The Latest from Iran (18 October): The Same Old Mahmoud

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1955 GMT: Movie Watch. Doesn't look like the Supreme Leader will be going to the premiere of Footloose --- he told a crowd in Kermanshah, "Hollywood is in the service of human degradation."

1858 GMT: Currency Watch. Despite the Central Bank's promises to strengthen the value of the Iranian currency, the rial is still 1250 to $1 on the free market, as opposed to an official rate of 1056:1.

1855 GMT: Parliament v. Government. MPs have cautioned Minister of Energy Majid Namjoo, rejecting his explanation of his energy policies and actions by an 88-79 vote, with 17 abstentions.

Another vote against Namjoo could lead to his impeachment.

1845 GMT: CyberWatch. Minister of Communications Reza Taghipour has said that the use of filter breakers is a criminal action.

1835 GMT: The Plot. Britain has followed Washington's lead, freezing the assets of five men sanctioned by the US Treasury in connection with the alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador to the US.

The British Exchequer said it had acted under the Terrorist Asset Freezing Act against Iranian-American Manssor Arbabsiar and Qods Force officer Gholam Shakuri, both named in the formal US legal complaint. It is also sanctioning the head of the Qods Force, Qassem Soleimani, and two other officers who were not cited in the complaint but were identified by the US Treasury.

1825 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Detained lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh is PEN Canada's Empty Chair for the 32nd International Festival of Authors. Sotoudeh will also receive PEN Canada's One Humanity Award, given to a writer whose work "transcends the boundaries of national divides and inspires connections across cultures".

Now in its 17th year at the IFOA, the Empty Chair is used to highlight the case of a writer who is not permitted to travel freely or to appear at literary festivals around the world. Sotoudeh, prominent for her defence of human rights activists, was sentenced in December 2010 to 11 years in prison for "propaganda against the regime" and "acting against national security". The sentence was reduced to six years by an appeals court last month.

1725 GMT: Bank Fraud Watch. Mixed news for the Government from Iran Inspector General Mostafa Pourmohammadi....

Pourmohammadi said there were no documents establishing the involvement of the President's right-hand man Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai or 1st Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi in the bank fraud. However, the Inspector General said the amount was more than $2.6 billion and he blamed the Government for failure of oversight. He asked, "The Central Bank is responsible for the banking system, but who listens?", saying the Audit Court had sent 106 reports about misconduct to a Government committee http://t.co/Yo5nnFw

1719 GMT: Wall Street Shuffle. Iran has continued its emphasis on Occupy Wall Street. In the Majlis, 220 of 290 MPs have signed a letter of solidarity, presenting it as a follow-up to Ayatollah Khomeini's prediction about fall of Communism.

1709 GMT: All the President's Men. Controversial Ahmadinejad aide Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai has resurfaced after weeks of silence, saying that Iranians see no difference between heavenly and human messages,

We will have to see if clerics see a difference and resume their attacks on Rahim-Mashai for preaching an "Iranian" rather than "Islamic" approach to ideas.

1559 GMT: The Plot. Khabar Online reports that Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi summoned foreign ambassadors in Tehran to warn them of making hasty assessments on the alleged plot to kill the Saudi Ambassador to the US, calling it an "imagined scenario".

1459 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Abbas Palizdar, at the centre of corruption charges in Iran in 2008, was arrested last night to serve the remainder of a five-year sentence.

Palizdar was arrested in June 2008 as he was investigating the handling of Government corruption cases by the judiciary. He was convicted in on charges of corruption, spreading falsehoods, disclosing government secrets, and endangering national security.

0959 GMT: The Plot. Mehr claims, from a source, that Gholam Shakuri --- named by the US as the Quds Force officer working with Iranian-American Manssor Arbabsiar to kill the Saudi Ambassador to Washington --- is a senior member of the "terrorist" Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MKO) organisation.

The source claimed Shakuri has travelled to numerous countries with fake identity documents, including forged Iranian passports, and he was last seen in Washington and Iraq's Camp Ashraf, where MKO members live.

0959 GMT: Occupy Wall Street Watch. As Iranian authorities use Occupy Wall Street as a cudgel against the US over human rights, three US nationals who were imprisoned by Tehran --- two of them freed in September after 26 months in detention --- have supported the movement.

Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal and Sarah Shourd each spoke at the "Occupy Oakland" encampment in front of City Hall, where dozens of activists have been sleeping in tents for the past week. The three University of California graduates thanked supporters who called for their release and said they have inspired by the Wall Street protests.

"This is the perfect place to celebrate our freedom," said Bauer. "I feel proud of this happening in my city."

0955 GMT: Cartoon of the Day. Nikahang Kowsar is not very sympathetic about former President Hashemi Rafsanjani's plea to Iranians, "If you don't vote, we will fall!", over next March's Parliamentary elections:

0950 GMT: Economy Watch. Unionist Faramarz Toufighi has claimed 15 to 20% of workers in Tehran Province have been dismissed this year because of the low capital base in industry and manufacturing.

0500 GMT: Al Jazeera English, which has been limited in its coverage of Iran since June 2009 made a big deal of its interview with President Ahmadinejad last night; however, this morning there is little to highlight.

The President gave the regime's standard response to the US allegations of a Tehran-backed plan to kill the Saudi Ambassador to Washington:" The US administration is sorely mistaken. The US administration might want to divert attention from what's going on inside the US....The economic problems of the US are very serious." He then explained, ""Terror is for people...who don't have any logic. The people of Iran are pro-logic."

Ahmadinejad said Washington was trying to cause discord within the region and amongst the Iranian people with its claims, sweeping away any possibility this would succeed. Echoing a series of US interviewers in September, the President portrayed those who demonstrated against his disputed re-election as vandals and rioters, contrasting this with his love for all Iranians, even those who did not vote for him.

Ahmadinejad also used generalities to avoid any substantial remarks on the regional situation, such as Iran's position on the disputes within Syria: "We have never supported conflict or clashes or any bloodshed. From the get-go, we have condemned these things, whether the government officials kill the opposition or the opposition kill the government forces, we think this is the wrong thing to do."

If there was anything to take away from the interview --- and here I must admit that I am grasping for significance --- it lay in what Ahmadinejad did not say. There was no repetition of his opening to the US this autumn for renewed discussions on Iran's nuclear programme. Instead, Al Jazeera let him stand on this declaration, "We love Americans."