the President's Men.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has publicly defended his embattled aide, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai:

Mashai is the president’s Chief of Staff and I have full trust in him. The atmosphere of criticism is a necessity and nobody should be condemned for voicing his viewpoints and not every difference of opinion should lead to a fight.

And then this interesting twist, given that Iran's head of armed forces, General Hassan Firouzabadi, said on Monday that Mashai’s remarks on Iran and Islam are a “crime against national security": Ahmadinejad claimed that the attacks against Mashaei are the work of “certain political groups" who are trying to undermine the government.

0805 GMT: Parliament v. Government. President Ahmadinejad has refused again to allocate $2 million for the Tehran metro.

The initial authorisation by the Parliament was refused by the Guardian Council. The Majlis passed the bill to the Expediency Council, which confirmed it, only to meet Ahmadinejad's refusal.

The President has now announced that he has reported "all critical issues" to the Supreme Leader, who has handed the matter back to the Guardian Council, which in turn has established a special group to solve the problems.

EA correspondent Ms Zahra analyses: "This is a bad situation for all. The Supreme Leader has proven that extant institutions are worth nothing and has put himself in opposition to the Majlis. The Majlis will be a joke if the Guardian Council refuses again. The position of Hashemi Rafsanjani, as head of the Expediency Council, is weakened. Ahmadinejad is losing the support of hardline MPs."

0800 GMT: Karroubi's International Comment. Mehdi Karroubi has written, in an e-mail interview with The Guardian of London: "On the one hand, the government's mishandling of the economy has resulted in deep recession and increasing inflation inside the country... On the other hand, we have sanctions which are just strengthening the illegitimate government."

Karroubi added:

Look at Cuba and North Korea. Have sanctions brought democracy to their people? They have just made them more isolated and given them the opportunity to crack down on their opposition without bothering themselves about the international attention....Because Iran is getting more isolated, more and more they are becoming indifferent to what the world is thinking about them.

0745 GMT: Iran-US. Another signal from Washington that resumed talks with Tehran are being considered....

National Security Advisor James Jones has told CNN that President Obama may meet Mahmoud Ahmadinejad if discussions resume over Iran's nuclear programme: “Ultimately if we find a convergence of paths all things are possible.

Jones indicated that a gesture from Tehran over three Americans, detained for more than a year, would be helpful: “One thing they might do is return our three hikers. That would be an important gesture. It could lead to better relations.”

Barack Obama 'may be prepared to meet Iranian president’:

Barack Obama’s national security adviser, Gen James Jones, has indicated the President may be prepared to meet Mahmoud Ahmadinejad if the regime resumed negotiations over its nuclear programme. ...
However, in an interview with CNN, Gen Jones said “the door’s open” if the Iranians agree to resume talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency. When asked whether Mr Obama may meet the Iranian leader, Gen Jones said: “Ultimately if we find a convergence of paths all things are possible.
“One thing they might do is return our three hikers. That would be an important gesture. It could lead to better relations.” However, the President’s national security adviser said there would be “no point in a theatrical meeting.” It is unlikely that the Iranians will agree to the American’s demands as the regime has repeatedly circumvented previous attempts to rein in its nuclear programme.

0740 GMT: Execution (Ashtiani) Watch. Following Brazil's formal offer of asylum to Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, condemned to death for adultery, Foreign Minister Celso Amorim has told a conference of university students, "Who can say that a humanitarian gesture won't be good for Iran, for its image in the world?"

0715 GMT: The Torture Files. Perisan2English has posted a translation of the report --- noted by EA earlier this week --- in Khodnevis of the files of 22 political prisoners, allegedly abused, delivered to the Supreme Leader.

According to Khodnevis' source, Khamenei rejected the claims in the letters, but after an agreement with Hashemi Rafsanjani, a five-person committee was set up to investigate the cases. Two former Ministers of Intelligence, Younesi and Mohseni-Ejei, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are among the members of the committee.

