The Latest from Iran (6 October): Through the Looking Glass of "Justice"

1820 GMT: Gasoline Squeeze. Azerbaijani site Trend looks at Iran's energy situation, with experts sceptical that Tehran can achieve its declared goal of self-sufficiency.

1800 GMT: Extra, Extra, Read All About It. The leading reformist newspaper Shargh has resumed on-line publication.

Shargh has suffered a lengthy ban by the Iranian authorities until the print edition reappeared this summer.

The website features a series of articles on sanctions against Iran, including a feature on   Stuart Levey, the Undersecretary for Financial Intelligence in the US Treasury. He is recognised as the official who has been successful in swaying private banks and companies around the globe to support sanctions against Iran. The newspaper claims he has made 80 foreign trips, 8 to Dubai --- a key point for Iran trade and finance --- alone. 

1735 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Hashem Sabaghian, a leading member of the Freedom Movement of Iran, has been released from detention.

Seven top members of the FMI were arrested last weekend in Isfahan. 

1705 GMT: The Bazaar Strikes, Iranian Style. Deutsche Welle reports that while shops were opened in the Tehran Bazaar, owners and employees were "on strike" and not serving customers. Sections involved include home appliances, mobile phones, clothing, computers, and food. 

1502 GMT: The Battle Within. The dispute between the President and his Foreign Ministry appears to be simmering. Rumours are circulating again that Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki may be dismissed, with one of Ahmadinejad's close advisors, the Secretary of the National Security Council, or a leading member of Parliament's National Security Commission taking his place. 

Mottaki tried to resign this summer after Ahmadinejad named four special envoys for international affairs, challenging the primacy of the Foreign Ministry. The Foreign Minister was convinced to stay on after the Supreme Leader intervened and rebuked the President for "parallel actions".

1500 GMT: Cyber-Watch. A web filtering team has been installed in the office of Iran's Attorney General.

1459 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh, detained for a month, has told her husband in a short phone call that she has been on hunger strike since 25 September.

1455 GMT: Picture of the Day. A crowd around a Tehran foreign exchange trader:

1445 GMT: Today's Tough Talk. Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Doulatabadi says that the judiciary will punish Bazaar strikers and speculators.

1437 GMT: Recognising the Activist. Human Rights Watch has announced that Sussan Tahmasebi, Iranian civil and women's rights activist and founding member of the One Million Signatures Campaign, will be one of six “relentless and courageous advocates of human rights” nonoured in November 2010, with the Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism.

Tahmasebi has been barred from leaving the country for two years because of her activities.

1435 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. RAHANA provides more information on the case of blogger Hossein Ronaghi Maleki (Babak Khorramdin), who given a 15-year prison sentence this week.

1425 GMT: The Bazaar Strikes. Claimed footage of closed gold vendors in Kermanshah Bazaar on Tuesday:

1150 GMT: Currency Watch. Khabar Online reports that half of Tehran's foreign exchange offices are closed. There are long lines, with a maximum of $2000 being sold in a transaction.  

1144 GMT: Cartoon of Day. Mana Neyestani on the "Iranian Women's Movement":

1130 GMT: The Clerics Intervene. Ayatollah Sane'i has denounced attacks on private homes as the "biggest crime in Islam".

Sane'i's criticism follows last month's five-night siege by pro-regime crowds on the residence of Mehdi Karroubi.

1045 GMT: Economy Watch.Aftab claims that Iran's dollar and euro reserves have fallen by $10 billion during the past week.

Thomas Erdbrink in The Washington Post offers an overview of the current economic situation, including the effects of sanctions and the drop in the Iranian currency. Some key paragraphs:

Following fresh financial sanctions from the United Arab Emirates, the Islamic Republic's Central Bank did not intervene as the rial - stable for over a decade - plummeted by 15 percent, leaving traders and importers with evaporating bank accounts.

It's not clear whether the Iranian government was caught by surprise by the impact of the U.A.E. measures or deliberately hesitated. But it waited a full week before starting to sell its petrodollars, trading them at a considerably higher rate than it would have received a week before and making a profit on the sales.

The absence of well-defined policies to address these fundamental issues is making economists, businessmen and some officials increasingly nervous.

"It is a little bit difficult to see a clear economic strategy from the government," said Mohammad Nahavandian, the head of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines. "Different ministries are coming up with different policies. It seems they react to the facts of the day," he said.

0920 GMT: Honouring the Journalists. Mohammad Davari, the detained editor-in-chief of Saham News, is one of four recipients of this year's International Press Freedom Awards from the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Davari was arrested in September 2009 when Iranian forces raided the offices of Saham News. serving a five-year prison sentence for "mutiny against the regime".

0803 GMT: Economy Watch. President Ahmadinejad may be claiming that sanctions are only making the Iranian economy stronger, but somehow I don't think this story from Tabnak backs him up: "Iranian officials [are trying] to implement programs to bypass the illegal sanctions. Therefore, they want to import cargos via barter trade without using banking system."

The website offers the reassurance, "Barter usually exists parallel to monetary systems in most developed countries, though to a very limited extent," but then admits, "Barter usually replaces money as the method of exchange in times of monetary crisis, when the currency is unstable and devalued by hyperinflation."

0800 GMT: The Bazaar Strikes. As bazaar merchants continue to protest government proposals for a value-added tax, claimed footage of Tuesday's strike of gold vendors in Sari, the capital of Mazandaran Province in northern Iran:

0720 GMT: Economy Watch. Khabar Online, the website linked to Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, continues its challenge to the Government's economic record. 

The site claims that the latest summary by the Central Bank still omits vital statistics for Iran's economic performance in 2009-10.

0525 GMT: An example of Iranian justice, 16 months after the disputed Presidential election....

Two nights after the poll, Iran's security forces and Basij militia stormed Tehran University dormitories, causing significant damage, beating students, and reportedly killing several people.

On Tuesday, a trial was finally held in the case. It is still unclear, however, exactly who is being tried. The names of the 27 defendants, 23 of whom appeared in court, are being withheld until legal proceedings are completed. Iranian media merely say, "The plaintiffs and their lawyers as well as legal representatives from Tehran University and the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology...submitted their complaints to the court."

Meanwhile....

Khamenei and Ahmadinejad Still Fighting Internal Challenges

Shayan Ghajar at insideIRAN posts an overview of the continuing disputes within the establishment, with the Supreme Leader facing criticism from senior clerics and the President locked in battle with high-profile member of Parliament Ali Motahari.

The state-run Islamic Republic News Agency, an outlet for the President's office, posted a lengthy article on Monday condemning Motahari. It claimed he "lacks necessary political insight and acumen” and accused the MP of “colluding with the leaders of sedition”.

On the same day, Motahari published an editorial in Tabnak. He criticised Ahmadinejad for undermining traditional values of the Islamic Republic with "socially liberal agendas" in his statements on women’s rights and with insulting the descendants of Ayatollah Khomeini. (Khomeini's grandson, Seyed Hassan Khomeini, was shouted down by pro-Ahmadinejad hecklers at June's commemoration of the death of his grandfather.) 

Significantly, the conservative Tabnak linked with an even more formidable figure, former Revolutionary Guard commander and {presidential candidate Mohsen Rezaei, who is now Secretary of the Expediency Council.

Revisiting the Election

Britain's Royal Institute of International Affairs announces that one of its fellows, Ali Ansari, is about to publish his book on the June 2009 election. In Crisis of Authority, Ansari argues that "the crisis was not principally about electoral fraud, but rather that it was part of a far deeper malaise in the structure and ideology of the Islamic Republic".