The Latest from Iran (20 November): A Curious "Stability"

2033 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. And so, at the end of the day, back to the start and our special analysis....

Mehdi Hashemi, the son of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, has edged closer to calling the Government's bluff on arresting him if he leaves London and steps foot on Iranian soil. Hashemi, in a letter to Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, has said, "If you stop bargaining, I'll return to Iran to expose the liars."

2030 GMT: More "Unity" from Parliament? Ali Asgari, known as a hard-line conservative MP, has said "getting to power by immoral acts is to be condemned" and reformists should not be excluded from the Iranian system.

2020 GMT: Execution Watch (Tour of Europe Edition). Khabar Online reports that 36 Iranian lawyers will soon be visiting the European Judicial Centre. Ostensbly, the tour is to discuss comparative law; however, the specific intention is tipped off in a passage about the death sentence imposed on Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.

The Iranian attorneys will explain that execution is a legal sentence for the murder of Ashtiani's husband (actually, the sentence was initially imposed for adultery and Ashtiani was subsequently convicted of complicity in the murder, not of committing it), that execution by stoning has been suspended, and that very few people in Iran receive the stoning penalty.

2010 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Two Kurdish activists, Behrooz Lajevard and Firooz Maleki, have been arrested.

2005 GMT: Parliament v. President (cont.). The budget struggle between the Majlis and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad drags on. The spokesman of the Guardian Council, Abbas Ali Kadkhodaie says that, eight months into the Iranian year, a compromise on the 5th Budget Plan is ready to be presented to the Supreme Leader.

On another front, 84 of the 290 MPs have demanded, in a letter to Speaker Ali Larijani, that control of the Central Bank be returned to the Government with the Parliament's new law sent back to an arbitration commission.

1955 GMT: Did He Say This with a Straight Face? From Press TV:

Reports suggest Iranian prisoners in the United States are held under extremely unfortunate conditions, and Tehran is seriously following up their cases, said Head of Iran's Human Rights Headquarters in an exclusive interview with IRNA [Islamic Republic News Agency].

"The US government must allow these individuals to have access to lawyers," Javad Larijani said.

"We have [received] reports that they have been under severe tortures, gone through long periods of interrogation, and their fate is still unclear," he added.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has chipped in, during a press opportunity in Tehran, by saying the UN General Assembly's resolution condemning Iran over human rights is a "puppet show". Mottaki claimed that the resolution, passed this week, was meaningless: “The blatant and systematic violation of human rights by the United States and European countries has generated hatred in the view of world public opinion, to the extent that they (Westerners) cannot take advantage of such political games.”

Mottaki took a specific shot at the Canadians for sponsoring the resolution: “Today, the indigenous people of Canada are experiencing extreme discrimination.”

1930 GMT: Parliament v. President. Despite opposition from some pro-Government legislators, Mohammad Reza Bahonar has been elected leader of the principlist faction.

Bahonar upset the Ahmadinejad camp earlier this week by leading a successful campaign to take the Central Bank out of the President's control.

Leading MP and Government critic Ali Motahari has made a move for unity, declaring that Mir Hossein and Mehdi Karroubi have distanced themselves from the nezam, but even they can be attracted back to the system.

1825 GMT: CyberWars. The personal website of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appears to have been taken off-line --- Rah-e-Sabz has a brief report.

1820 GMT: Writers Off Limits. Iranian authorities have filtered the website of the famous poet Shamlou.

Peyke Iran claims the website of the late writer Golshiri has also been blocked.

1610 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Here's a twist on the subsidy cuts story: Rah-e-Sabz claims that there will be no support payments, offsetting some of the effects of price rises, for political prisoners & their families.

1400 GMT: Message to the Students. Extracts from today's message from Mir Hossein Mousavi for National Students Day in early December....

"The despotic rulers are putting their own interest ahead of the national interest. Today, more than ever we witness those in charge say 'enemy, enemy' as their strategy to scare people....