0650 GMT: Anything You Can Threaten, We Can Threaten Better....

Israel might have Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, but Iran has an array of media outlets for this week's posturing.

The naval commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, Ali Fadavi, said Wednesday, “The IRGC’s navy is been fully positioned in Bandar Abbas (in southern Iran) and has the capability to carry out its assigned functions and can respond to threats of extra-regional enemies....The IRGC’s naval force will respond to naval-based enemy threats with full preparation and absolute force, striking the enemy from all positions and from all sides in case of war.”

Fadavi's declaration followed an announcement on Sunday by the Minister of Defence of the positioning of military equipment, including four submarines capable of launching missiles, at IRGC and army bases in southern Iran.

And he head of Iran's Joint Chief of Staff, Major General Hassan Firouzabadi, responding to remarks by Admiral Mike Mullen, the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: “Our foreign minister told Mr. Mike Mullen that if the US attacked Iran, it would be in worse shape than it is after its attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq. America will be finished if it attacks Iran. America is not in a good situation. It can neither tolerate the heavy costs (of another war) nor tolerate fighting against Iran’s Basiji heroes.”

0640 GMT: Mousavi Watch. Mir Hossein Mousavi has met with youth from Iran's provinces to discuss the social, economic, and political situation, including unemployment and the rise in drug addiction, as well as continued activism despite regime pressure.

Speaking about the recent hunger strike in Evin Prison, Mousavi said, “The meaningful and inspiring strike by prisoners will eventually shows its effective outcomes, and I’d like to congratulate these brave prisoners who ended their strike and witnessed its results.”

Mousavi asserted that the Green Movement had the capacity to resolve the “moral” concerns of the country: “We must remember that the social deviances are the results of the wrongdoings, flawed ways of thinking, and deceptive ways and lies created for the nation by the hardliners, and for this reason I believe that the supreme and honourable goals of the Green Movement can control the deviations [from the right path] in society."

Demanding the rights of assembly and protest, Mousavi said, “Neglecting parts of the Constitution, especially the nation’s rights, renders the rest of its articles as meaningless too. How can those who are not even prepared to mention, for once, the rights of citizens or the right of the people to control their own destiny, make any claim about the covenant between the people and the state? Violating this covenant will lead to the illegitimacy of the state."

0545 GMT: We begin this morning with three features.

EA's Josh Shahryar, writing in The Huffington Post assesses the significance of the recent hunger strike by political prisoners and its impact beyond the jail cells: "The Uprising Continues".

We have highlighted in a separate entry the Iranian regime's response to criticism of the death sentence for adultery imposed upon Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani and the harassment of her lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei: putting Ashtiani on a prime-time national TV programme to "confess".

And Scott Lucas --- briefly, because there are more important matters to consider today --- takes apart the "analysis" that may well dominate US-based chatter today: Jeffrey Goldberg's lengthy projection of high-level Israeli opinion on a aerial attack on Iran.

Iran Document: Mousavi on "Constitutional Monarchy" Movement

Mir Hossein's letter of 5 August, published in Rah-e-Sabz and translated by Khordaad 88:




We are marking the anniversary of the "Constitutional Monarchy" movement that has echoed the necessity to condition power for more than a hundred years.

Aside from demands for justice, freedom, and establishment of law, the placing of conditions on power is the result of our ancestors' struggle and self sacrifice. The institutions that rose with the movement were constrained by the so-called modernising movement of Reza Pahlavi [the next-to-last Shah of Iran] and finally stopped developing despite the many lives lost. The movement that put people first stopped, and the dark era of the first and second Pahlavis overshadowed the fundamental values of the movement. However, these values that came about with great sacrifice continued to live on through people’s continual struggle to free themselves from despotism and authoritarianism and through people’s inclinations toward freedom, justice, and their demand to control their own destiny.

