The Latest from Iran (10 August): An End to the Hunger Strike?

1400 GMT: Let's Keep Trying This Foreign Overthrow (and Drugs to Our Schoolchildren) Shtick. Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, the head of the Guardian Council, may have taken some criticism for claiming a US-Saudi $51 billion plot, through the Iranian opposition, for regime change, but that hasn't fazed Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi.

Moslehi said Monday that foreign powers had invested $17 billion in unrest after the 2009 Presidential election. He put this in the context of a long-term campaign, "In the past 25 years, more than 80 centres and institutions for soft war have been founded and around $2 billion has been spent on them annually."

The minister said enemy methods included "fuelling ethnic and religious sensitivities especially in border areas,...(and) efforts to spread delinquency among students through satellite [channels], the Internet, (and) vulgar books", corrupting Iran's education system.

And there was more, Moslehi warned: evidence pointed to large-scale and costly efforts to wage "soft war" in the country by distributing dugs among schoolchildren.

1300 GMT: The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center has issued its latest report, examining the Iranian Government's effort to dismantle the women's rights movement.

1220 GMT: The Human Rights Lawyer. Persian2English has posted the translation of a Voice of America interview with lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei, who has fled Iran and is now in Norway. An extract:

VOA Correspondent: Why did you leave Iran?

Mostafaei: I never wanted to leave Iran. Any time someone wanted to leave Iran, I always objected and told them that there is nowhere better to work than Iran. Unfortunately [the regime] created an atmosphere for me that made me unable to fulfil my duty, but even this was bearable. What made me decide to leave Iran is solely the illegal actions of the interrogator in Branch 2 of the Shahid Moghaddas investigations office [in Evin Prison]. He illegally ordered the arrest of my wife [Fereshteh Halimi] and a bail amount of approximately $6,000. She was thrown into solitary confinement and was not set to be released until I was turned in. They held her captive for fourteen days. [The illegal processes] made be decide to leave the place I belong to and begin the difficult [journey] to another country.

1210 GMT: The Hunger Strike. Student activist Majid Tavakoli, who was said to have lost consciousness while on hunger strike, is reportedly out of critical condition.

0925 GMT: More from VP Rahimi, International Affairs Expert. Ali Akbar Dareini offers this correction to our report yesterday on 1st Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi's diatribe --- he called Australians a "bunch of cattlemen", not shepherds --- and adds this substantial point....

"To fight sanctions, we will remove the dollar and euro from our foreign exchange basket and will replace them with (the Iranian) rial and the currency of any country cooperating with us," Rahimi said. "We consider these currencies (dollar and euro) dirty and won't sell oil in dollar and euro."

The Iranian Government has said recently that it would trade in currencies like the dirham (United Arab Emirates), but it is unclear whether trading partners will be receptive to the idea.

Rahimi also said, "We will increase tariffs by 200 percent. We will hike it so much so that no one will be able to buy foreign goods. We should not buy the products of our enemies. Students can force their parents not to buy foreign goods."

0910 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Doulatabadi may have granted a concession that contributed to the end of the Evin Prison hunger strike; however, according to Rah-e-Sabz, he remains defiant on other fronts.

Doulatabadi reportedly said the news from prisons is "total lies", as Iran's jails are acting completely within the law. Claims such as that of an "honour assault" on Alireza Tajik are "inventions".

Doulatabadi may want to consider the testimony of 17-year-old Ali Niknam, who claims he was abused by Revolutionary Guard intelligence officers after his arrest on 2 November: “The signs of electrical shock were visible on my shoulder, stomach, and kidney area and I suffered from bloody bowels and urine for days after my release.”

0910 GMT: Sanctions Watch. Reports indicate that Japan may consider cutting crude oil imports from Iran, having approved new sanctions in line with June's UN Security Council resolution. Tokyo, following meetings with US officials, has added 40 companies and an individual to a blacklist for freezing of assets.

0900 GMT: The Vice President Talks World Politics (Again). It looks like 1st Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi has decided to step up and become the Government's international affairs spokesman.

After his diatribe against the US, Australia, and "England", reported in yesterday's updates, Rahimi gets literary again, in a meeting told Iran's heads of education that "South Koreans need a slap in the face" for their imposition of sanctions on Tehran.

