EA WorldView

1854 GMT: James Miller takes the liveblog.

Reuters is reporting that three separate explosions have rocked Iran's oil and gas industry, though the government is stating that they are unrelated:

The fatal incident at the oil field at Bibi Hakimeh near the Gulf occurred during drilling, when workers unexpectedly encountered an "enormous volume of unknown accumulated gas" in the layers of a reservoir, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported. Three people were injured.

Mehr also reported a separate blast at the Shazand oil refinery in central Iran, but the plant's managing director later told state radio the incident had been exaggerated.

"Nothing special has happened there. There was no fire at all," Majid Rajabi said. "The refinery is functioning normally."

The third blast happened on a 26-inch pipeline carrying gas to an oilfield in Gachsaran in south-western Iran later on Friday, according to the official IRNA news agency.

Even if the blasts turn out to be unrelated, in the direct sense, this will raise serious concerns about the safety of Iran's infrastructure, especially in light of the explosion at the Abadan refinery in May while Ahmadinejad was at the plant.

1810 GMT: Deviant Current Watch. Ali Rezaei, Friday Prayer leader in Birjand and a representative of the Supreme Leader, has said he did not participate in a provincial government meeting because members of the "deviant current" were present.

1755 GMT: The US Initiative. Opposition spokesman Ardeshir Amir Arjomand has distanced himself from the statements of US Secretary of State,Hillary Clinton, in particular, any notion of US intervention: "It is the citizens of Iran that will have to mobilize and force the authoritarian government to retreat from their current position and finally accept their demands, their will and their vote....Intervention by foreign powers is not a viable solution for the domestic issues and affairs of a sovereign nation."

Arjomand said his position was "the position of the leaders of Iran's Green Movement, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. Iran's Green movement is a grassroots movement with its roots deeply embedded in our country, in the heart of our citizens and their will and power to mobilize. We will continue to unequivocally emphasize the independence of the Green Movement, for it is this independence that is key to the strength of our movement."

Responding to Clinton's discussion of whether protesters might have asked for support after the 2009 Presidential election, Amir Arjomand said, "Support for what? Support to interfere in Iran's internal affairs? Such a request for assistance will certainly never take place. We have a proud and honorable nation that has always sought to independently resolve its own challenges."

1635 GMT: The Critical Professor. Sadegh Zibakalam continues to enhance his reputation as an Iranian academic testing the limits of permissible comment --- he has declared that a system that allows its opponents to criticise will never fall, adding that the Arab Spring strives for democratic freedom.

1615 GMT: Bank Fraud Watch. Aftab reports that one of the suspects in the $2.6 billion bank fraud has been released after 24 hours in detention. It does not name the man.

Earlier today (see 0650 GMT), it was reported that the Deputy Head of the Central Bank, Seyed Mohammad Pourmohammadi, had been arrested.

1610 GMT: Parliament v. President. Abbasali Kadkhodaei, the spokesman of the Guardian Council, has endorsed the Supreme Leader's suggestion last week that Iran could have a Prime Minister selected by Parliament rather than one elected by the people.

Kadkhodaei said the Parliamentary system does not harm the republicanism of the Iranian system, although a change of Constitution would be necessary.

1330 GMT: Your Tehran Friday Prayer Update. Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, the head of the Guardian Council, took the podium today with his Naughty List.

Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, the candidates in the 2009 Presidential election who are now under strict house arrest, got a mention for their "sedition". Candidates for next March's Parliamentary elections were told to behave. And the entire US Government, against whom people should protest, is beyond redemption.

Was there anyone on Jannati's Good List? Ah, yes, the "extremely careful" Guardian Council, ensuring that the next elections will proceed smoothly and correctly.

0920 GMT: Press Watch. Parisa Hafezi, the head of Reuters' bureau in Tehran, is one of three winners of the Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women's Media Foundation.

Hafezi has persisted in her reporting despite beatings, detentions, threats of arrest, and raids on Reuters' offices and her home.

The other winners are Adela Navarro Bello, the general director of Zeta newsmagazine in Tijuana, Mexico, and Chiranuch Premchaiporn, webmaster and director of Prachatai online newspaper in Thailand.

