The Latest from Iran (16 December): Today is Ashura

2125 GMT: Political Prison Watch. Rah-e-Sabz reports that Fatemeh Maleki, the wife of journalist/filmmaker, has been hospitalised after she was detained in front of Evin Prison.

Maleki was seized along with other relatives of Nourizad as well as Fatemeh Mohtashamipour, the wife of detained reformist leader Mostafa Tajzadeh. All were released after several hours, but Maleki was taken to hospital with a heart condition.

Earlier today (see 1710 GMT), the website supporting Nourizad said it was Mohtashamipour who had been hospitalised. However, Rah-e-Sabz features an interview with her about the day's events.

2115 GMT: Summarising Today. An EA reader writes, "Just reading your blog today re Ashura. I wonder if the huge number of security forces meant that the Islamic Republic could not show Tehran on TV. I mean, after all, 'Everything is under control, and everyone loves us!' But if they showed Tehran like a fortress it....".

And if they showed the capital with lots of security forces and very few people marching in support of the regime....

But I'm sure this is wild speculation.

2110 GMT: Finding the People. Still looking for evidence of today's turnout. Mehr declares, "Millions of people across Iran marked Ashura which reached its climax on Wednesday and Thursday." This is the only photograph in the story.

Mehr's lead story is on Ashura...in Beirut.

2045 GMT: Diplomatic Takeover. Back to the week's bigger story. Here is the photographic evidence of the President's Chief of Staff, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, taking over diplomatic duties as Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was being fired. His companion in discussion is the Swiss Ambassador, Livia Leu Agosti, who also represents US interests.

Press TV features the comments of the Deputy Government of Sistan and Baluchestan that in addition to the two bombers killed, a suspect was arrested yesterday.

That's actually old news. (Some reports yesterday said three attackers killed and one detained.) So Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting goes farther and says, from an "informed source", that "eight more bandits" behind the attack have been detained.

1710 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. The website supporting Mohammad Nourizad reports that his family and Fakhrosaadat Mohtashamipour, the wife of Mostafa Tajzadeh, have been released from detention. Mohtashamipour, however, has been taken to hospital.

1650 GMT: Political Prisoners Trump Government on Ashura. Back from a break to find little of significance in the Ashura demonstrations and much more on the political prisoner front....

The detention of the family of imprisoned journalist/filmmaker Mohammad Nourizad and the wife of imprisoned politician Mostafa Tajzadeh is picking up international attention, with the Associated Press story on Yahoo! and in The Washington Post. The reformist Islamic Iran Participation Front, in which Tajzadeh is a senior member, has issued a statement denouncing the arrests.

1205 GMT: Iranian state media's coverage of Ashura continues to surprise with its lack of attention to Iran.

Press TV covers at length Ashura in Iraq and Ashura in Lebanon; however, its only reference to an Iranian statement is the declaration by Supreme Leader advisor Ali Akbar Velayati which was delivered...in Istanbul.

IRNA has only brief articles on mourning ceremonies and on the Ahmadinejad appearance this morning, preferring to highlight the Chabahar bombing.

Fars does offer a partial exception to the mini-coverage, with some attention to the speech by the President at the shrine in Tehran.

1140 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. The website supporting detained journalist/filmmaker Mohammad Reza Nourizad says that the family of Nourizad, including his wife and children, and Fakhrosaadat Mohtashamipour, the wife of detained politician Mostafa Tajzadeh, have been arrested in front of Evin Prison.

1110 GMT: CyberWatch. Mehdi Karroubi's Tagheer is back on-line after it was hacked yesterday.

1030 GMT: It is becoming rather striking how Press TV is relegating Ashura on its website to the shadows of Wednesday's suicide bombing and the allegations against the "West" and Israel.

Latest headlines feature Mohammad Ashouri, a member of Parliament's National Security Commission, "The enemy seeks to create instability in the country through causing difference between Shia and Sunni Muslims in Iran," and two stories --- using the exact same clip from television coverage --- of a US "expert" (in fact a staffer with the "Executive Intelligence Review", affiliated with the quirky theories of Lyndon LaRouche) alleging US and Israeli involvement.

1020 GMT: We have now started a section for videos of today's events.

0950 GMT: Press TV is now featuring the Ashura ceremony in Istanbul, with live coverage of the speech by Ali Akbar Velayati, the former Foreign Minister and the Supreme Leader's advisor on foreign affairs.

Meanwhile, Press TV's website prefers more allegations on yesterday's bombing: "The recent terrorist attack in southeastern Iran is part of a US-Israel strategy to involve Iranian ethnic groups, especially Baluchis, in terrorism, an expert says."

