The Latest from Iran (28 January): The President Protects His Man

2209 GMT: Reports coming from Tehran inform us that the body of political prisoner Mohammad Haj-Aghaie, who was executed a few days ago, was quietly laid to rest by the government on Wednesday. 

Apparently, intelligence agents took his body to Naweleh, a village near Isfahan, and buried it there without the presence of his family. His family finally visited his grave on Thursday and today, they spent the day mourning his death quietly. 

1600 GMT: Is Sakineh Ashtiani distracting from other human rights abuses in Iran? The Washington Post pitches in on the debates: 

...inside the Islamic republic, many government critics, activists and artists say the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani is diverting attention from the fate of dozens of imprisoned dissidents.

But for others, the international outcry over Mohammadi's case has become hard to take.

"Why is there so much concentration for a case of a possible murderer, when there are such obvious cases of oppression in Iran?" said Faghrolsadat Mohtashamipour, who has written a series of deeply affectionate open letters to her imprisoned husband, Mustafa Tajzadeh, a prominent critic of the government.

1540 GMT: Mir Hossein Mousavi's Facebook page has this story about imprisoned opposition activist Mostafa Tajzadeh today: 

According to the statement by Ms. Motahashamipour - wife of Mostafa Tajzadeh (imprisoned senior reformist figure) – Tajzadeh announced that he will go on hunger strike in protest to new wave of pressure imposed on him by Revolutionary Guards in prison. Tajzadeh has stayed out spoken condemning the totalitarians even from prison and that angered them caused them to take new measures to silence him.

1516 GMT: Journalist Mehdi Mahmoudian is apparently being denied medical help by the government while in prison in Rajaie Shahr. He has passed out twice today because of a heart condition. 

1346 GMT: Ayat. Ahmad Khatami gave quite an extraordinary Friday prayer sermon in Tehran today, laying claim to revolutions in other countries this time. Khatami claimed that the protests that toppled Ben Ali in Tunisia and the ongoing protests in Egypt and Yemen were a push by the populace to emulate Iran's Islamic Revolution of 1979. 

Are the Greens laughing?

1020 GMT: Claim of Day. The hard-line Raja News writes that Mehdi Karroubi went to Behesht-e Zahra cemetery today to honor post-election victims but fled after families protested.

1015 GMT: Sedition Watch. Ayatollah Alamolhoda, the Friday Prayer leader in Mashhad, has proclaimed that some fitna (sedition) leaders and activists are trying to "desecrate" the Supreme Leader.

0955 GMT: When Protest is Good. Mohammad Javad Larijani, the head of the human rights section of Iran's judiciary, has said that overthrows of Arab governments are a "good omen", as the US cannot prevent them.

0930 GMT: The mother of Neda Agha Soltan, who was killed by a gunshot during a demonstration on 20 June 2009, has said that the Basij militiaman, Javid Kargar, accused of the murder, had insulted Neda as "loose" in court.

Soltan's mother complained that there was still no conviction in the case after 19 months.

0925 GMT: Pursuing the Guilty An interesting re-appearance of Abdolhossein Ruholamini, conservative political activist and father of Mohsen Ruholamini, who was abused and killed in Kahrizak Prison after the June 2009 election.

Ruholamini, the campaign manager for Mohsen Rezaei in the election, declared that the presence of Saeed Mortazavi as a Presidential advisor is a disrespect to martyrs of Kahrizak. Mortazavi was Tehran Prosecutor General at the time of the abuses. He had reportedly been suspended from his Government role by a court while enquiries continued, but has yet to face punishment.

In early 2010, Ruholamini was meeting with key conservatives, including Speaker of Parliament Larijani, to consider steps to curb and even remove President Ahmadinejad from power, but he has been limited in his criticism in recent months.

0915 GMT: Quarrels. Lots of denunciations to report....

Mehdi Taeb, brother of the head of the Revolutionary Guards' Intelligence Bureau, has pushed the campaign against former President Hashemi Rafsanjani (see last night's update). Taeb, who is reportedly close to Ahmadinejad aide Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, says Rafsanjani did not understand "soft war" when he was leading Iran and, by implication, does not understand today's threat to the country.

Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, meeting with seminary students at the Supreme Leader's prayer house in Qom, has announced that "all pawns of the enemy were burnt in the recent fitna (sedition)".

And Kaveh Eshtehardi, the editor of the Iran daily newspaper, has explained that "only fitna leaders and one family have filed a complaint" against his coverage. It should be noted that Eshtehardi was recently given a short jail term for his reporting of a court case involving Rafsanjani's son Mehdi Hashemi.

0730 GMT: President v. Mayor. Ali Chenar, writing for Tehran Bureau, posts a thorough overview of the political tensions between President Ahmadinejad and Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf.

0725 GMT: Poster of the Day. Green Movement alliance with the Tunisian uprising....

0715 GMT: Parliament v. President. The battle over the Ahmadinejad open letter will go on....

Earlier this week, the President launched a sharp attack on the Parliament, the judiciary, and Expediency Council for blocking his plans, especially on the economic front. Legislators in the Majlis have now said they will officially answer the letter next week. 

0650 GMT: We start this morning with a humble request from President Ahmadinejad to the Iranian press about his good friend and Chief of Staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai: "Please don't be mean to him."

That's the gist of his remarks to the Iran daily newspaper, as he called for "correct coverage" amidst a discussion of communications and Government.

Rahim-Mashai is an extremely controversial figure who has provoked opposition from clerics, politicians, and journalists within the establishment. He has even been the focus of disputes between the President and the Supreme Leader: in August 2009, Ayatollah Khamenei forced Ahmadinejad to end the short tenure of Rahim-Mashai as 1st Vice President. Within weeks, however, the President brought his relative --- Rahim-Mashai's daughter is married to Ahmadinejad's son --- and close friend back as Chief of Staff.