The Latest from Iran (16 April): What Happened in Ahwaz?

2030 GMT: Explosions. The head of Kurdistan police reports that two bombs have gone off in Sanandaj. There are no casualties.

1845 GMT: Ahwaz Watch. An Ahwazi Arab activist site is claiming that a 37 year-old man, Abdulrahman Ghasem Badawi, was slain on Thursday night at a checkpoint 20 km (12.5 miles) outside Ahwaz.

1840 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Azeri journalist and civil activist Sima Didar has reportedly been arrested in Tabriz.

1645 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Press photographer Artin Ghazanfari has started a one-year sentence in Evin Prison.

1640 GMT: The House Arrests. Ali Saeedi, the Supreme Leader's representative to the Revolutionary Guard, has given a practical --- if not a legal --- explanation for the indefinite house arrests of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi and Fatemeh Karroubi: "The time is not ripe to confront leaders of fitna [sedition]. House arrest is most suitable [for them]."

1400 GMT: The President's Right-Hand Man (and the Iran School). Umm, this might be interesting....

State news agency IRNA is highlighting today's speech by Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, confidante and aide to the President, at the National Museum proclaiming the travels of the Persian king Cyrus around the worlds showing "the greatness of the Iranian nation". Rahim-Mashai continued, "If our nation today, with its glorious Islamic Revolution exports its story, the world should know of Iran's long history in providing humanitarian messages."

That might seem an anodyne statement, but in the context of the heated political and clerical criticism of Rahim-Mashai for promoting an "Iran school" rather than an Islamic-first approach, the speech could be seen as a stand-firm response from the aide, who is reportedly planning a run for President in 2013.

0645 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Political prisoners who have been on hunger strike in Rajai Shahr Prison --- inclding jailed labour activist Mansur Osanloo, Rasoul Bodaghi of the Iranian Teacher’s Association, journalists Isa Saharkhiz and Reza Rafaii, political activists Heshmatollah Tabarzadi and Behrouz Javid, and student activists Ali Ajami and Majid Tavakoli --- have written United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to press their demands for fundamental rights for Iranians. They asked Ban to send an envoy to report on the human rights situation in the country.

The prisoners went on hunger strike last weekend.

0615 GMT: Clerical Intervention. Maulana Abdul Hamid, the Sunni Friday Prayer leader in Zahedan in southeastern Iran, used his sermon this week to call for justice and an end to ethnic and religious discrimination.

0600 GMT: A mystery to begin Saturday....

Yesterday morning we saw the notices from Iranian Arab activists of a "Day of Rage" in Ahwaz in the west of the country, near the top of the Persian Gulf. The rally was called to march the sixth anniversary of a crackdown which killed more than 150 demonstrators, but it also was being held to press current demands for rights and an end to discrimination.

However, with Ahwaz a few hundred miles from Tehran to the general restrictions on communications and media in Iran, it was extremely difficult to get confirmed news during the day. Al Arabiya had the sole report from a mainstream outlet, claiming four protesters slain by security forces and many arrested. Later, activists said nine people were dead with "scores" injured and hundreds of detentions. This morning, those claims continue.