The Latest from Iran (7 December): 16 Azar

2115 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Journalist Masoud Lavasani has been summoned to Evin Prison to serve his 4 1/2-year prison sentence.

Lavasani was arrested on 26 July 2009 at his home.

Ahmad Reza Khadem of the National Front has been sentenced to 40 months in prison.

Muhammad Nawaz, a follower of the detained Ayatollah Boroujerdi, has been detained.

2043 GMT: Parliament v. President. I know 16 Azar has been dramatic, but don't forget the ongoing story of the challenge to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

MP Darioush Ghanbari says that several reformists have signed the letter, organised by principlists opposing the President, to summon Ahmadinejad to the Majlis for questioning.

2039 GMT: Subsidy Cuts --- Get Ready. Rah-e-Sabz claims the Central Bank has issued an alert to all banks as subsidy cuts approach.

2035 GMT: EA Gets New Competitor for Iran Coverage. Commander Mohammad Reza Naqdi has announced plans to start "Basij TV".

2030 GMT: The Guards and the Economy. Saham News claims that the major railroad project for a new line between Chahbahar on the southeast coast of Iran and Mashhad in the northeast has been given to Khatam al-Anbia, the engineering arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

2025 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast has repeated that two detained German journalists, seized as they were interviewing the son and lawyer of condemned woman Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, may be released to join their families in the German Embassy for the Christmas holidays.

There was no further word on Ashtiani's son Sajar Ghazerzadeh and lawyer Houton Kian, who remain in detention.

1920 GMT: Shutting Down the Media. Security forces have raided the offices of Shargh for the second time today (see 1625 GMT), arresting a fourth journalist, Ali Khodabakhsh.

The forces have also shut down an office of Farsi1, part-owned by Rupert Murdoch, and arrested "four or five people" for "anti-revolutionary" activity, according to Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Doulatabadi.

1915 GMT: Shutting Off the Campus. So how nervous were the authorities today? Seems that the main entrance to Tehran University was walled off today.

1905 GMT: MediaWatch. Back from a break to find that the BBC has noticed the demonstrations: "Iranians defy clampdown for Student Day protest".

Curious approach at CNN, however: the website features a video report, "Online Connection to Student Protest", but it does not actually offer any coverage of today's events.

1625 GMT: Shutting Down the Media. The reformist newspaper Shargh has been raided and three of its journalists --- Ahmad Gholami, Farzaneh Roustaie, and Keyvan Mehregan --- arrested.

1615 GMT: MediaWatch. The Los Angeles Times takes note of today's demonstrations, "Despite crackdown, students stage anti-government protests nationwide".

1555 GMT: Daneshjoo News claims that more than 1000 students participated in protests at Azad University in Qazvin. The students sang “Yare Dabestani” [My School Sweetheart --- see video in separate entry] and yelled “Our Ashkan is not dead!” and “Our Amir is not dead!” in memory of two students who were killed in post-election demonstrations.

The website claims that security forces and Basij attempted to stop the protests, but the students responded by boycotting classes.

1355 GMT: We'll be on an academic break until 1600 GMT. Updates continue on our partner sites: Dissected News, Iran News Now, and Daily Nite Owl.

1320 GMT: Pictures of today's protests at Azad University in Qazvin and at Amir Kabir University in Tehran:

1310 GMT: Josh Shahryar is counting 12 arrests so far: four from Tehran University, three from Gilan University, one from Isfahan University, and four from Amir Kabir University.

In addition, Tagheer is reporting three students "have been taken hostage" to make other students disperse.

1255 GMT: A Modest Promise. The highlight of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech in Arak in central Iran today (if you don't count all the nuclear stuff): "Unemployment will be eradicated in two years."

1210 GMT: Your Nuclear Round-up for the Day. For those following the talks over Iran's uranium enrichment in Geneva, here's your essential summary:

Representatives of Iran and the 5+1 Powers (US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, and China) met for Day 2 of discussions. They ended by announcing there would be at least a Day 1 of talks at the end of January in Istanbul.

European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said the talks as "substantive" but Iran must comply with its "international obligations". President Ahmadinejad, speaking in Arak in central Iran, said the UN had to lift its sanctions.

1205 GMT: Rafsanjani's Message. Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani has issued his statement for 16 Azar, declaring that students should be prepared to challenge neglect, prejudice, and blind faith.

