The Latest from Iran (22 April): More Questions About Intelligence

1805 GMT: our Tehran Friday Prayer Update --- Part 2. Ayatollah Emami Kashani, unlike other Iranian figures like the President, dared to mention this week's dispute over the "resignation" of the Minister of Intelligence.

The Ayatollah said the uproar was all due to "Western media": “Through such acts they intend to suggest there is division and conflict in the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

1800 GMT: Your Tehran Friday Prayer Update. Ayatollah Emami Kashani steps up to the podium today to pronounce on the Islamic and popular nature of the recent revolutions in the Middle East, explaining saying that violence will not stop the uprisings.

The cleric condemned the silence of Arab leaders over "massacres", “Those who are among the Muslim nations, instead of preventing the killing of the Muslim people of Bahrain, Libya, Yemen and other countries and supporting the people, talk nonsense."

There is no report that Emami Kashani said the word "Syria" in his address.

1755 GMT: All Hail Rahim-Mashai. Abbas Amirifar, the head of Iran's cultural council, has asserted that Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai will be Iran's next President. He explained that principlists have "lost their efficiency" and all Rahim-Mashai's words are confirmed by President Ahmadinejad.

1745 GMT: Day Trip of the Day. Iranian media have been publicising the announcement that 200 Basiji members struck out in two private ships from Bushehr in southern Iran to go to Bahrain to support protesters.

However, the two ships were soon forced by Iranian maritime police to return to Bushehr.

1730 GMT: Clerical Intervention. Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani, the head of the Assembly of Experts, in an interview with the weekly Shoma, has said some principlists are claiming the clergy has lost its influence among the Iranian people. He continued that the Ahamadinejad camp should not create divisions among principlists.

Then, in a likely jab at Ahmadinejad aide Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, Mahdavi Kani declared that the "Iran School" was created with the reasoning that the clergy has no base any longer.

1715 GMT: The President's Right-Hand Man. More confusion and rumour around the Ahmadinejad camp --- Fars has removed, without explanation, its claim that the President's close aide Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai is in good health.

And Digarban, citing Asr-e Iran, claims that pro-Government bloggers are distancing themselves from Ahmadinejad.

1645 GMT: Missing Attorney. Peyke Iran reports that prominent attorney Mohammad Seifzadeh, a co-founder of the Center of Defenders of Human Rights, has not been seen for more than two weeks.

Seifzadeh was sentenced during the post-election crisis to nine years in prison with a 10-year ban from practicing law.

1640 GMT: Revolutionary Guard Names Its Price. Gooya claims that the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, General Mohammad Ali Jafari, has blocked the involvement of the IRGC in projects worth less than $100 million.

0925 GMT: Labour Front. Radio Farda reports the end of a "successful" strike by 1500 employees at the Bandar Imam Petrochemical Complex in western Iran, with management agreeing with their demands over working conditions.

0920 GMT: A Matter of Intelligence. The conservative website Aftab claims that President Ahmadinejad's office has challenged the Supreme Leader's letter maintaining Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi in office, asking if the communication is official.

The website also says provocative that Ahmadinejad's right-hand man Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai is preparing to be the next president of Iran.

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0730 GMT: Cartoon of the Day. Nikahang Kowsar features President Ahmadinejad's acceptance of the Supreme Leader's public letter keeping the Minister of Intelligence in his post:

0620 GMT: The Battle Within. Radio Zamaneh reports that at least four Iranian websites supporting Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have been blocked by the Islamic Republic Internet Filtering Commission.

One of the four is DowlateYar, which broke the "news" this week that Ahmadinejad had dismissed Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi and taken personal control of the Ministry, hours before the Supreme Leader intervened publicly and kept Moslehi in his post. The website warned that persistent attacks on the Government could lead to “bloody street confrontations".

The other three are Mahramaneh News, Bakeri Online, and Rahva.

Decisions on filtering websites are made by a committee of 12 officials, headed by Iran Prosecutor General, Gholam-Hosein Mohseni-Ejei. Mohseni-Ejei, who was replaced as Minister of Intelligence in 2009, has called Ahmadienejad's recent actions "inexplicable" (see 0530 GMT).

0545 GMT: Campus Watch. According to Tehran Emrooz, the Minister of Higher Education and Science, Kamran Daneshjoo, and the head of the Friday Prayer Leaders' Policymaking Council have agreed that Prayer leaders will teach at Iranian universities.

The agreement was reached on Wednesday, with Daneshjoo saying it will "reinforce piety and Islamic values in academic society."

0540 GMT: A Prediction About Intelligence. Jahangir Salehian, writing for Tehran Bureau, offers the most striking prediction this morning:

If a purge as has happened before does loom on the horizon, Ahmadinejad and his circle stand very little chance of survival. They have little support among the reformist-minded public, who tried to oust him democratically, and little respect among conservatives and religious traditionalists who regard the president and his coterie as disdainful of the norms of obedience to the Supreme Leader. It has pained them to watch Ahmadinejad and the people around him readily ignore or even indirectly challenge Khamenei's wishes and, at times, explicit directives.

0530 GMT: The Supreme Leader may have tried to defuse the dispute over the attempt by the President's office to forced resignation of Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi, but the conflict rumbles on.

Even as the President was speaking in Kurdistan, Iran Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei was telling a gathering in Lorestan in western Iran that Ahmadinejad's recent moves were “inexplicable". He said that any action affected the Ministry of Intelligence must be done carefully to protect an important agency.

Mohseni Ejei was pushed out as Minister of Intelligence by Ahmadinejad soon after the 2009 Presidential election and replaced by Moslehi amidst manoeuvres for control of the Ministry

Despite the Supreme Leader's intervention, keeping Moslehi in his post but asking the Ministry to maintain high standards in its work,  Ahmadinejad’s official website has not yet published the letter and the President has offered no public response.