The martyrdom of those like Sattar Khan, the General of the People, and the brave representative of people in the Parliament, Modarres, and the killings and imprisonment of many other freedom-seeking activists are facts in our history that can testify today how hard has it been on this path where people have never given up. The movements that later nationalized the oil industry, the Rising of People on the day of 5 June [1963], and the tight struggles of the two decades that followed all show that what was achieved in the movement to condition power 100 years ago did not fade away from the sight of people. Instead it has always been looked upon by the people in their struggles.

The victory of the Islamic Revolution with the leadership of Imam Khomeini in February 1979 was the result of 100 years of ups and downs of our nation in its history. Today, witnessing signs like chauvinism, escape from the rule of law, and establishment of lies instead of laws indicates that despotism is reproducing itself and that the path that we have walked has not achieved its aims yet.

Oppression is doomed to falsity whether it happens during the Nasser-al-Din Shah a 100 years ago, during the Pahlavi Dynasty, or during the Islamic Republic. Oppression during the Islamic Revolution is even worse and darker because it is committed though the name of Islam.

We all know how even in those early years during the "Constitutional Monarchy" movement, intellectuals and religious scholars considered religious despotism as the worst kind of despotism. The experience of the last 100 years and what went on during the last year indicates that, from among all the key concepts of the movement of "constitutional monarchy" like freedom, justice, and rule of law, the concept of the conditioning of power has the most important effect on our destinies.

Today our nation is constantly asked to obey the systems of power in the name of religion without any allusion to the right of people to control their own fate or any talk of the respect for the innate human dignity and the basic rights of citizens. There are no mentions of arguments like those of Imam [Khomeini]’s when he spoke with the utmost clarity in speech and logic about the rights of people to choose their own destinies....

Instead of answering to the atrocities they committed on the streets on days of 25 and 26 of June [2009] and the day of Ashura [27 December] and in the universities and prisons, insteading of responding as to why the evade the law, the authoritarians only seem to get angrier. They become more and more involved with violence, insulting and accusing others of lies. They close down the newspapers and turn the national television to their own tool for propaganda.

They create armies to fight the freedom available on the virtual space that has risen out of the creativity of our youth...They can’t even tolerate this last remaining hole in their wall to block freedom and they close it down against all the rules and laws.

If we look carefully, we would easily notice that today there are no obstacles in the way of development of despotism. That is why the "constitutional monarchy" movement teaches us that the most important tool that can condition power is the non-violent struggle that our nation has recently started. Some of the demands of the Green Movement clearly reveal this side of the resistance against despotism.

Rights like the right to free demonstrations, freedom of press, and acceptance of national pluralism are facing serious opposition by the authoritarians, because they clearly limit their illicit influence. Moreover, their reluctance to fully abide to the Constitution, demonstrates the extent of the difficulty for those in power to abandon their thrones and assume accountability to the public.

We all know that the first step in agreeing to implement the Constitution would be for the rulers to declare that they recognise the people’s right to choose their own destiny. To ignore such a right is in fact to turn one’s back on everything that the nation of Iran has accomplished, with great struggle, throughout the past 100 years, especially during the Islamic Revolution.

Among all of the demands and resolutions that would lead to the people’s sovereignty over their fate and entailing accountability and restrictions on power, laying the ground for a free and competitive election is the most important: an election that would not compromise our national legacies with the prohibitions of the Guardian Council and their illicit supervision. It is for this reason that anyone who believes in pluralism in Iran must campaign for a free and competitive election.

The Latest from Iran (6 August): The Campaign Against Ahmadinejad's Aide

1925 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. The Lede, the blog of The New York Times, has now noted the hunger strike of the 17 detainees in Evin Prison.

1915 GMT: The No-Longer-Missing Lawyer. Human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei is under European diplomatic protection after Turkish authorities released him today from a detention center for illegal immigrants.

An Amnesty International  official says Mostafaei is expected to travel to Norway.