0710 GMT: The President's Right-Hand Man. More criticism of Ahmadinejad Chief of Staff and brother-in-law Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai....

Ayatolllah Mesbah Yazdi, in a meeting with Revolutionary Guard commanders on Monday, said, "Those who put principles (maktab) of Iran shamelessly before maktab of Islam do not belong to us! We only support those who support Islam and are loyal to the Supreme Leader."

0705 GMT: The New Battle --- Another Larijani v. Ahmadinejad.

Voice of America picks up on our featured story from Monday, the criticism by Iran's head of judiciary, Sadegh Larijani, of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

One Washington-based analyst, Alex Vatanka of the Middle East Institute, claims Ayatollah Khamenei is now involved: "The Supreme Leader is giving Ali Larijani the tools to stand up to the president."

0700 GMT: The claimed message from the political prisoners who have ended their hunger strike:

We will continue to insist on our human rights and the basic rights of all prisoners. We pledge to continue to fight until all prisoners who are part of our beloved nation gain access to their full legal rights.

0650 GMT: The Hunger Strike. Kalemeh is carrying the message of an "anonymous loyal support of the Greens" that all but one hunger striker has ended the protest. There are no further details.

Another website made the claim on Sunday. It is unclear whether the same anonymous source is behind both that report and Kalemeh's article.

0545 GMT: We begin today with two features and a disturbing piece of news.

In the features, Jon Lee Anderson of The New Yorker gets a 10-day visit to Iran and meets the public, with their discontent over the election, as well as President Ahmadinejad. And Arash Aramesh of insideIRAN writes about the audio that may point to Revolutionary Guard interference in the June 2009 election.

The news, from RAHANA, is that student activist Majid Tavakoli --- one of 16 or 17 political prisoners in Evin Prison --- has lost consciousness and is now in the prison infirmary.

More updates to follow...

The Latest from Iran (8 August): Small Breakthroughs?

1510 GMT: The Campaign Against the President's Man. Prominent "hard-line" cleric Mohammad Yazdi has joined the campaign against Ahmadinejad Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai for his remarks on Iran and Islam.

Ayatollah Yazdi told Fars News: "Esfandiar Rahim-Masha'i must not enter debates in which he knows nothing....One must not undermine the dignity of Islam simply to please others."

1310 GMT: Execution Watch. In her latest interview, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, sentenced to death for adultery, has criticised the conduct of the Iranian judiciary.

1300 GMT: German Sanctions-Busting? Der Spiegel claims the customs officers at Frankurt Airport seized Siemens switches destined for Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant via Moscow.

1250 GMT: Green Media. The statement of the IraNeda Foundation, "Marching Towards a People-Based Media", has been posted.

1230 GMT: The Battle Within. "Hardline" politicians are speaking of the Supreme Leader's lost legitimacy, as they defend the autonomy of the Expediency Council.

1220 GMT: Political Prisoners Challenge Election. Seven prominent reformist politicians --- all detained after the June 2009 Presidential election --- have filed a lawsuit claiming the vote was manipulated.

The seven are Mohsen Aminzadeh, Mostafa Tajzadeh, Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, Fayzolah Arabsorkhi, Mohsen Safai Farahani, Mohsen Mirdamadi, and Behzad Nabavi. (http://www.twitter.com/persianbanoo)

1215 GMT: The Hunger Strike. The father of Ali Parviz, one of the 16 political prisoners on hunger strike, has reportedly been arrested. (http://bit.ly/cnijSs)

1210 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Journalist Siamak Ghaderi has reportedly been arrested. (http://bit.ly/cKus4u)

1200 GMT: We have posted a special analysis on social media in the Middle East and Iran, courtesy of Mona Eltahawy, Fartashphoto, and Dave Siavashi.

1115 GMT: The Human Rights Lawyer. Mohammad Mostafaei, the lawyer who fled from Iran two weeks ago as authorities tried to detain him, has now arrived in Norway from Turkey as his request for asylum is being considered. (http://bit.ly/cOFtty)

0455 GMT: Execution Watch. Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi reviews Iran's legal system and stoning, the sentence imposed but not yet implemented on Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.

