The Latest from Iran (9 November): The "Rule of Law"

1610 GMT: Press Watch. ICHRI claims, from a "reliable source inside Hamshahri newspaper", that four senior journalists have been suspended and a reporter has been dismissed. Though there have been many dismissals at Hamshahri Newspaper in the past, the suddenness of the actions has surprised many of the people who work at the newspaper. The source says it is feared that the suspensions are the beginning of an intiative to put in journalists who have the same political orientation as the paper’s management. In the last year, Hamshahri’s management has been filled by individuals who formerly worked in the police force or the judiciary, including Managing Director Mehdi Zakeri.

1508 GMT: A Change of Philosophy. The United Nations Educational and Scientific Organization has withdrawn from the holding of World Philosophy Day in Tehran, less than two weeks before the event.

There had been sustained protests, including an academic challenge led by philosopher and former political prisoner Ramin Jahanbegloo, against UNESCO's persistence in supporting the gathering. The arrangements had been made in 2008 but came under fire amidst post-election conflict, repression, and the Iranian regime's restriction on Western humanities in universities.

1504 GMT: Idle Talent. Peyke Iran reports on a rise of unemployment among academics, with 50,000 physicians jobless.

1500 GMT: Subsidy Cuts Watch. Leading MP Gholam-Reza Mesbahi-Moghaddam has advised the Government not to create a "security atmosphere" in preparation for subsidy cuts, suggesting that an atmosphere of confidence with publication of exact data might be preferable.

1450 GMT: Propaganda of Day. Last week it emerged that Ayatollah Shobeiri Zanjani had intervened to get the release of detained reformist leader Ali Shakouri Rad's release from prison.

That story is uncomfortable for Iran newspaper, both over the idea that Shakouri Rad should not have been detained and that a cleric should have stepped in to expose an injustice. So its article converts this into a declaration by Shobeiri Zanjani that it is good both Shakouri Rad and Alireza Beheshti --- who was freed on bail 10 months ago --- remain in jail to be punished.

1440 GMT: Rumour of Day. Fars blazes the headlines that former President Hashemi Rafsanjani's son Mehdi Hashemi may be returning to Iran.

Mehdi Hashemi has been a high-profile regime target, accused in a public trial of fraud and election manipulation and warned that he will be arrested if he steps foot on Iranian soil.

So over to you, reader: is the Fars story one of concern, a threat to Rafsanjani, or just a bit of propaganda?

1400 GMT: The Supreme Leader's Qom Worries. I think Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami may protest too much with his most recent declaration, after warning of the dangers of Wahhabis, Baha'is, and bad hijab, that the "people of Qom gave a great reception to Ayatollah Khamenei, and he did everything for them". Khatami's conclusion, "We have to await 'sedition' against this holy city" is far from an expression of confidence, coming only four days after the Supreme Leader made a second, unexpected visit to clerics in Qom.

And why might there be nerves? Well, the rumours abound that many senior clerics regretted their visit with the Supreme Leader during his first, 10-day showpiece trip because of an impolite reception in which a private meeting was turned into a public event to boost Khamenei as an Imam.

1345 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Kurdish poet Behzad Kurdestani has been released on bail after 77 days in detention.

1330 GMT: Photo of the Day. "History is Written on the Walls": a municipal worker tries to paint over Green graffiti.

1300 GMT: Propping Up the Economy. Aftab, citing the head of Iran's Central Bank, Mahmoud Bahmani, says that the bank is injecting more than $1 billion into the market every week.

Uskowi adds that Bahmani is encouraging the public to deposit dollar holdings into new foreign currency checking accounts bearing 4% interest. The move is to offset the recent rush amongst the public to purchase and hold dollars, forcing down the value of the Iranian toman.

1255 GMT: Talking Tough Today. Basij Commander Mohammad Reza Naqdi claims that last year's "fitna" (sedition) has been neutralised by the blood of martyrs.

An EA correspondent is not convinced: if the sedition is over, why did security forces prevent Sunday's meeting between Ayatollah Bayat Zanjani and Mehdi Karroubi?

1245 GMT: The Battle Within. Tehran Emrooz, linked to Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Ghalibaf, jabs at the President: don't confront Tehran's citizens, try to serve them instead.

The newspaper asserts that the capital's biggest problems are traffic and pollution, but they can be solved easily with construction of a metro.

Yesterday Ahmadinejad had claimed the Tehran metro is much too expensive. Tehran Emrooz responds that "menacing the citizens is an arrogant move" and the President should look at other cities like Tokyo, Beijing, or New York "which he visits each year".

1100 GMT: Limiting the Expediency Council. The President's media advisor, Ali Akbar Javanfekr, has taken aim at the Expediency Council, presently chaired by former President Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Javanfekr said the Council has nothing to do with the Constitution, which should be changed in favour of the government.

Javanfekr added that Ahmadinejad is an expert in all realms, but some principlists want to pull him down.

1045 GMT: Nuke Talks. According to Mehr, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has said that discussions with the 5+1 Powers (US, Britain, Germany, France, Russia, and China) are "expected" to resume on 15 November in Turkey.

0920 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. In Ahvaz in southern Iran, Massoud Ladani has been sentenced to two years and Parvin Kohzadi to six months in prison for acting against national security.

Ladani was convicted of planning to overthrow the government by founding the Association for Cultural-Political Development of Khuzestan, which disapproved of the Supreme Leader and included secularism in its mission.

Ladani's wife Kohzadi, a women's rights activist, has been charged with membership in the organisation. Because she has children, her sentence has been suspended for 2 years. She is the wife of Ladani and a women’s rights activist.

0625 GMT: We begin the morning with a look at Soraya Ahangar's article in Muftah, "The Tehran Public Prosecutor and the Rule of Law in Post-Election Iran".

And we note some cases of that rule of law: in a separate entry, we post a video from the family of attorney Nasrine Sotoudeh on their grief over her detention.

The student organisation Advar-e Tahkim Vahdat has issued a statement condemning the serial arrests of their members. Four more have been seized this week, mainly in northern Iran: all were candidates for the the organisation's central council. The latest to be taken is Alireza Kiani, detained on Sunday --- Kiani had been jailed for a month after the June 2009 election and subsequently received a 14-month sentence.

Six supporters of jailed dissident cleric Ayatollah Boroujerdi, were reportedly arrested Monday night.