1730 GMT: Looks like we should name this the "Attacking Rahim-Mashai" thread. Another prominent member of Parliament (and Ali Larijani ally), Ahmad Tavakoli, has joined the criticism of the President's Chief of Staff, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, for his statements putting forth Iran rather than Islam as a source of emulation for other countries.

Tavakoli has insisted the Parliament will not remain silent in the face of the remarks.

NEW Iran-US Special: The 4-Step Collapse of Obama’s “Engagement” Into Confusion
Iraq and Iran: Has Ayatollah Sistani Challenged the Supreme Leader’s Authority? (Nafisi)
Iran-US Special: Obama Extends His Hand “Engagement, Not Conflict”
Iran Feature: Free Speech (and Some Laughs) in the Theatre (Tehran Bureau)
The Latest from Iran (5 August): Challenges

1625 GMT: Re-packaging the Friday Prayer. Press TV's entry on the Friday Prayer by Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami (see 1325 GMT) changes the priority to the message that "a possible US attack on the Islamic republic will jeopardize American interests in the world". Khatami's attack on Presidential advisor Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, highlighted in other media accounts, seems to have disappeared.

1325 GMT: Your Friday Prayer Update. In a shocking development, the US was not the main target of today's Tehran Friday Prayer, delivered by Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami.

So who got the honour?

Why, it's President Ahmadinejad's chief of staff and brother-in-law, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai!

Khatami, without naming Rahim-Mashai --- or, as Fars put it carefully, "an implicit reference to the words of a Government official" --- criticised those who put Iranian nationalism before Islam.

Earlier this week, Rahim-Mashai has said that it was Iran, rather than Islam, that now stood as an example for emulation by the rest of the world.

Elsewhere in the speech, Khatami went after the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mike Mullen, for his confirmation that the US had war plans for Iran. But, you know, that just couldn't match up with the apparent transgression of the President's favourite advisor.

(And what do you know? Moments later, I spot an article from Parleman News on Rahim-Mashai as the cause of division amongst principalists. And Tabnak is reporting the comments of conservative member of Parliament Ali Motahari that Ahmaidnejad must question Rahim-Mashai about his remarks.)

1200 GMT: The Battle Within. Ali Asghari, a member of the Expediency Council, has warned that principalism without reformism ends up in dictatorship.

1055 GMT: Talking Tough Today. The commander of Iran's army, Major General Ataollah Salehi, has warned enemies of a "crushing defeat" if they attack: "The army is ready to deal a heavy blow to any aggressors against Iran territories."

0955 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Ayatollah Bayat-Zanjani has issued a statement of support for the 17 hunger strikers in Evin Prison and their families.

0935 GMT: Economy Watch. Khabar Online claims that only 20% of workers are receiving their food supplies for the holy month of Ramadan.

0930 GMT: Fretting. Looks like Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi is a bit worried: he has warned the board of Tarbiat Modarres University of the possibility of a "stronger" sedition. He declared that if young people are not religious, then the Revolution will be weakened.

0920 GMT: The Sale of History. Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Seyed Mohammad Hosseini has declared, "We must promote the Iranian culture to find purity, because the world is hungry for this." He announced that he would give permits for books seeking this aim.

Hosseini may want have a word about his cultural mission with the President's chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai: according to Rooz Online, the Cultural Heritage Organization, headed by Rahim-Mashai, plans to sell some of Iran's historic artifacts.

0915 GMT: Backing the President? Ayatollah Haeri Shirazi of the Assembly of Experts, one of the most vocal supporters of the Government, has given Mahmoud Ahmadinejad mixed support against claims from "hard-liners" that he has been soft on cultural issues. Haeri Shirazi, criticising Western values in Iranian education, refers to the President's campaign to "Islamise" schools but leaves the impression that Ahmadinejad has not been up to the mark in enforcing hijab.

Haeri Shirazi also made a spirited defence of the Supreme Leader's authority.