0430 GMT: We're still trying to assess two pieces of news that came through at the end of Saturday.

The wife of Mohammad Mostafaei, the human rights lawyer who fled Iran and now may be on his way to asylum in Norway, has been released from prison after two weeks. Is this a tacit Tehran admission that the strategy of holding family members in jail to force the return of those it wants to detain --- a "new low", as an EA contact put it --- has failed? Or is simply the recognition that Mostafaei can not represent clients while he is in exile and that he will still have to keep in mind that his family has been left behind in Iran?

Then there was the release of photojournalist Babak Bordbar from detention. Bordbar had been in prison for seven months and was one of 17 political prisoners on hunger strike. Was this a small sign that this tactic works or were there more mundane reasons for Bordbar's freedom, such as the regular practice of controlling undesirable activity through high bails and the prospect of a return to jail?

Meanwhile....

Ahmadinejad's Saturday Speech

For those who want to test out reports of President Ahmadinejad's speech on the eve of National Speech Day, noted primarily by the Western press for its claim of an exaggerated death toll on 11 September 2001 and its "denial" of the Holocaust --- Press TV carried the 9-11 reference but did not mention any comment on the fate of Jews in and beyond Germany --- the video has been posted.

The Latest from Iran (7 August): The President's Man in Trouble?

2005 GMT: The Battle Within (Diaspora Edition). William Yong and Robert Worth, writing in The New York Times, have a colourful account of last week's ill-fated conference in Tehran of Iranians from overseas.

The piece is entertaining --- check out the passage on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech with the phrase, "That breast has gone away with the bogeyman" --- but it misses part of the political significance. Yong and Worth see the problems with the conference as "an ambivalence that had been part of Iranian political culture ever since the Islamic Revolution in 1979: an evangelizing impulse coupled with a deep distrust of those who ventured outside the fold".

Perhaps, but the immediate significance of the event is as a stick being used both by "hardliners" (Keyhan) and "conservatives" (members of Parliament) to whack the President and --- back to the theme for today --- his chief aide, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai.

1955 GMT: The Hunger Strike. One of the 17 political prisoners on hunger strike, photojournalist Babak Bordbar, has been released.

1945 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Sources have told Radio Farda that labour activist Mansur Osanloo, detained since June 2007, has been given an additional prison sentence.

Osanloo was tried last week in Revolutionary Court in Karaj without the presence of his lawyers.

NEW Iran: A Protest in Washington (Shahryar)
UPDATED Iran-US Special: The 4-Step Collapse of Obama’s “Engagement” Into Confusion
The Latest from Iran (6 August): The Campaign Against Ahmadinejad’s Aide

1745 GMT: The Human Rights Lawyer. The wife of Mohammad Mostafaei (see video at 1430 GMT), detained on 23 July when Iranian forces tried to arrest her husband, has been released from prison.

1730 GMT: Tough Talk Today. I have to say: Iranian state media is digging pretty deep to pull out military figures to chest-thump against the US.

Today it's the "commander of the anti-aircraft post of the Khatamolanbia Headquarters", Brigadier General Ahmad Miqani: "If Americans attempt to launch an attack against the sacred establishment of the Islamic Republic, they will encounter our firm and decisive defense and we will not let them off....Over the past decade the US has militarily attacked Iraq and Afghanistan and killed hundreds of thousands of people but in the end it suffered defeat."

Press TV frames this as, "If Attacked, Iran Will Annihilate US".

1725 GMT: Wacky Mahmoud. Yes, I've seen the Reuters summary of the President's speech for National Press Day, "Iran's Ahmadinejad doubts Sept 11 attack toll" and yes, I've seen the additional claim, "Ahmadinejad also repeated his denial of the Holocaust".

(Press TV headlines, "Ahmadinejad: 9/11 Scenario Dubious", but does not mention any reference to the Holocaust.)

But, no, I haven't featured it because I'm not sure what political relevance it has.

Far more significant for me is Agence France Presse picking up the story of the internal conflict over Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai: "Ahmadinejad aide 'in new row with Iran conservatives'".

1440 GMT: The Hunger Strike. Students at Tehran's Amir Kabir University have started a hunger strike in sympathy with the 17 detainees fasting in Evin Prison.

