The Latest from Iran (12 July): Arresting the "Deviant Current"

1700 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Detained journalist Isa Saharkhiz has written to Ahmad Shaheed, the UN Human Rights Rapporteur on Iran, "What is happening now in the Islamic Republic prisons is a crime against humanity and has nothing less than Stalin’s inhumane treatment of prisoners in the forced labour camps of Siberia."

Referring to the death of two political prisoners, Hoda Saber and Mohsen Dokmehchi, Saharkhiz wrote, "They are deliberately trying to destroy us and have prepared a silent death for us because they fear our survival even behind bars."

Hoda Saber, a political activist and journalist died 10 days into his hunger strike, while Mohsen Dokmehchi, a businessman arrested in the post-election protests of 2009 and sentenced to 10 years in prison, died last March from pancreatic cancer.

Saharkhiz, arrested in July 2009 and sentenced to three years in prison for "insulting the Supreme Leader and the regime", urged Shaheed to act immediately to inform the public of the prisoners’ plight, stressing that any delay will only result in more deaths.

1555 GMT: As former President Mohammad Khatami tries to negotiate his position on the 2012 Parliamentary elections (see 1505 GMT), Nikahang Kowsar depicts his risky position:

1540 GMT: The House Arrests. The Islamic Society of Iranian Physicians, which has links with reformist groups, has called for physical check-ups of opposition figures Mir Hosein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi by independent doctors.

Mousavi and Karroubi, along with their spouses Zahra Rahnavard and Fatemeh Karroubi, have been held under strict house arrest for almost five months.

The physicians describes the house arrests as illegal and called for the release of the detainees.

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Last week, Zahra Rahnavard’s mother, Navab Safavi, reported that her daughter and Mousavi appeared to be pale and underweight during her visit with them last month.

1525 GMT: Irony Watch. President Ahmadinejad has told visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu:

Today, the people of the region must enjoy equal rights, the right to vote, security and dignity, and no government can deprive them of freedom and justice or refuse their peoples' demands....The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that all regional governments can run their countries by introducing reforms and realizing their peoples' demands."

1520 GMT: Elections Watch. The spokesman of the Guardian Council, Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei Kadkhodaei, has claimed that the Council will judge the applications of candidates for the 2012 Parliamentary elections without regard to their political party.

Prominent reformist parties, such as the Mojaheadin of Islamic Revolution and Islamic Iran Participation Front, have been suspended by the Iranian courts since last year.

1505 GMT: Reformist Watch. It looks like former President Mohammad Khatami is pulling back from his proposal of participation in the 2012 Parliamentary elections.

Khatami had set three requirements for involvement --- freeing of political prisoners, adherence to the Constitution, and a free and fair electoral process --- but had been criticised by activists and other reformists for even advancing the possibility of participation.

Khatami, in a meeting with political activists on Monday, re-stated the three provisos but added, "We should not participate in the elections under these conditions." He added that this was his "personal opinion" and called for consultations.

The shift puts Khatami in line with prominent reformist Mostafa Tajzadeh, who said during a recent furlough from his nine-year prison sentence that while it had been right before the 2009 President elections to participate and ensure a minority presence in Parliament, the conditions were no longer suitable for involvement.

1500 GMT: Economy Watch. Back from an extended academic break to find an editorial in the daily newspaper Khorasan quoting a housewife to the President, "After subsidy cuts, we have to remove meat and fruits from our table."

0805 GMT: Arresting the "Deviant Current". Both Entekhab and Ayande go beyond our initial update (see 0520 GMT) on the arrests of advisors around President Ahmadinejad to claim that Vice President Hamid Baghaei is being interrogated.

The assertion appears to be an exaggeration of AFP's general statement, "Hamid Baghaie, vice president for executive affairs, is under judicial investigation for administrative irregularities during his tenure as head of the tourism board," rather than a summary of the specific comments of the Iran Prosecutor General.

0555 GMT: Foreign Affairs. Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani has called for a "mutually respectful dialogue" with the US.

Rafsanjani has long advocated a pragmatic approach towards Washington --- he referred to the easing of tensions while he was President --- but this re-stated position puts him alongside his foe Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. As late as February, Ahmadinejad was trying to pursue discussions with the US through a trip by his right-hand man, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, to New York. The attempt was aborted because of opposition from other Iranian conservatives and principlists.

0545 GMT: Cyber-Watch. Google Plus may still be in pilot stage, but Iranian authorities are taking no chances. ITNA, Iran’s Telecommunications News Agency, said the social networking service will not be accessible.

0520 GMT: The Revolutionary Guards' attack on Mohammad Reza Khatami, trying to contain the brother of the former President after he criticised the military for intervening in politics, continued on Monday.  Mohammad Reza Naqdi, the head of the Guards' Intelligence Bureau, said Khatami was a mercenary,  a barbarian, a traitor, "scum", and an "ajnabi" (a pejorative term for a foreigner).

However, it was the continuing fight within the establishment that stole attention. Iran Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei confirmed that arrests had been made in connection with the "deviant current", the euphemism for the camp of President Ahmadinejad.

Ejei said, "Those arrested, in addition to economic and moral issues, have security problems," although the charges were yet to be "proven".

The latest move appeared to be a continued effort to break the allies of Ahmadinejad's right-hand man and Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai. Ejei said "some staff at the Organisation of Tourism and Cultural Heritage", which Rahim-Mashai and suspended Vice President Hamid Baghaei have each headed, and one person working at the national museum had been detained.

Over the last month, the arrests of more than a dozen Ahmadinejad staff and allies over corruption, finanical "violations", and sorcery have emerged. It is unclear if Ejei was referring yesterday to any new detentions.

But Ejei had a sharp comment over Ahmadinejad's recent warning of a "red line" on any further moves against his inner circle. The Prosecutor General said, ""The judicial system never compromises when confronting the officials violating laws."