The Latest from Iran (22 June): A Bad Day for Ahmadinejad

1810 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. Website supporting the President are hitting back....

Didgah News claims all political tensions have arisen "from the graves of monopolists who hide behind the Supreme Leader". Bultan News declares that "bad MPs who interfere in govt matters" will weaken the Government and the Majlis.

1740 GMT: The Supreme Leader's Men. Iranian media are reporting that Mojtaba Zolnour, the Supreme Leader's representative to the Revolutionary Guards, is leaving his post. The reason is unclear. Hafte Sobh, the website linked to Presidential Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, says he has been dismissed for slander, while Fars claims Zolnour is running for Parliament next year.

In recent weeks, Zolnour has been an outspoken critic of the "deviant" current around President Ahmadinejad, including Rahim-Mashai (see 1500 GMT).

1725 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Journalist Zahra Yazdani was arrested Tuesday at home.

Yazdani's father is the owner of the Asre Eghtesad daily newspaper.

1715 GMT: Clerical Intervention. Ayatollah Dastgheib, a persistent critic of the Government has declared, "This will pass --- some thought they will rule forever, but death does not give them a chance."

1640 GMT: The Battle Within. MP Asadollah Badamchian keeps up the warnings about the threat inside the establishment, specifically the "deviant current" around President Ahmadinejad --- the "next fitna (sedition) will be much more complicated; the 'deviant current' wants to gain at least 150 seats in next Majlis".

1505 GMT: Invitation of Day. Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, speaking at a conference in Tehran, has claimed that Tehran has invited the United Nations Human Rights Commission, Navi Pillay, to visit Iran and hopes that she comes.

Earlier this week, leading MPs said the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Iran, appointed by the Commission in March, would not be allowed into the country.

1500 GMT: All the President's Men. Mojtaba Zolnour, the Supreme Leader's representative to the Revolutionary Guards, has added another jibe to his recent attacks on President Ahmadinejad's advisors --- he says that Presidential Chief of Staff "thought he would be killed on 14 Khordad (4 June) and the Hidden Imam would appear on 15 Khordad (5 June)".

1450 GMT: Parliament v. President. Parliament has formally stopped impeachment proceedings against Foreign Minister Akbar Salehi after the withdrawal of a Presidential ally as Deputy Foreign Minister.

Almost 40 MPs had signed an impeachment order, but 30 of them have withdrawn their names after Mohammad Sharif Malekzadeh, proposed to head the administration of the Foreign Ministry, stepped aside.

1440 GMT: Foreign Affairs (Syrian Front). Diplomats report that the European Union has included three Iranians in an extension of sanctions against Syria.

Four military-linked entities and seven individuals, linked to suppression of dissent, will be cited in the new measures. The Iranians are allegedly involved in providing equipment and support for operations.

For more on Syria, see our Yemen, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog.

1325 GMT: Claim of Day. Iranian Labor News Agency asserts that Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani met with a reformist MP last month to encourage reformists to run in the next Parliamentary elections.

ILNA says its source has indicated that Larijani continues to make efforts to meet with reformist representatives: “Mr. Larijani criticized the current parliamentary makeup and said the coming Parliament must be composed of moderate and experienced individuals from both factions [reformists and conservatives] in order to avoid the current problems.”

Reformist MP Jalal Jalalizadeh told ILNA that his colleagues are still undecided about joining the 2012 elections. Jalilizadeh said conditions set out by former president Mohammad Khatami --- including the freeing of political prisoners and adherence to the Constitution as well as free elections --- must be met before such issues can be discussed.

1320 GMT: Currency Watch. Green Voice of Freedom claims that exchange offices have been banned from selling foreign exchange for travel, so the foreign currently is now only available at airports.

1315 GMT: Economy Watch. A report by Parliament's Research Committee says only 25% of the 4th Budget Plan (2005-2010) was fulfilled even though oil income increased by 250% during the period.

1310 GMT: Parliament v. President. I guess this is one way to handle rejection....

The State news agency IRNA did not publish an article about Parliament's vote against the nomination of Hamid Sajjadi as Minister of Sport, preferring to post glowing commments about him instead.

1300 GMT: The Battle Within. Guardian Council spokesman Abbasali Kadkhodai, pointing to further curbs on the Ahmadinejad camp, has declared that Parliament has the authority to postpone the merger of ministries.

The Government's plans for mergers have been contested for months, with Parliament challenging specific proposals and recently passing a bill to put off all mergers until 2014.

1255 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani has spoken about the current political conflict, "Recent painful events are a result of moral limits weakened by a specific current that violates Islamic values by spreading lies and slander."

In his ocmments, Rafsanjani referred to a series of gang rapes --- in which the culprits have not punished but, on at least one occasion, the victim has reportedly been detained --- which have angered activists.