In a letter to the head of Iran's judiciary, Sadegh Larijani, doctors have warned about the condition of the 17 political prisoners.

1435 GMT: Film Corner. Accordion, directed by Jafar Panahi, will open the Venice Film Festival this year.

Panahi was detained for almost three months this spring by the Iranian authorities.

1430 GMT: The Human Rights Lawyer. Mohammad Mostafaei, now free from immigration detention in Turkey, has given an interview explaining why he had to leave Iran after the arrest of his wife and brother-in-law. In careful English, he gives the defence of his position, "I am crazy about human rights."

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH7Q_aIVYC8[/youtube]

1425 GMT: The Rahim-Mashai Controversy. President Ahmadinejad has publicly defended his Chief of Staff, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, against heated criticism of Rahim-Mashai's remarks on Iran and Islam (see 0615 and 0855 GMT).

1420 GMT: More on Green Media. RASA, one of two opposition television channels soon to start broadcasting (see 0640 GMT), has posted its mission statement in Rah-e-Sabz.

1415 GMT: The Supreme Leader's Brother Intervenes. Hadi Khamenei has declared that his fellow reformists must use social media to increase awareness.

1410 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani is travelling to Mashaad tomorrow to speak with clerics.

1210 GMT: The Cyber-Campaign. In a profile in Newsweek, Austin Heap --- the creator of Haystack to help Iranians get around restrictions and surveillance on the Internet --- explains how he became involved:

The 25-year-old computer programmer was home in his San Francisco apartment, spending his evening the same way he spent much of his free time: playing videogames. “I was sitting at my computer, as I usually do, playing Warcraft,” recalls Heap. “My boyfriend asked if I was following what was going on in Iran, and I said no. I was busy killing dragons.”

Later that night, Heap logged on to his Twitter account. He read about the growing number of Iranians claiming that their votes had been stolen in the presidential election, and he saw people complaining that the government was censoring their cries of fraud and election rigging. For Heap—who says, “I am for human rights, the Internet, and I check out from there”—something clicked. At that moment, he decided to become involved in a battle more than 7,000 miles away in a country he admits he knew next to nothing about. “I remember literally saying, ‘OK, game on.’?”

1205 GMT: Execution Watch. Our German Bureau reports that the Zonta Club of businesswomen has issued a declaration calling for a halt to the execution of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, sentenced to death by stoning for adultery.

1150 GMT: Reformist Watch. Najafgholi Habibi has explained the silence of the reformists: "When no one listens, it is better to be quiet." Habibi said he would not comment on the rift amongst hardliners, as this could be misinterpreted as enmity.

0955 GMT: Economy Watch. Member of Parliament Majid Nasirpour has asserted that the Ministry of Trade did not pay farmers for their harvest, and this could cause unrest in western Azerbaijan. He added that there is no cement for construction, as it has been exported.

0940 GMT: Parliament v. President. Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani has published a law on water wells operating without official permits, after President Ahmadinjead refused to implement it.

0855 GMT: Rahim-Mashai Review. Back to our lead story today (see 0615 GMT)....

Parleman News rounds up the criticism of the President's Chief of Staff, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, begins with Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami's Friday Prayer. Perhaps more significant are quotes from two of those planning to curb Ahmadinejad. Ahmad Tavakoli says Rahim-Mashai's comments are the delusions of an insane man and "a treason to Iran", leading to national division, and he has warned the Parliament will react. Ali Motahari says the Chief of Staff's remarks are a serious deviation from the Revolution.

0715 GMT: Ahmadinejad's Letter to America. An EA source confirms from a "reliable" source that President Ahmadinejad has sent another letter to President Obama. We are seeking further information.

0655 GMT: We've posted a feature by Josh Shahryar on Thursday's protest in Washington DC.

0645 GMT: Talking Tough Today. Pro-Ahmadinejad member of Parliament Mehdi Kuchakzadeh has declared that house arrest of "uproar" leaders is the best way to stop social tensions.

0640 GMT: Green Media. Pedestrian takes a look at two forthcoming channels for the Green Movement: RASA, which he sees as "more religiously oriented and closer to the reformist political parties in Iran", and Iran Neda, with "a more artistic/academic and secular orientation".