0915 GMT: The US Initiative. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast is not impressed with Hillary Clinton's interviews this week:

Mrs. Clinton's lack of information about Iran's issues has a history. Hence, she and other US administration officials are advised to stop using suppressive methods and exercising dictatorship inside the US and avoid continuing occupation and interventionist policies towards other countries instead of leveling accusations against others.

Mehmanaparast called on US officials to "meet the demands of their people, specially the youth, which are manifested in the Wall Street Protest Movement and comply with the demands and aspirations declared by the people in the Islamic Awakening and popular uprisings in the regional countries who want the US to give up support for dependent rulers and stop military and security presence and interference in the other countries' affairs".

0817 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Student Amin Niaeifar, released from Evin Prison after serving his sentence and receiving 30 lashes, is pictured (second from right) with friends, including journalist Jila Bani Yaghoub (right):

0815 GMT: The House Arrests. Former President Mohammad Khatami has met the children of Mir Hossein Mousavi, held under strict house arrest since mid-February. Khatami said the release of Mousavi and fellow opposition figure Mehdi Karroubi would improve the political situation and be beneficiary to all.

0805 GMT: The US Initiative. The National writes about Hillary Clinton's media appearances this week, headlining her proposal for a "virtual Embassy" but considering other issues. There is a cameo appearance by EA:

The US, however, is walking a fine line as it tries to broaden the wedge between the Iranian regime and its restless people while Washington pushes for more punitive measures.

After the alleged assassination plot against the Saudi ambassador to the US, Washington has raised the possibility of sanctions against the Central Bank of Iran, a move that Iranian opponents of their regime say would be humiliating.

"It's a double-edged sword. If the Americans really wanted to up the economic pressure, they'd move on Iran's Central Bank," Scott Lucas, an expert on relations between the US and Iran at Birmingham University in England, said.
"However, that would have the effect of alienating the Iranian people," he added.

0755 GMT: Reformist Watch. Former Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi, amidst debate amongst reformists over their next political moves, has issued a cautious statement around reformist involvement in next March's Parliamentary elections. Abtahi said that former President Mohammad Khatami had not set conditions for reformist participation in elections but had described the current situation.

Abtahi, who was detained for several months after the 2009 Presidential election, said reformists have no space to participate in the Parliamentary elections but some individuals may choose to do so.

0745 GMT: Execution Watch. RAHANA reports that the death sentence for Saeed Malekpour has been reaffirmed by a Revolutionary Court, which also imposed an additional sentence of 7 1/2 years in prison.

Malekpour, who had been a graduate student in Canada, was arrested in 2008 when he returned to Iran to visit his ailing father in 2008. He was charged with “taking action against national security by designing and moderating adult content websites", “agitation against the regime;” “contact with foreign entities;” “insulting the sanctity of Islam", and “insulting the Supreme Leader and President".

0705 GMT: Press Watch. Fouad Sadeghi, the chief editor of Ayande News, has announced the website will be closed.

Ayande is a "moderate" site in Iran's media which is often critical of the Government. In his announcement, Sadeghi described the filtering and arrests --- including his own --- which have hindered the website since 2009.

0700 GMT: We Love the Supreme Leader Watch. The commander of the Basij militia, Mohammad Reza Naqdi --- amidst stories of tension between the Supreme Leader and President and conflict between conservatives/principlists in advance of next March's Parliamentary elections --- has announced that his force will establish a "Representative Popular Defence Committee" on behalf of Ayatollah Khamenei.

0655 GMT: Elections Watch. Soulat Mortazavi, the head of Iran's election office, explains that launching an electoral supervisory committee is illegal, adding the assurance that the Islamic Republic has the best system for voting.

0650 GMT: Bank Fraud Watch. Aftab reports that Seyed Mohammad Pourmohammadi, the Vice President of Iran's Central Bank, has been arrested.

0635 GMT: Iran Prosecutor Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei told a press conference that two more arrests had been made in the $2.6 billion bank fraud, bringing the total number of suspects to 33.

That, however, was not the statement that caught our eye. Mohseni Ejei had a plea for Iranian judges, asking them from unnecessary arrests for financial or minor delinquencies because Iran's "prisons are full".

Readers are invited to offer any other suggestions how Iran might reduce its population behind bars.