The Latest from Iran (3 January): Will Wolves Attack?

2140 GMT: Full Circle. We started today with thoughts about the regime's threat to arrest opposition leaders and the sharp response by Mehdi Karroubi, and we'll end today there as well....

Michael Theodoulou of The National considers, "Karroubi Throws Down Gauntlet to Iranian Government", with a guest appearance from EA:

Iran's most defiant opposition leader has challenged his government to try him in an open court for the momentous unrest that swept the Islamic republic after the "stolen" presidential elections in 2009.

Theodoulou also notes the curious and still murky development of President Ahmadinejad's dismissal of up to 14 advisors.

1910 GMT: And, By The Way, Sakineh Dies. Prosecutor General Mohseni-Ejei also continued the propaganda display with the condemned Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, saying that her death sentence for adultery and complicity in her husband's murder will not be commuted.

1900 GMT: But We Don't Actually Carry Out the Threat. Iran Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei continues the merry game with the opposition, declaring that no one has said --- despite Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Doulatabadi's threats last week --- that Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi will be tried soon.

1645 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Dr. Ali Mousavi, member of the Pan-Iranist Party, has been sentenced to six years in prison and 74 lashes.

1520 GMT: Labour Front. Green Voice of Iran reports that 3500 workers at a Kerman rubber plant are on strike.

1515 GMT: Economy Watch. Radio Farda claims that the Statistical Center of Iran says it is unable to provide current unemployment data.

1505 GMT: Subsidy Cuts Watch. The head of the Tehran bakers union has said that subsidy cuts, and thus increased prices, have led to a significant reduction of customers in bakeries.

Despite such news, officials have reiterated that subsidies will soon be reduced for cultural products.

1335 GMT: All the President's (Dismissed) Men. Danesh Jafari, the former Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance, has denied he was fired as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's advisor, since he was never an advisor in the first place.

Jafari's statement follows a similar denial by Mehdi Chamran (see 1045 GMT).

1053 GMT: Warning of the Day. And it's not directed at the opposition....

Conservative MP Ghodratollah Hosseini says that, if the President diverts from the path of velayat-e-faqih (clerical supremacy), people will take to the streets like they did on 30 December 2009, when they vanquished the Green Movement.

1049 GMT: The President's Right-Hand Man. No confusion, however, about the rising status of Ahmadinejad's Chief of Staff, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai: he goes to Lebanon tomorrow with the President's message for President Michel Suleiman.

1045 GMT: All the President's (Dismissed) Men. Some confusion over Sunday reports that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had jettisoned 14 advisors: Mehdi Chamran, named as one of the 14, says he was not an advisor but was consulting the President as a member of the Tehran City Council.

1040 GMT: Containing the Opposition. Alireza Marandi, the former Minister of Health, continues his denunciation (see Sunday's updates) of Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Marandi tells Khabar Online that he carries a copy of an interview that Mousavi gave to Time magazine before the June 2009 Presidential election, declaring that it raises questions over Mousavi's acceptance of the legitimacy of the Iranian system. Marandi says that, if Mousavi adheres to the system of velayat-e-faqih (clerical supremacy), then he cannot refuse the ultimate authority of the Supreme Leader.

1035 GMT: Economy Watch. Economist Hossein Raghfar has declared that subsidy cuts lack any scientific and logical basis.

An EA correspondent, noting the recent detention of fellow economist Fariborz Reisdana (see 0808 GMT), sends a message to Raghfar: "Evin (Prison) has a room ready for you."

1030 GMT: Un-Free Press. Rah-e-Sabz claims that Ahmad Gholami is resigning as editor-in-chief of the reformist newspaper Shargh under pressure from intelligence services.

Gholami was released from prison last week after he was detained in a raid in early December. Four other Shargh staff remain behind bars.

1020 GMT: Clerical Challenge. The reformist Assembly of Combatant Clerics, meeting with former President Mohammad Khatami, has denounced "increasing lies and insults in media".

1015 GMT: Subsidy Cuts Watch. Is this a significant retreat? Kalemeh reports that the Government has suddenly reduced the "supported" price for gasoil by almost 60%, from 350 to 151 tomans.

0812 GMT: Economic Challenge. Yet another claim that President Ahmadinejad and his advisors are manipulating statistics to cover their economic policies and problems: Ayande News says Ahmadinejad lied when he claimed Government debt to banks had fallen. In fact, Ayande claims, the debt has risen 65% in four years.

0808 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. The wife of economist Fariborz Reisdana, who was detained on 19 December, says her main problem is finding out where he is held.

Reisdana was seized after he gave an interview to BBC Persian criticising the introduction of subsidy cuts.

0804 GMT: Sedition Watch (Stolen Statue Edition). Looks like someone did not give "God's Day", the declaration of 9 Dey 1388 (30 December 2009) as victory over post-election sedition, the respect that the regime intended.

A statue unveiled in front of Tehran University for 9 Dey has been stolen.

Peyke Iran naughtily suggests an alternative statue, paying "tribute" to the free juices offered to those attending regime rallies.

0800 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Peyke Iran claims that Morteza Mahjoubi, the head of Gonabadi dervishes, was freed after 4 1/2 hours of detention when his followers gathered in front of Isfahan prison to press for his release.

0745 GMT: Iranian journalist and blogger Babak Dad posts an ominous warning, "Wolves Attack in Silence". He predicts that, amidst a relative lull in political events, the regime is more likely to make a move against opposition figures like Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. He sets out three scenarios --- the legal approach, the direct approach, and the indirect approach --- for their arrest.

However, all is not silent. Last night, Mehdi Karroubi put out an open letter on his Saham News, challenging the warnings in the Iranian media that he best watch himself. Karroubi forcefully argued that, "if Imam Khomeini were alive", post-election libel, slander, injustices, and abuses would not have occurred. He again denounced the "coup" of the Government and again said he was ready, in open court, to present evidence of the real crimes that had taken place since June 2009:

From here I announce that I am not that kind of willow that shivers with this kind of breeze, and I welcome this hearing and have strong evidence for all my positions, as it has been 21 years that we are constantly struggling with the same issue in different forms and have had no peace.

I am ready for a hearing in any form; however, I ask that if these guys are truthful in their claims there must be an open hearing so that all the nation, who are the real owners of this country, hear both sides and decide so that it becomes clear whether we were greedy to gain the power and in order to survive a few more days made chaos or whether the government put aside the votes and values to gain a monopoly.