0910 GMT: Oil Crash and Squeeze. Peyke Iran is reporting that two planes of the National Iranian Oil Company have collided at Mehrabad Airport in Tehran.

Citing Reuters, the website adds that Turkey's exports of gasoline to Iran have increased.

0640 GMT: A Message to Washington. Reformist member of Parliament Amir Taherkhani has said the US is unwise 2 let "Zionists" have a free hand, warning that adventurism will cause a crisis.

0633 GMT: Missiles and False News. Peyke Iran, quoting Deutsche Welle, claims that the "news" of delivery of four S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Iran --- two from Belarus and two from an unspecified source --- was removed by Fars News within two hours of publication.

0629 GMT: No Justice. In an interview with the mother and lawyer of Neda Agha Soltan, the woman shot to death by a Basij militiaman on 20 June 2009, Fereshteh Ghazi claims that the suspect in the case has disappeared.

0625 GMT: The Guards and the Economy. Mehdi Eliasi, writing in Rooz Online, has evaluated how the increasing involvement of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps in the economy is undermining the foundations of the private sector.

0615 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. A group of students and alumni of Azad University of Tehran have released a statement objecting to Ali Malihi’s four-year prison sentence and his detention in solitary confinement, expressing concern over his physical and psychological state and well-being.

Malihi has been detained for seven months, spending about 40 days in solitary. He is one of the 17 political prisoners now on hunger strike.

0605 GMT: The Campaign Against Jannati. It is not just opposition clerics and politicians who are pressing Ayatollah Jannati, the head of the Guardian Council, after his recent claim of $1 billion given to the Green "leaders" and another $50 billion promised by the US and Saudi Arabia for regime change. Conservative member of Parliament Nayyereh Akhavan has also declared that Jannati should show the documents proving his allegation.

0545 GMT: Mousavi and the Hunger Strike. Mir Hossein Mousavi has praised the resistance of 17 political prisoners on hunger strike in Evin Prison, while asking them to end it:

All seekers of freedom and righteousness have heard your message and have witnessed your resistance for your humanitarian and legitimate demands.

Now that that your message and your families’ struggle has spread across the globe and within the country, the nation is concerned about your health as Green assets for the country. We urge you to end your hunger strike and call on prison officials to respect the rights of all prisoners based on the flawed rule and regulations that exist and not to allow for the country’s reputation to be further tarnished in the eyes of the world’s nations.

The 17 strikers include Bahman Ahmadi Amooei (journalist), Hossein Nourinejad (journalist and member of Islamic Iran Participation Front), Abdollah Momeni (student activist and spokesperson for the Office for Fostering Unity), Ali Parviz (student activist), Hamidreza Mohammadi (political activist), Jafar Aghdami (civil activist), Babak Bordbar (photojournalist), Ebrahim (Nader) Babaei (civil activist and wounded veteran of the Iran-Iraq war), Kouhyar Goudarzi (human rights activist and weblog writer), Keyvan Samimi (journalist), and Mohammad Hossein Sohrabi Rad.

0535 GMT: International Front. Presidents Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and Emomali Rahman of Tajikistan were in Tehran on Thursday at the opening of the “Fourth Meeting of Persian-Speaking Countries”, and meet with high-ranking Iranian officials, including the Supreme Leader and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

There were few substantive details in Fars News, which said Karzai and Rahman supported peaceful nuclear energy and agreements were signed to combat terrorism and fight drug trafficking. However, Karzai's visit comes as the US is escalating its effort in Afghanistan and may be looking for Iranian co-operation.

0525 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Green Voice of Freedom claims that authorities are putting pressure on political prisoners by "exiling" them to prisons distant from their hometowns, thus hindering the ability of families to visit them.

Student activist Atafeh Nabavi, who was detained in the mass protest of 15 June 2009 and is serving a four-year sentence, has written an open letter to the 17 hunger strikers in Evin Prison:

I know that when you began your action, you knew that any protest in this country will have disproportionate costs. I honor your stance and your weakened existence, and I wish that you get what you deserve in this unfair battle.

