The Latest from Iran (13 November): An Explosion at a Military Base

See also Iran Video Special: The Fire Under the Ashes
The Latest from Iran (12 November): The Rise of the "Cotton Hero"

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2045 GMT: The Explosion. With the Revolutionary Guards "correcting" news about the blast at its Malard base twice within 24 hrs, Asr-e Iran has jabbed at the censorship and "informational shame".

2030 GMT: Corruption Watch. Iran's Inspector General Mostafa Pourmohammadi has said that the effects of financial corruption are worse than sanctions.

Hossein Fadayi of Parliament's Article 90 Commission offers a far different message: combating corruption is proceeding reasonably, and the Supreme Leader and his children are "the cleanest people".

2019 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Journalist Hassan Fathi has been arrested on charges of working with the BBC.

Fathi was apparently detained because of an interview he did with BBC Persian about Saturday's explosion at the Revolutionary Guards base in Malard, west of Tehran.

1619 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Arman Zamani, a member of the Kurdish Students Democratic Alliance, has been arrested.

1615 GMT: CyberWatch. Brigadier General Gholamreza Jalali, the head of Iran's civil defence, has said that Tehran can "control" the computer malware Duqu, known as the "Son of Stuxnet": "The software to control the virus has been developed and made available to organisations and corporations."

In 2010 Stuxnet --- claimed by some to have been developed by the US and Israel to undermine Iran's nuclear programme --- infected more than 30,000 computers in the country.

Duqu infections have been reported in a dozen countries, including Iran, France, Britain and India.

1610 GMT: When the Music Stopped. Members of the Tehran Symphony Orchestra have halted rehearsals because they have not been paid.

1604 GMT: Environment Watch. Mehr reports that 65% of Iran's largest lake, Lake Urmia, has now dried to salt.

The destruction of the lake, due to drought, development, dams, and poor irrigation, prompted mass protests in northwest Iran this summer.

1600 GMT: A Mysterious Death. Police in Dubai have ruled that the death of Ahmed Rezaei, the son of 2009 Presidential candidate Mohsen Rezaei, was suicide.

An official said Ahmed Rezaei was found in on the 18th floor of a hotel with a slit left wrist.

1549 GMT:The Explosion. An interesting addition to the news of Saturday's explosion at the Revolutionary Guards base west of Tehran --- the Revolutionary Guards Commander killed in the blast, Rashid Islam Hassan Moghaddam, was a senior general in charge of an artillery and missile unit and wass responsible for industrial research aimed at ensuring self-sufficiency of the Revolutionary Guards' armaments.

A photo of the Supreme Leader and Moghaddam:

1149 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Baha’i member Anvar Moslemi has begun serving a one-year sentence for anti-regime propaganda.

Journalist and Kurdish political activist Saeed Saedi has been sentenced to three years in prison by a Revolutionary Court. He has been given two years for “illegal gathering and collusion against the regime” and one year for “propaganda against the regime.”

Saedi was arrested on 22 December with 26 other activists in Sanandaj in northwest Iran.

1145 GMT: An Unusual Death. Mehr reports that Ahmad Rezaei --- son of Mohsen Rezaei, the Secretary of the Expediency Council and 2009 Presidential candidate --- has died under suspicious circumstances in Dubai.

1005 GMT: Cartoon of Day. Sharp comment from Nikahang Kowsar, linking the Supreme Leader's declaration this week that the regime would meet any US or Israeli attack with "iron fists" and Saturday's incident at the Revolutionary Guards base --- "He wanted to slap the US and exploded":

0955 GMT: Nuke Watch. An eyebrow-raising moment as Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani addressed the Majlis on Saturday....

Larijani was telling the legislators that Parliament would consider the maintenance of co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, despite this week's IAEA report claiming Tehran moves towards a militarised nuclear programme. Suddenly Radio Farhang of State broadcaster IRIB was cut off.

Earlier in the week, Iranian State media highlighted a declaration by some MPs that Tehran might pull out of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

0930 GMT: Proper Fashion Watch. Asr-e Iran reports that Iran authorities are planning to remove foreign clothes from shops.

Esa Keshavarz, the Working Secretary of the Apparel and Fashion Organizing Group, said, “The main duty of this year’s {Fashion and Clothing] Show is to update the Iranian-Islamic culture among producers’ production line. This working group is under the watchful eye of the Guidance Council and the show is [also] under the direct supervision of the Minister of Guidance. After the inauguration of the new internal production line, foreign productions will be removed from the clothes and fashion line."

0808 GMT: Diplomatic Insult of the Day. Not quite sure where Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani is heading with this remark, "[US Secretary of State] Clinton has mixed up diplomacy with dolls and beauty care."

0805 GMT: Parliament v. President. The issue of Parliamentary questioning of the President swings back and forth. Khabar Online reports that the interrogation is back on, with 74 MPs, one more than the required number, signing the petition.

0755 GMT: A Shooting. A curious incident on Saturday, as Yadollah Sadeghi, the head of the Tehran Organization for Industry, Mines, and Trade, was shot three times in his office by a deputy whom he wanted to dismiss.

0745 GMT: A dramatic and confusing Saturday, from the moment we received first reports of a blast at a Revolutionary Guards base west of Tehran. Accounts of the explosion, which was said by Iranian media to have occurred at an arms depot, fluctuated. Initial estimates of "several people killed" rose as high to "more than 40" before the Guards settled on 27 and then --- blaming a fax error --- reducing that to 17, with 16 wounded. 

There is little new information this morning, particularly over the Revolutionary Guards' assertion that the explosion occurred as ammunition was being moved. While some officials quickly denied sabotage, Press TV has not updated since Saturday afternoon, and State news agency IRNA has only a brief mention that funerals of those killed will be today.

Fars also focuses on the funeral, but highlights the death of a Revolutionary Guards Commander, Rashid Islam Hassan Moghaddam, with a message of sympathy from the President.

The relative silence leaves space for The Financial Times to put the incident in the context of current tensions for Iran --- an Iranian woman comments, “I heard in my Yoga class today that it was a missile attack but we do not know if it was by the US or Israel.”