The Latest from Iran: Nowruz Mubarak

1905 GMT: Claimed video from Shiraz of people welcoming in Iranian New Year with political slogans such as "Death to Dictator":

1535 GMT: Message from Iran. A source from Tehran gets through to EA....

He reports severe Internet slowdowns before and after rallies Before rallies security forces are lining up on streets meter by meter, and plainclothes "thugs" are mixing with protesters on demonstration days.

"People are furious", he continues, saying that the economic situation is even worse than they had expected and they fear heavy inflation to come.

His conclusion? "People are killed and disappear but the Green Movement is still strong."

1500 GMT: The House Arrests. Ali Karroubi, the son of Mehdi and Fatemeh Karroubi, has said in a short message his personal blog that he had been allowed to meet his parents on Sunday. He gave no further details.

0840 GMT: Another Death. Saham News reports that Behnoud Ramezani, a university student in Babol in northern Iran, was killed last Tuesday night during celebrations of Chahrshanbeh Suri (Fire Festival).

0745 GMT: A Supreme Leader's New Year. More on Ayatollah Khamenei's message looking beyond Iran to the Middle East and North Africa....

"We hope that God almighty will immediately relieve the Bahraini nation, the Yemeni nation, and the Libyan nation, and punish the enemies of the nations with his torment," Khamenei said in a televised address. "What is happening to the people in these countries does not allow one to feel the full extent of the joyfulness of the (New Year) feast."

The Supreme Leader, in a twist on the US-led strategy against Tehran, said Iran would make the coming year one of "economic jihad" to foil enemies and support peoples' uprisings: "The sanctions which the enemies of the Iranian nation have imposed have been undertaken with the intention of inflicting a blow to our country's advancement, prevent it from realising the outcome of its steady efforts. Of course, their intention will not materialise."

In a reference which finally brought the New Year's message back to Iran, Khamenei said President Ahmadinejad's subsidy cuts programme was a "major stride" in economic reform.

0545 GMT: Nowruz Mubarak --- Happy New Year....

The Iranian year 1390 has begun. Activists have been circulating best wishes, requests to write letters of support to political prisoners, and pictures:

President Ahmadinejad put out his own message this morning with the "hope that the advent of spring would bring peace and justice to the world". State media, however, is still far more concerned with events abroad rather than celebrations at home --- the top stories on Bahrain and Yemen are now joined by coverage of Libya, as the Supreme Leader's Nowruz statement focused on triumph for the people of all three countries.

Yet, as The Los Angeles Times notes, the Iranian regime --- and the reformist opposition --- are somewhat conflicted over the new addition to that trio. The desire to back the uprisings of Arab people, linking them to the Islamic Revolution, is now caught up in worry that the US and European foes are assisting the uprising in Libya. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said on Sunday, "The past records of foreign military interventions by world powers have been rather suspicious."

And so the final irony for the Nowruz Mubarak of 1390: the most forthright message about the "Iranian people" may have come thousands of miles away from President Barack Obama, whose video greeting (see separate entry) was a strong declaration of support for human rights and denunciation of the regime's imprisonment and intimidation of lawyers, students, and activists.