The Latest from Iran (3 November): The Execution Rumour

2050 GMT: Labour Front. Green Voice of Freedom reports that about 500 workers in the South Pars gas field have gone on strike over unpaid wages.

2015 GMT: Battling Statements. The Society of Teachers and Researchers of Qom has called for an enthusiastic presence at 13 Aban (4 November) rallies>

In contrast, the youth and students of the reformist Islamic Iran Participation Front declared that rulers should take a lesson from 13 Aban and return from the wrong track of tyranny.

1905 GMT: Execution Watch. Attorney Mohammed Mostafaei, who now lives in exile in Norway, has told Voice of America that he has been informed that a report of the imminent hanging of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani was not correct.

Mostafaei asserts, "This news was wrong. I called my friends in Iran....I have some friends in the Iranian judiciary in Tabriz and I talked about this news and they said the news is not true and they informed me that there is not any hanging execution in Sakineh's case. There is only a stoning punishment."

1835 GMT: The Supreme Leader Sets It Out for Youth. Addressing students on the eve of the anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the US Embassy, Ayatollah Khamenei said, "This event symbolizes the bravery and courage of the young revolutionary generation against the authority of America because taking over the den of espionage destabilized US power...and brought America to its knees."

The Supreme Leader also referred to "sedition" following the 2009 Presidential election and said the plot was thwarted by Iranian youth.

1810 GMT: The Medical University. Footage of a protest, claimed to be today, at the Tehran University of Medical Sciences.

The University was suddenly dissolved last week by an order from the Government.

1800 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Journalist Nazanin Khosravani has been arrested after security forces raided the family home. Khosravani's whereabouts are unknown.

1600 GMT: The Politics Around Death Sentences. We still suspect the warning that Sakineh Ashtiani Mohammadi, condemned to death for adultery, would be executed today was only a rumour. However, it still has brought political theatre.

While insisting Ashtiani's case was still being reviewed, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast cast blame upon the "West":

They (Western nations) have become so shameless that they have turned the case of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, who has committed crime and treason, into a human rights case against our nation.

It has become a symbol of women's freedom in Western nations and with impudence they want to free her. Thus, they are trying to use this ordinary case as a pressure lever against our nation.

1550 GMT: And Now I Would Like to Vanquish My Domestic Enemies. Interesting contrast in coverage of the Ahmadinejad speech between "Western" and Iranian press....

For Khabar Online, linked to Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, it's all about Ahmadinejad's conflict with domestic opponents. The website stresses his declaration that he will broadcast on television the names of persons and companies violating the subsidy cuts.

The warning echoes, probably deliberately, Ahmadinejad's threat --- repeated during the 2009 elections --- to expose the fraud of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mir Hossein Mousavi's wife Zahra Rahnavard.

1515 GMT: Walking the Path of Arrogance. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaking in the northeastern Iran city of Bojnerd today, put out a message before the resumption of talks with the 5+1 Powers (US, UK, Russia, China, France, and Germany): "You have only one option: That's recognizing the right and greatness of the Iranian nation. Should you choose this path, nations may forgive you...but if you want to continue the previous path of arrogance....These people (the Iranian nation) will pursue you until you end up in hell."

The speech, which was nationally televised, is best read as yet another pre-talks posture: Ahmadinejad wants the discussions but needs to appears as if he is setting the agenda and making the West come to him. He said, ""The best path for (world powers) is to respect nations, stop being obstinate, get out of glass palaces and sit down like a polite boy, and talk on the basis of justice and respect. If they come like this, they may get results."

1220 GMT: Fish in a Bowl. Blogger Maryam eloquently posts about the experience of trying to write and read on-line in Iran:

When we live in such a society where censorship is so widespread, we don’t have much of a right to choose. Therefore, we don’t understand whether we’re really making the right choices about life and our ideas. ... When a fish lives in a bowl, it can’t expresses its opinions very much and think that it’s right about the fish that live in the sea. The poor fish doesn’t know it itself. Those who have imprisoned the fish have brainwashed it and said, "You’re free." They’ve also given the fish some books they’ve written, and the poor fish with this illusion has a happy life in that narrow [space].

But what a day it would be when the fish reaches the sea.

0915 GMT: Oil Front. Gooya reports that Venezuelan interests have bought a 10% stake in a phase of the South Pars oil and gas field for $760 million.

0910 GMT: The Medical University. Ali Abbaspour Tehrani, the head of Parliament's Education and Research Commission, says that legislators have demanded an explanation from Minister of Health Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi for the closure of the Tehran University of Medical Sciences and have "suggested" that the decision be rescinded by next week. 

0755 GMT: A slow start to the day, both because staff have been on the EA USA desk covering the mid-term elections and because of a lack of news from Iran.

That means the loudest chatter is still about the Tuesday's claim that Sakineh Mohammad Ashtiani, condemned to death for adultery, would be hung today. The source of the report is Mina Asadi of the International Campaign Against Stoning: the ICAS website posted the alert, and by afternoon it had been picked up by news services from Reuters to CNN.

Governments around the world expressed concern. The White House put out the statement:

We condemn in the strongest terms the Government of Iran’s apparent plans to move forward in executing Ms. Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.  The lack of transparency and due process in Ms. Ashtiani’s case, and the subsequent actions taken against her lawyer and family, are unacceptable.  Her case demonstrates the Government of Iran’s fundamental disregard for human rights, including those of women.  We call on the Government of Iran to stop this execution, and provide Ms. Ashtiani with the due process and fair treatment she deserves.

So far this morning there has been indication that Ashtiani has or will be put to death. It is still unclear whether Asadi's claim was based on evidence of preparations for the gallows or just the circulation of rumour in Tehran.