0635 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Mehdi Karroubi has joined other opposition figures in asking 17 political prisoners to end their hunger strike.

Speaking with the families of imprisoned journalists, Karroubi criticised the authorities' treatment of detainees and expressed concern over the regime's attitude towards the media and reporters.

0615 GMT: A curious Friday, as attention shifted to the President's Chief of Staff, brother-in-law, and good friend Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai. He was criticised not only by opposition figures but by key conservatives in Parliament and, most prominently, by the Friday Prayer leader of Tehran, Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami.

This is not the first time that Rahim-Mashai, who has stirred up discord with his comment that Iran and not Islam is the source of emulation for others, has been at the centre of controversy. Last August, in a temporary victory over Ahmadinejad, Rahim-Mashai was forced out as 1st Vice President, only to re-enter the President's office as Chief of Staff.

Still, the timing of this current campaign against Ahmadinejad's right-hand man is notable. It comes after months of growing discontent amongst conservatives with the President, and it complements the rising tide against Ayatollah Jannati, the head of the Guardian Council. Will either of these buttresses of the regime be washed away, exposing even more important figures?

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 (5 August): Challenges

1540 GMT: Culture Corner. Human rights activists Parvin Ardalan and Azin Izadifar are among the recipients of the 2010 Hellmann-Hammett Prize. The award, named after playwright Lillian Hellman and crime writer Dashiell Hammett and administered by Human Rights Watch, recognises literary excellence.

1535 GMT: Replacing the Clerics. The names of 12 new Friday Prayer leaders for 12 cities have been published. Each will serve for three years.

Recently 60 Friday Prayer leaders were "retired" by the regime.

NEW Iran-US Special: Obama Extends His Hand “Engagement, Not Conflict”
Iran Feature: Free Speech (and Some Laughs) in the Theatre (Tehran Bureau)
Iran Special: Grenade Attack on Ahmadinejad?
Iran Feature: The Activism of the Women’s Movement (Mouri)
The Latest from Iran (4 August): The President and The Plots

1530 GMT: Keyhan v. Ahmadinejad. More on the feud between the "hard-line" newspaper Keyhan and the President's office....

Keyhan had alleged that one of the those invited to this week's conference of the Iranian diaspora, Hooshang Amirahmadi of the American Iranian Council, was a "CIA associate". Ahmadinejad's chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, denied Amirahmadi had been approached.

So Keyhan has published the official invitation for Amirahmadi.

1450 GMT: The Torture Information. Khodnevis is claiming, from a source close to the Assembly of Experts, that the head of the Assembly, Hashemi Rafsanjani has sent the cases of 22 people who were allegedly tortured to the Supreme Leader. Acccording to the source, Rafsanjani personally delivered details of five cases, including that of editor and university offical Hamzeh Karami, to Ayatollah Khamenei.

(EA reported on the Karami case yesterday but we did not know of the four other claimed cases.)

According to this source, the 22 complaints included allegations against specific officials. One of these is Hossein Taeb, the former commander of the Basij militia and now head of the Intelligence Bureau of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.

1330 GMT: The No-Longer-Missing Lawyer. Human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei, who has fled arrest in Iran and is now in Turkey (see 0655 and 1205 GMT), has given an interview to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on his recent experiences and his defense of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, sentenced to death for adultery.

1320 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Activist Ramin Poshtkoohi was arrested in Isfahan on Sunday.

1315 GMT: Twitter and Iran. Dave Siavashi has written a heart-felt, incisive analysis at Iran News Now, "Revisiting what the 'Twitter Revolution' really means".

1310 GMT: Mahmoud's Plans. President Ahmadinejad has declared that "opponents" (in the Green Movement? in Parliament?) are trying to sabotage the introduction of his subsidy reduction plan in October.

1207 GMT: International Front. The Supreme Leader's key advisor on foreign affairs, former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, is in Lebanon for talks with Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Lebanese Foreign Minister Ali al-Shami.

1209 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Rah-e-Sabz claims intelligence agents have allegedly called mothers of Evin Prison hunger strikers, threatening them with arrest.

1205 GMT:  A Turkish Foreign Ministry official has told CNN that "extradition to Iran is out of question" for Iranian human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei (see 0655 GMT).