0515 GMT: After a break last night, we start by noting yesterday's attack, possibly by Basij militia members, on opposition figure Mehdi Karroubi.

Karroubi was attending a funeral at Nour Mosque in Tehran when it was surrounded by individuals, allegedly armed, who threw eggs at the cleric when he left. His bodyguards tried to scatter the assailants by shooting into the air.

The news was first reported by Fars but was later confirmed by Karroubi's Taghi.

Mehdi Karroubi has been attacked by pro-government groups several times since the 2009 election, most recently in June when he was visiting Grand Ayatollah Sane'i, another critic of the Government. He was uninjured in yesterday's incident.

The Latest from Iran (4 August): The President and The Plots

1830 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Farah Vazham, a female protestor detained during the Ashura demonstrations in December, has been sentenced to 15 years on charges of affiliation to the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MKO).

1755 GMT: Deportation Update. Mission Free Iran reports that the threat to deport Iranian activist Jamal Saberi from Japan has been lifted.

NEW Iran Breaking: Grenade Attack on Ahmadinejad?
NEW Iran Feature: The Activism of the Women’s Movement (Mouri)
Iran Analysis: Saharkhiz & Abtahi Dent the Government’s “Fear Factor” (Shahryar)
Iran Feature: Did Ahmadinejad Chief of Staff Reveal the Bomb?
The Latest from Iran (3 August): Explosive Words

1705 GMT: Economy Watch. Iran's inflation rate dropped to 9.1% in the month to 22 July, the Governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Mahmoud Bahmani, has said. The previous month's official rate was 9.4%.

1700 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Esmail Sahabeh, a member of the reformist, Islamic Participation Front, has been sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison.

Judge Salavati, in charge of the case, was absent during the hearing and handed down the ruling without hearing Sahabeh’s defence.

Sahabeh was arrested during a religious ceremony held in support of political prisoners in October 2009. He was released on bail after two months in prison.

1500 GMT: The Pressure on the Supreme Leader. Geneive Abdo and Arash Aramesh write in The New York Times of "The Widening Rift Among Iran's Clerics". Their provocative conclusion:

Khamenei’s success is the result of his ability to forge alliances with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, some clerics, and traditional conservatives. Although his ties to hard-liners and the Revolutionary Guards may seem stronger today, he still needs the support of the clerical establishment.

Khamenei’s idea of the Islamic Republic is certainly less republican and not necessarily more Islamic. With republican institutions in Tehran weakened and his religious authority challenged in Qum, the future of the Islamic Republic and the fate of velayat-e-faqih remain uncertain.

1450 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. The office of the Islamic Women's Sports Federation, headed by Hashemi Rafsanjani's daughter Faezeh Hashemi, has been closed, purportedly because of lack of payments from Iran's Olympics Committee.

1410 GMT: An explosion at a petrochemical plant has killed five people at Asalouyeh in southern Iran. The new phase of the plant, which was the largest producer of ammonia in the region, was opened only a week ago in a ceremony with President Ahmadinejad.

1355 GMT: Crime and Punishment. The former head of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, Mohammad Jafar Behdad, has been sentenced to 7 months for slandering the Larijani brothers and Hashemi Rafsanjani.

1350 GMT: Economy Watch. Aftab News claims that, over the past five years, prices have risen 220%.

1200 GMT: Parliament v. Government. A buffet of challenges from the Majlis....

Hojatoleslam Ali Asghari, the Parliamentary liaison with Strategic Studies Center, criticises "economic stalemate" with "political unrest and radicalism" leading to sanctions and a weakening Majlis leading to "dictatorship".

MP Ali Akbar Oulia declares that the Majlis will not allow the Government to continue its refusal to implement laws, as the delay is harmful to the Iranian people and continues the "chaos" in the country.

Reformist MP Nasrullah Torabi chides the "low language" of Government officials for giving the impression that all Iranian representatives are also "low".