1215 GMT: Press Watch (Political Prisoner Edition). Rah-e Sabz reports that photojournalist Maryam Majd (see 0555 GMT), heading for Germany to cover the Women's World Cup in football, was arrested last Thursday at her father's home.

0755 GMT: Diplomatic Front. Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has appointed Behrouz Kamalvandi as his new deputy for administrative and financial affairs. Kamalvandi replaces Mohammad Sharif Malekzadeh, whose nomination drew criticism until Malekzadeh withdrew his name on Tuesday.

Kamalvandi is Iran's former ambassador to Indonesia and Zimbabwe and served two terms as the director general of the Iranian Foreign Ministry's administrative, supervisory and evaluation affairs. Most recently, he has been deputy foreign minister for the Americas.

0745 GMT: Claimed footage from Monday of the mother of Neda Agha Soltan, mourning at her daughter's grave on the second anniversary of her death by gunfire from security forces. She cries that Neda was no soldier and had no weapon but was shot down: "For 2 years I'm waiting, they cannot find her murderer."

0705 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. MP Ali Borughani has repeated that Government payments, known as "justice shares", made to nine million people before the 2009 Presidential elections are being investigated by the Article 90 Commission, which oversees Government activity.

Critics have claimed that the payments of 80,000 tomans (about $80) each were a manipulation of the elections by the Ahmadinejad campaign.

0700 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Thamin Emani and Zhayna Enayati, two of three members of the Baha' faith arrested in Isfahan on Monday, have been released.

In contrast, Afruz Farmanbardari and Nushin Khadem, two of 16 Baha'i arrested in raids a month ago targetting the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education, have still not had any contact with their families.

0650 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. Abbas Amirifar, the leader of Friday Prayers in the President's office, has been released after 50 days in Evin Prison.

Amirifar's detention has been seen as a marker of the effort to curb Ahmadinejad and his Chief of Staff, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai.

0640 GMT: Security Watch. An EA source reports from Tehran that black-clad Basiji militia on motorbikes have been patrolling regularly for about two months, perhaps because of concern over events in Syria. The men, who also control the public parks, are armed w clubs and electric "shockers".

The source also claims, "Many people have disappeared without a trace, families have besieged prisons and offices to find them. Even government and IRGC [Revolutionary Guard] officials disappear."

0615 GMT: Picture/Video of the Day. Journalist and activist Emad Baghi with his family after his release from prison (see 0550 GMT):

And Baghi with well-wishers:

0555 GMT: Picture of the Day. Photojournalist Maryam Majd in Iran's national venue for sports, Azadi Stadium --- on Tuesday, news emerged that Majd had been detained while en route to Germany to cover the Women's World Cup in footaball:

0550 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Journalist and activist Emad Baghi offered this short message on his release from Evin Prison yesterday, "Although I am going, half my existence is still imprisoned with you."

Baghi was sentenced in 2010 to at least six years in prison, in part because of an interview with the late Grand Ayatollah Montazeri, but an appeals courts reduced this to one year, allowing Baghi to go free for time served.

0520 GMT: Fashion Watch (You Heard It Here First). I guess this is now officially a Really Big Story, as CNN has taken notice: "Iran Bans Necklaces for Men".

Just remember EA and Stephen Colbert were already on the story last week, "Men's Fashion Video Special: Are These Shorts Getting You in the Mahmoud?"

Still, kudos to CNN for getting to the heart, or something like that, of the matter:

A YouTube video from Iranian state TV [initially posted at Tehran Bureau] features a discussion in which jeans are said to actually come from the word "jinn" --- invisible creatures who know the unknowable. The young man in the video says wearing jeans is also supposed to have a hazardous effect on a man's testicles because it raises the temperature. 

0500 GMT: It was a very bad day for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday. It began with the demise of his nominee for Deputy Foreign Minister, it continued with the rejection of his nominee for Minister of Sport, and it included --- according to reports --- a snub by MPs who pretended not to notice he had entered the legislative chamber.

Maybe the only consolation for the President was that these developments were unlikely to get headline attention outside Tehran --- a Minister of Sport doesn't exactly strike the casual reader as the cutting edge of politics. 

But, of course, these skirmishes were just the public marker of Ahmadinejad's reduction. Last December, he rudely dismissed the Foreign Minister. In March, he was trying to take control of the Ministry of Intelligence. In April, he wanted personal oversight of the Ministry of Oil. Now he couldn't even manage to get in an ally to present all football-related matters.

This morning, Ahmadinejad's cheerleader in the Iranian media, State news agency IRNA, headlines on Afghanistan and declares that the Foreign Minister won't be impeached.

The evasion and reassurance are rather empty, however; the President --- in stature and in authority --- shrank just a bit more on Tuesday.