1150 GMT: Forget the Grenade, We're Going Into Orbit. Iran's official outlet IRNA highlights a passage from President Ahmadinejad's speech on Thursday in Hamedan, in which he said Tehran would put a man into space by 2017: "The plan is in line with an Iran space agency program to produce and place in orbit a spacecraft at an altitude of more than 35,000 kilometers."

Ahmadinejad has made similar declarations over the last 12 months, including his proclamation of the launch of a rocket which had two turtles, a mouse, and some worms.

1145 GMT: Sanctions Watch. As Iran's Minister of Oil Massoud Mirkazemi visits Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry maintained its careful balancing act on pressure against Tehran: "China's trade with Iran is a normal business exchange, which will not harm the interests of other countries and the international community. As a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, China has always observed the council's resolutions."

Earlier this week Robert Einhorn, the special adviser for nonproliferation and arms control at the U.S. State Department, declared that China should live up to the sanctions.

0900 GMT: The Campaign against Jannati. Looks like a development in our ongoing watch on the pressure against Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, the head of the Guardian Council, and thus indirectly on the Supreme Leader. From the Facebook page supporting Mir Hossein Mousavi:

Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, in reaction to the false accusations made by Ahmad Jannati [a reference to Jannati's speech last accusing opposition leaders of taking $1 billion, with a promise of another $50 billion, from the US and Saudi Arabia to overthrow the regime], have written a joint letter addressed to senior religious figures and Grand Ayatollahs. They have asked them to step in for the sake of “saving the integrity of Islam and religious figures’ statue” and to confront those who pose as clerics and who, obviously and shamelessly, are damaging the stature of Islam and religious figures.

In this joint letter Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi called on the Grand Ayatollahs to confront Ahmad Jannati and ask him to provide his so-called documents regarding the accusations he made that the Green leaders have received $1 billion from the United States Government via Saudi Arabia to overthrow the establishment....Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi stated that these false accusations made by chairman of the Guardian Council are “the most striking example of shameless...insults”.

0845 GMT: We've posted two features. Scott Lucas analyses an important signal from President Obama on Iran policy, "Engagement, Not Conflict". And a Tehran Bureau correspondent moves politics into another arena, "Free Speech (and Some Laughs) in the Theatre".

0720 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. An appellate court has upheld the five-year sentence of Mohammad Davari, editor of Mehdi Karroubi's Saham News.

0655 GMT: The No-Longer-Missing Lawyer. Saeed Kamali Dehghan, writing in The Guardian of London, updates on the case of human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei, who fled Iran after authorities tried to detain him and arrested his wife and brother-in-law (his wife is still in prison).

Mostafaei is now in Turkey but there is some confusion over his status: Dehghan says the lawyer was arrested on immigration charges on Monday. According to The Guardian, Norwegian and US officials met Mostafaei in prison and offered him asylum, but he was forced by Turkish officials to claim asylum with the UN authorities in Turkey or face extradition.

0630 GMT: Academic Boycott. Minister of Health Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi has confirmed what EA already knew from experience: new restrictions will be applied on students seeking to study in Britain and the US, since they are hostile and have only "limited relations" with Tehran.

(One beneficiary of the policy is Ireland, an English-speaking country towards which students have been directed for some time.)

0550 GMT: We begin this morning with an analysis by Rasool Nafisi of the possible significance for Ayatollah Khamenei of a fatwa by Grand Ayatollah Sistani, the leading Shia cleric in Iraq, which says clerical authority must come from the affirmation of the people.

Meanwhile, as we look for the political fallout from yesterday's grenade/firecracker attack/non-attack on President Ahmadinejad's motorcade....

Political Prisoner Watch

Activists Zahra Rahnavard and Parvin Fahimi, the mother of the slain demonstrator Sohrab Arabi, have met with the families of the 17 political prisoners on hunger strike.

On Air Soon

Rasa TV, the product of Resaneh Sabze Iran, is now on-line and promising to be on-air in the near-future.

Today's Tough Talk

Brigadier General Mohammad-Hassan Baqeri, a deputy commander of Iran's army, lays it out "Any insane move will bring the US nothing but regret and they will get our final response in the scene of action."