"Recorded evidence shows security agents and plainclothes setting cars and motorcycles on fire, breaking windows, and destroying properties and than shamefully blaming the protesters."

Mousavi continued: "Unfortunately events like Kahrizak (prison abuses), the Tehran University dormitory incident (of 14-15 June 2009), running over innocent people with a car, throwing people off a bridge, forcing people's heads inside  toilet bowls, and  ignoring the roar of people on June 15, 18 & 20 and other mass protest days --- (along with) their engineered marches -- are what we face now. They are all indications they do not intend a return to accepting the will of the people."

1315 GMT: Support Us! President Ahmadinejad's media advisor Ali-Akbar Javanfekr has declared the need for complete support of the Government.

Javanfekr, who is also managing director of the Islamic Republic News Agency, offered the remarks to IRNA officials and counterparts in Iranian radio: "A president who considers himself and his cabinet as servants of the nation and is doing all within his reach to serve national progress is indeed a historic chance for the country. Therefore, strengthening this chance is a national duty, particularly for mass media."

1230 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch Radio Farda reports on labour activists who have been jailed for "insulting the Supreme Leader".

1100 GMT: Mystery Solved? A sneak preview from Mohammad Javad Larijani of Iran's judiciary as he continues his PR tour in New York: "Neda Agha Soltan was killed by an agent of Britain's (foreign intelligence service) MI6 and I know the killer's name."

1015 GMT: A Message to the Students. As National Students Day (16 Azar) approaches,  Mir Hossein Mousavi has posted an open message to Iran's youth.

0850 GMT: Shutting Down the Lawyers? Kalemeh reports that lawyers Maryam Karbasi and Roza Gharachorlu have been released after almost a week in detention.

Karbasi was arrested with Sara Sabaghian and Maryam Kianarsi last Saturday morning at a Tehran airport upon return from Turkey. Gharachorlu was one of two attorneys seized soon afterwards.

0845 GMT: Claim of Day. Concluding its five-day air defence exercise, the Iranian military has declared that it has successfully test-fired a S-200 missile system.

Press TV plays up the accomplishment: "According to a top Iranian military official, the domestically-designed S-200 air defense system has the same capabilities as the Russian-made S-300 system."

That's interesting since 1) Iranian military commanders were declaring earlier this month they had developed their own S-300 (not S-200) system and 2) the S-200, according to experts, is 20 years older and far inferior to the S-300.

0830 GMT: Hikers To Be Released --- Reality or Propaganda? Mohammad Javad Larijani's, the head of the human rights division of Iran's judiciary, is putting out the message that the remained two US hikers in detention, Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer, may be released.

The first indication of movement came from a Twitter message by Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times. After a breakfast yesterday with Larijani, he reported, " I asked him about the US hikers; he said they should be freed soon."

Larijani has also made the remarks to Ann Curry of NBC News, in an interview to be broadcast later.

Caution is needed here, however. The Iranian regime is under a great deal of pressure over its human rights record, having been denounced by the UN General Assembly's Human Rights Committee by an 85-40 vote this week despite the efforts of Larijani and his delegation in New York. As Tehran blasts "the West" for its supposed transgressions of human rights, Larijani is on a major media swing, with further interviews scheduled this weekend.

So, as Kristof followed up in later Twitter messages:

No sign release is imminent. Larijani...said he expected the problems would be resolved and they'd be released soon, but it was a general hope, nothing specific....He also said he hoped to facilitate phone calls for them.

So I hope the hikers are released soon, but don't hold your breath. 

The third US hiker, Sarah Shourd, was released in September after extensive political manoeuvres with and inside the Iranian regime.

0740 GMT: Restricted updates today, as one of the Little EA staff is in hospital. 

In the meantime, EA offers a special analysis: Mr Azadi and Scott Lucas, drawing together information from inside Iran, bring out the story of the Supreme Leader's struggle for authority, featuring the Grand Ayatollahs in Qom and former President Hashemi Rafsanjani.

I invite our excellent readers to bring in latest news and analysis and hope to rejoin you this evening for a summary of the day.