The Latest from Iran (27 January): No Money for the Babies

2145 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. We started with babies this morning, we'll close with very adult behaviour. Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi has attacked former President Hashemi Rafsanjani once again, saying religious seditionists and silent elites must be dealt with. Moslehi declared that he had documents of the 2009 sedition to back up his allegations.

2140 GMT: Parliament v. President. Reformist MP Mostafa Kavakebian has invited President Ahmadinejad to a public discussion about his letter to MPs warning that Parliament, the judiciary, and the Expediency Council were acting wrongly to oppose his plans on the budget and the Central Bank.

2130 GMT: They Are So Dedicated Alert. Mashregh News posts a tribute to the President and his Cabinet, noting how they worked late nights for more than three months to craft the subsidy cuts plan.

1950 GMT: President v. Everyone. In today's volley against a potential barrier to the President's plans, Ahmadinejad legal adviser Gholam-Hossein Elham says former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, as chairman of Iran’s Expediency Council, is “the lead manager of the moves against the government".

Elham said that the Expediency Council has invaded the arena of the executive branch and is trying to “limit or completely overstep” the authority of the Government. He maintained that the Council will soon try to usurp the authority of the Guardian Council and even the Supreme Leader: "What guarantee do we have that in this manner we will not suddenly come face to face with a new constitution and a new regime?"

The Expediency Council, established to rule on disputes between branches of the Iranian Government, has been tasked by the Supreme Leader to consider the dispute between Ahmadinejad and Parliament over control of the Central Bank.

1940 GMT: Shutting Down the Reformists. The Ministry of Interior has issued a statement that the Baran Foundation, founded by former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami, is an “illegal” entity and its activities must be banned.

The Baran Foundation was established in 2005 by Khatami and a number of Cabinet ministers to freedom, growth, and development in Iran.

1920 GMT: A Clerical Admission. Rah-e-Sabz describes a meeting between Ayatollah Amjad and families of political prisoners. The site claims that the ayatollah said the ulema (clerical community) "must be loudspeakers of justice, but our hands are tied".

1835 GMT: Execution Watch. RAHANA reports that Kurdish activist Farhad Tarom has been executed and 10 members of his family have been arrested.

Tarom was convicted of membership in the Kurdistan Democratic Party and had been in prison since 2008.

The Dutch Government has hired two lawyers to defend the Dutch-Iranian woman Zahra Bahrami, sentenced to death last month for drug possession.

Bahrami returned to Iran in December 2009 to visit her daughter and was arrested just after the Ashura demonstrations (see separate EA feature). She is also charged with "mohareb" (war against God). Her lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, was arrested in September and has been sentenced to 11 years in jail.

1825 GMT: Labour Front. Video of the workers' sit-in protest at the Khodro automobile factory. The employees are striking in the aftermath of an industrial accident which killed eight workers and injured 13 (see Wednesday's updates):

1815 GMT: Subsidy Cuts Watch. Kalemeh claims that support payments to help individuals offset higher prices from subsidy cuts have been delayed for a month, from Bahman to Esfand on the Iranian calendar.

1620 GMT: Film Crisis. Iran's prominent Fajr Film festival may have a problem on its hands. It has moved troublesome --- or "starred" --- movies to a "Certain Regard" (nou'ei negah) section. Directors such as Tahmineh Milani have protested against the separation as an insult and a political move.

1615 GMT: Parliament v. President. Vice President Mohammad Reza Mirtajoddini, the President's aide for Parliamentary affairs, says the 5th Budget Plan law, except for the clause on control of the Central Bank, has been given to the Government for consideration. He added that the Government had to "readjust" the 2011 budget before presentation to the Majlis.

The Parliament has threatened to set out its own budget if the Government does not deliver a proposal by next week.

Shakour Akbarnejad of Parliament's Economic Commission has become the latest critic of the subsidy cut plan, saying that the concept is good but that the Ahmadinejad scheme has been undermined by "bad management".

1600 GMT: The President's Right-Hand Man and the Third Way. Khabar Online claims that a website close to Ahmadinejad advisor Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai is citing an Indian yogi to predict that both reformists and principlists will fail to lead the next Parliament. Instead, a new "third current" will take over the Majlis and reunite the country.

1545 GMT: The Palestinian Authority and Mousavi. A bit of a flutter today over a revelation in the "Palestine Papers", the 1600+ internal documents leaked this week, that the Palestinian Authority tried to arrange for $50 million to opposition figure Mir Hossein Mousavi for broadcasting.

PA chief negotiator Saeb Erekat told US envoy George Mitchell in October 2009, "You know AM [PA leader Abu Mazen/Mahmoud Abbas] had to convince a businessman to pay for Mussawi to have [a] radio station." He later told the US National Security Advisor James Jones, "Ten days ago, we had to convince a Palestinian businessman to pay $50m for Mussawi to have a radio station," Erekat said.

Iranian opposition sources say the initiative was started by Iranians seeking to exploit old contacts with the Palestinians, but it never resulted in funds.

1540 GMT: You Can't Keep A Good Story (of Cleavage) Down. Back from a break for Egypt coverage to find that the tale of the Nuclear Talks and Lady Ashton's Cleavage --- remember, you read it in EA first --- has now reached Iran's Khabar Online. And, yes, the site linked to Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani dares to post the Ashton picture before it was Photoshopped last week by other Iranian newspapers to be "decent".

0810 GMT: MediaWatch. The Times of London reports that the British bank account of Iranian outlet Press TV has been frozen. A spokesman for the bank declined to give the reason.

0755 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. BBC Persian reports on the latest volley fired by Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi against former President Hashemi Rafsanjani.

0750 GMT: Ahmadinejad v. The Larijanis. Uskowi offers a concise summary of the escalating dispute between the President, a Parliament headed by Ali Larijani, and a judiciary headed by Sadegh Larijani.

0720 GMT: Six months ago, President Ahmadinejad tried to encourage a faster rise in population, defying previous Iranian policy, by promising $1000 per newborn.

Six months later, it appears the plan has been dropped because of lack of money. Reformist MP Dariush Ghanbari says, "Many people have asked us for funds in vain."

While this is not good news for the babies, it may be relatively trivial for Ahmadinejad as he faces challenges from the Parliament on a number of fronts (see Wednesday's updates). Hardliner MP Ali Abbaspour added a warning that the President "should know he is not Number One in the state and cannot censor laws", as the Majlis restrains him.