Reformist MP Mohammad Reza Khabbaz claims that some Iranians are now spending three-quarters of their income for rent.

"Hardline" MP Ezzatollah Youssefian Mola says Iran's central bank, Bank Markazi, cannot be trusted as it does not present real data on cases of financial corruption.

1145 GMT: Someone's Looking for Trouble. Ahmadinejad chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, according to Aftab News, has pronounced, "From now on we present the world the way and principles (maktab) of Iran, not of Islam."

So who is making mischief here: Rahim-Mashai or Aftab?

1130 GMT: Today's All-is-Well Alert: Member of Parliament Abdollah Kaabi has insisted that sanctions will lead to Iran's self-sufficiency in producing energy.

1125 GMT: The Campaign of the Politician Prisoners (Rafsanjani Annex). A twist in the story of the letter to the Supreme Leader from Hamzeh Karami, a former political prisoner alleging abuse (see 0635 GMT)....

Rah-e-Sabz claims former President Hashemi Rafsanjani took the letter to Ayatollah Khamenei, insisting on delivering it directly to the Supreme Leader.

1122 GMT: OK, I Was Wrong. Just to admit the error in my assertion (0825 GMT) that the "Iran Has 4 S-300 Missiles" would be the big story in the non-Iranian media today.

1109 GMT: The Campaign Against Jannati. More from Mr Verde on the growing movement against the head of the Guardian Council, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, fed by his claims that opposition leaders were paid $1 billion for causing trouble last year and offered a further $50 billion by the US and Saudi Arabia to overthrow the regime.... are not just causing problems for him, but are embroiling the Supreme Leader too.

Kalemeh reports that Rasool Montajebnia, a cleric who was close to Ayatollah Khomeini and a founding member of Mehdi Karroubi’s Etemade Melli party, has written that the Supreme Leader should now step in and address Jannati's accusation with “precision, transparency and decisiveness” so that “everyone could know if these allegations are true or lies”.

Mr Verde notes:

The timing of Jannati's claims, so soon after his reappointment to the Guardian Council, is allowing the reformists to push for the Supreme Leader's intervention. If Jannati is misinformed to such an extent, is lying, or is incapable of thinking straight, then Ayatollah Khamenei has made an enormous mistake by reappointing him to the Council. This wouldmean that Khamenei’s judgment cannot be trusted, which in turn could become a reason for him being unfit to hold the position of Supreme Leader.

And another “minor” point: if Jannati’s recent claims about the payments are false, then how can one accept that the Guardian Council  was correct in “verifying” Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election last year?

Making these claims, Jannati was probably providing excuses for the actions of the regime over the past year. Instead he seems to have provided a good opportunity for attacks on Khamenei. This is another example of remarks or events spiralling out of control.

1105 GMT: Mousavi Watch. On the eve of Journalists Day, Mir Hossein Mousavi has met with editors, reporters, and families of imprisoned journalists. Mousavi said:

Our voice should reach our imprisoned friends who are on hunger strike to gain their very basic rights;,so that they know that the Green Movement, freedom-seekers, and all layers of the nation are supporting them to achieve their rightful demands....

The great number of imprisoned journalists proves the legitimacy of the path that the Green Movement has chosen, because the knowledgeable, wise, and justice-seeking members of the society are in prison due to their protest against the re-eruption of tyranny.

1040 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Peyke Iran claims Iranian security forces have attacked families of political prisoners who are on hunger strike. The families were demonstrating in front of the office of Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Doulatabadi (see 0800 GMT).

1035 GMT: The Missing Lawyer. The United Nations' refugee agency has confirmed human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei is in Turkey.

Mostafaei, whose clients include Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, sentenced to death for adultery, has been in hiding after Iranian security forces tried to detain him. His wife and brother-in-law are in prison.

1030 GMT: We have been busy with a separate entry following this morning's story of a possible attack on President Ahmadinejad's motorcade in Hamedan in western Iran.