1200 GMT: The Mourning Arrests. Several people detained as they mourned yesterday in Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery have been released, but the father of post-election victim Ramin Ramezani and two members of the Mothers of Mourning are still held.

1145 GMT: Lots of chatter, although little confirmation, of gatherings. There are claims that "several students" have been arrested at Tehran University. Another source says Basij have started to gather at Isfahan University to prevent any protest, and there are unconfirmed reports of protests in Mashhad.

Kalemeh reports plans for a protest at Tabriz’s Sahand University.

1025 GMT: Rah-e-Sabz claims Azad University in Arak has been closed today.

Daneshjoo News reports students are trying to gather at Amir Kabir University in Tehran.

University doors have been blocked by security and officers are trying to prevent any students gathering in the main quadrangle. The report also claims that the University's Internet has been shut off. Basij militia have reported blocked the students from assembling with verbal abuse and threats of violence.

0955 GMT: Latest from Tehran. Hundreds of security forces are on patrol near the universities. An activist reports that security at Tehran University is vetting every student entering and leaving the campus and recording their names. The university’s perimeter walls have been covered with black banners, obscuring any view of the campus.

Security vans have lined up on 16 Azar Avenue. No cars are being allowed to parks, and even buses are not permitted to stop.

Visal and Vali-e Asr Squares also have significant security forces.

0914 GMT: A Monday Greeting of Protest for the Regime? Claims and video are cirulating that students at Razi University in Kermanshah welcomed former Minister of Information Mohammad-Hossein Saffar-Harandi on Monday with calls for the release of student activist Majid Dori.

There is a report that two students were arrested.

0859 GMT: Khatami's Message. Former President Mohammad Khatami sent this message to a gathering of students at Theran University on Monday:

We should be hopeful. We should try and not be afraid of paying the price [for our goals]....The method that has always been advocated, and our students and our reforms are committed to it, is following civic methods and avoiding and rejecting violence committed by anyone, whether by those in power or by those who may have objections and issues. Our path is the peaceful path of civic movement and abiding to the criteria and bases that our nation has had and has expressed in its great revolution.

0854 GMT: Karroubi's Message. Rah-e-Sabz reports that Mehdi Karroubi met university students and families of imprisoned students today, telling them not to worry because "victory is near".

0850 GMT: 1st Protest Halted? Sources report that the demonstration at Azad University in Qazvin has been halted by security forces.

0743 GMT: Monday's Screenshot Protest. Video of computer screens in Buali Sina University in Hamedan taken over by Green images:

0740 GMT: 1st Protest of the Day? An Iranian activist has reportedly confirmed, by SMS text, that a demonstration is underway at Azad University in Qazvin.

0735 GMT: The Nuclear Front. The Los Angeles Times' summary of Day 1 of the discussions in Geneva between Iran and the 5+1 Powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany) confirms the basics: 1) there is little of substance emerging from the talks; 2) the main decision was to continue chatting on Day 2.

0720 GMT: The Battle Within. A vivid reminder of the contest developing within the system....

Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani on Monday criticised certain principlist groups which take an "aggressive” position: "Principlists should follow a strategy of tolerance toward each other.”

Larijani continued, "There are disagreements among the principlists and this fact can not be overlooked. (But) the principlists should notice that the true principlists who formed the principlist front are still loyal.”

Even more striking was Larijani's implication of a challenge against some of those causing divisions: "There are some figures among the principlists who cause some concerns. They should be guided."

Larijani did not give specific names, but it is safe to say that his comments were generally directed at the President's loyalists (and maybe the President).

0650 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Change for Equality reports that detained attorney Nasrine Sotoudeh has started another hunger strike.

Sotoudeh, who has been on hunger strike twice since her detention in early September, was denied bail in the second hearing in her trial last week.

0635 GMT: While we will be keeping an eye on any development in the nuclear talks in Geneva, our priority today will be watching any events inside Iran.

It is 16 Azar, National Students Day, and Monday already brought surprising footage of a defiant gathering at Tehran University. We have a snap analysis of what that may mean, and what today may bring, in a separate entry.

And just to give a visual impression:

Statements from Universities calling for today's protests are scattered throughout our updates of the last two days. Josh Shahryar offers a selection of them this morning.

The youth and academic branch of the reformist Etemade Melli Party has issued its declaration: "Today we welcome the National Student Day, while many anxious families are awaiting the return of their children to home, and tearful eyes and broken hearts filled with the pain and sorrow of losing their dear children, will cry again and revive the memories of their loved ones."