0915 GMT: Hezbollah leader Nasrallah finishes his speech in Beirut.

It is striking so far how little attention has been given to the Iranian leadership. Press TV has now switched to live shots from Yazd in central Iran --- no mention at all of the Ahmadinejad appearance.

And IRNA has replaced the President's visit to a Tehran shrine as its lead story. It now features the declaration of Deputy Minister of Interior Ali Abdollahi, with reference to yesterday's suicide bombing in southeastern Iran, that "some local government officials in Pakistan have links with terrorist acts".

0850 GMT: Press TV is now focusing on the speech of the leader of Hezbollah, Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, but the pro-Ahmdinejad Islamic Republic News Agency has finally swung into action: it features, without detail, the appearance of the President and Cabinet members at the shrine of Imam Abdel-Aziz. Fars has the Ahmadinejad as its top story, followed with an article on Nasrallah.

0845 GMT: The "Proper" Mourning. Rah-e-Sabz claims families of slain protesters have been sternly told by Iranian authorities that no public mourning is to take place. The Government has also alleged asked Iranian media not to cover any such mourning. (hat tip to Josh Shahryar)

Yesterday security forces broke up a mourning ceremony at the home of Hashem Sabaghian, former Minister of Interior and leading member of the Freedom Movement of Iran. Sabaghian was detained for hours; the cleric leading the ceremony, Hojatoleslam Soleimani, is still in custody.

Earlier this month a group of mourners, including the mother of slain protester Sohrab Arabi, was detained at Behehst-e Zahra cemetery. Three of those mourners are still held.

0840 GMT: Lebanon Now But Not Iran. In contrast to the silence of Press TV's coverage on Ashura over contemporary Iran, its correspondent at the Beirut has just put out an eight-minute uninterrupted commentary interpreting the religious ceremony in the context of Hezbollah and politics in and around Lebanon today.

0815 GMT: More of the same from Press TV, with live shots from Bam in Iran, Istanbul, and Beirut --- but not Tehran --- and experts repeating their stock summaries.

Meanwhile, Iran News Now has an excellent critique of the politics around Wednesday's suicide bombing, which killed at least 33 people:

Unfortunately, the blowback of the Bush administration’s involvement with shady terror groups like Jundallah is likely that the regime will be able to convince its repressive forces that they are justified in their repression of the people of Iran, giving them --- at least temporarily --- a longer hold on power in Iran, despite the fact that the majority of Iranians want them out. If that is not the ultimate irony then I don’t know what is.

It would suit Obama well to come clean. If he is aware of U.S. involvement with the terror group he should fess up to it, blame Bush, and wash his hands of it. He should do this publicly so as not to allow the regime room to lay blame on the U.S.

0745 GMT: Press TV begins its live coverage of Ashura ceremonies with video from Bam in southern Iran and a lengthy exposition from an expert about the 7th-century events behind the commemoration. The focus is on "mourning" and "resistance to oppression", but with absolutely no reference to contemporary Iran.

0740 GMT: Basiji Kids. This week Iranian state media featured pictures of children and even toddlers being educated in preparation for joining the Basij militia.

Figures from the Supreme Leader to former President Hashemi Rafsanjani spoke recently, on the anniversary of the formation of the Basij in 1979, about the quest to mobilise up to 20 million new Basij.

0615 GMT: Today is Ashura, the religious day commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Mohammad and the third Imam of Shi'a, at the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD.

Last year, the day was marked by a challenge to the regime through widespread protests, calling for political changes to fulfil the rights of the Iranian people. These sometimes pushed back the security forces who had been trying to prevent mass gatherings since the Presidential Election and the march of 15 June. The dramatic show of resistance against both Government legitimacy and Government repression pushed uncertainty within the system to the point where key members considered the removal of President Ahmadinejad.

No such public challenge this year, as Iranian authorities have quashed any significant display of protest outside the university campuses. Instead, the focus by the regime and the Government will be on Ashura as the global ceremony of Shi'a Muslims remembering Hussein's sacrifice.

Indeed, with public events still to come in Tehran, the top story for state media is still yesterday's suicide bombing in Chabahar in southeastern Iran. The death toll has been revised from 39 to "at least 33", the number of victims who have been identified so far.

However, with the Baluch insurgent group Jundullah --- which has carried out numerous attacks in the area --- claiming responsibility, the media line has shifted from what happened to putting blame upon the US. Iranian officials, such as Minister of Interior Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, and their broadcasters are working overtime, without giving any specific evidence about Wednesday's attack, to give a narrative of Washington's support for "terrorism" and Jundullah.