0845 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Detained teacher Rasoul Baddaghi has been sentenced to six years in prison.

0830 GMT: We have posted a feature, "The Activism of the Women's Movement".

0825 GMT: Today's Tough Talk. Expect this story to take over in non-Iranian press today....

Fars News is claiming that Iran has obtained four S-300 surface-to-air missiles despite Russia's refusal to deliver them to Tehran. The agency claims two came from Belarus and two from an unspecified source.

There has been no immediate official confirmation of the report.

Russia signed a contract in 2007 to sell S-300 missiles to Iran, but has delayed delivery amidst its manoeuvring between Tehran and Washington. The S-300 system can shoot down aircraft, cruise missiles, and ballistic missile warheads at a distance of more than 90 miles and altitudes of about 90,000 feet.

0815 GMT: Mousavi on Oppression in the Name of Islam. Green Voice of Freedom has a full summary of Mir Hossein Mousavi's speech, which we noted yesterday, to veterans of the Iran-Iraq War:

Tyranny and oppression are bad regardless of the circumstances and the time, regardless of whether it is during the Pahlavis [the dynasty of the Shahs] or the Islamic Republic. In fact, oppression under the Islamic Republic is worse because it is done in the name of Islam. Does Islam accept the violation of a human being or obtaining confessions from him by forcing his head down the toilet?

Mousavi's reference to forced confessions is drawn from the experience of Hamzeh Karami, who has written to the Supreme Leader about the abuse in prison (see 0635 GMT).

0800 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. According to IRNA, Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Doulatabadi met with 17 prisoners, some or all of whom are reportedly on hunger strike, and their families on Tuesday.

After hearing the concerns and demands, Doulatabadi reportedly ordered that families be allowed to meet with the detainees, denying that there had been any restrictions.

0645 GMT: Sanctions Watch. The Washington Post picks up on the US formal announcement of sanctions against 21 "front companies" for the Iranian Government, including firms in in Belarus, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Luxembourg.

An EA source points us to background on two of the sanctioned German companies: Breyeller Stahl Technology and IFIC Holding AG.

0635 GMT: The Campaign of the Political Prisoners. Yesterday, Josh Shahryar offered a sharp analysis of the impact of revelations by journalist Isa Saharkhiz, detained in Evin Prison, and former Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi, held for months after the election and forced to appear in a show trial.

There's a significant sequel. Hamzeh Karami, the manager of the reformist Jomhouriat website and a senior official at Islamic Azad University, has written to the Supreme Leader of his treatment in detention: "They put my head in a dirty toilet 20 times to make me give a false confession. When I screamed "Ya Allah". they said, "We are your God today and will do to you whatever we want."

In the "confession" that he gave at the Tehran mass trial last August, Karami implicated Mehdi Hashemi, the son of Hashemi Rafsanjani, claiming that Hashemi had been involved in fraud and manipulation of the Presidential election.

0615 GMT: We open today with some political theatre from President Ahmadinejad (Drama? Comedy? Farce? You decide.):

We had noted yesterday that the President had criticised current United Nations sanctions, connecting them to the "cup of poison" that Ayatollah Khomeini had to drink when accepting the 1988 UN resolution for a cease-fire in the Iran-Iraq War. He had denounced Western media such as the BBC and CNN. But there's more....

According to Raja News, a fervent backer of the Government, Ahmadinejad told his audience at a conference on international broadcasting that the recent "spy swap" between Russia and the US affects Tehran. In the deal between Washington and Moscow, the released Russian agents will pose as nuclear scientists and accuse Iran of plans for a military capability.

Iranian sources claim that official media were so embarrassed that, except for Raja, they censored this section of the speech.

Meanwhile, Pedestrian has posted a clip of Ahmadinejad's speech on Monday to a conference of the Iranian diaspora, offering this interpretation: "The Iranian political libido is going berserk."