The Latest from Iran (8 October): Hey, Look Over There!

1845 GMT: Banning the Reformists (Confusion Edition). Yesterday we erroneously reported, "Alireza Avayi, the head of the judiciary in Tehran Province, has denied that a banning order has been issued against the reformist Islamic Iran Participation Front."

Here's the rather muddled story. The IIPF is claiming that, after it complained about a ban on its activities, an Iranian court cancelled its dissolution and authorised the resumption of its activities.

Avayi has denied the IIPF's claim, saying that the file on the case has merely been transferred to the Tehran Revolutionary Court. The IIPF is still not allowed to engage in any political activity.

Last week, Iran Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei said the IIPF and another reformist party, the Mojahedin of Islamic Revolution, were banned.

1815 GMT: Sanctions Watch. Iranian Labor News Agency reports that paint factories are unable to import raw material due to sanctions, and retailers are now out of stock.

1640 GMT: Karroubi Watch. Mehdi Karroubi, meeting members of youth organisations, has declared, "In the fight with lies, the efforts of each one of us are needed."

1630 GMT: Your Friday Prayer Summary (We're Fantastic and Anyone Who Says We're Not is Part of an Enemy Plot).

Ayatollah Ahmad Khamati doing the finger-wagging from the Tehran Friday Prayers pulpit, warning against downplaying the government's achievements and magnifying its imperfections: 

Worrying people and showing them falsehood in place of truth is one of the techniques the enemy employs to confront the Islamic establishment....The enemy intends to target the foundation of the Revolution which has its roots in religion and [Islamic] ideology. If they are in a conflict with us, they are in clash with an "Islamic Iran" not just "Iran".

Ayatollah Khatami, obviously entirely secure about the victory over sedition, reached back to the June 2009 Presidential elections: "If the republican nature [of the Islamic Republic] has been lost, how is it that 85 percent of the people voted? There are some who interpret republican nature and electoral freedom as having their name come out of the ballot box otherwise they deny the republican features and electoral freedom.” 

All pretty clear, I guess, but could Ayatollah Khatami be sending out a message not only to the post-election protestors and the "enemy" West but also to President Ahmadinejad's right-hand man Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, who recently said "Iran" rather than "Islam" was the model for other countries and peoples to emulate?

1625 GMT: Jibe of the Day. Reformist MP Mohammad Reza Khabbaz has criticised his colleagues for their passivity in the face of Government attempts to impose its authority over Parliament: "No wonder Ahmadinejad said the Majlis is not in charge."

Khabbaz claimed that the President's office was changing language such as "the Government shall" to "the Government may" or "the Government has a right to".

1330 GMT: Reformist Watch. The Mojahedin of Islamic Revolution party has issued a statement condemning the regime's censorship and restrictions on opposition figures Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Mohammad Khatami, including the blockading of their homes and offices.

1255 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Journalist Saeed Razavi Faqih has been sentenced in absentia to four years in prison and 74 lashes.

Razavi Faqih was spokesman for Mehdi Karroubi's Presidential campaign in 2009.

1135 GMT: An Iranian Minister in Washington. Hmm, didn't see this coming....

Minister of Economy Dr. Shamseddin Hosseini, is in Washington for meetings of the International Monetary Fund.

A notice from the Iranian interests section put out the news. Hosseini was also in the US capital for a World Bank meeting in the spring, but this time he is intending to hold a press conference, scheduled for tonight at the Iranian interests section in the Pakistani Embassy.

A State Department spokesman said Thursday he was not aware of the visit. 

1045 GMT: Sanctions Watch. The US State Department, through a spokesman, has urged Egypt not to expand its trade relations with Iran.

The appeal comes after Cairo and Tehran announced the first direct flights between the two countries in 30 years.

0815 GMT: We open this morning with a feature on the first "Green novel" to be published about the 2009 election. On the political and economic front, we have a very useful interview with America's top official handling sanctions against Tehran.

But we are also having to cope with diversions: from the "West" comes yet another purported analysis, bolstered by the chatter of "officials", that It's All About the Bomb. And Tehran just wants to keep everyone talking about 9-11:

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast says half of people in Europe and America are suspicious of the September 11 events in the United States: "Many in the West blame the US government in the occurrence of the September 11 incident....The US government needs to allow for the clarification of ambiguities regarding the incident and to refrain from jumping into hasty conclusions." 

Meanwhile, President Ahmadinejad has issued his latest denunciation of Western sanctions, combined with the reassurance that they are not working: "When a nation believes in its capabilities, no outside force...can harm it."

Ahmadinejad, referring to Iran's “self-confidence” and “self-sufficiency” continued,"They [the West] seek a psychological warfare to break the strength of the Iranian nation but it is the Iranian nation which will break them."