The Latest from Iran (25 July): A Glimpse of Political Prisoners

Claimed footage of frustrated people watching police as they attempt to remove satellite dishes from a neighbourhood in Sarvestan in southern Iran

1840 GMT: The Battle Within. The Supreme Leader has established a "Supreme Board of Arbitration and Adjustment of Relations among the Three Branches of Government" to "regulate the relations between the three branches of government in their interactions and resolve possible disputes".

Ayatollah Khatami appointed Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi, former head of Iran's judiciary and current member of the Guardian Council, as the head of the Supreme Board.

1820 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Actress/filmmaker Pegah Ahangarani, detained earlier this month, has been freed on bail.

Ahangarani was detained just before she was due in Germany to cover the Women's Football World Cup. The reason for her detention is still unknown.

The 4 1/2-year sentence of Kurdish activist Shahram Bolouri for “assembly and collusion against the regime” has been upheld by an appeals court. Branch 36 of Tehran’s Appeals Court.

Bolouri was arrested by security forces at his home on 23 June 2009. He was released on $200,0000 bail on 16 February 2010.

1810 GMT: Reformist Watch. Yet another sign of reformists in Parliament getting more aggressive with the regime, amidst the debate over the 2012 Parliamentary elections. Mohammad Reza Tabesh has said that principlists apply stick-and-carrot tactics against reformists and suggested that, without changes, participation may be useless.

Meanwhile, Hassan Ghafourifard, head of Iran's House of Parties, has given a conciliatory signal: the nezam (system) has assessed that former President Mohammad Khatami is not the head of "fitna" (sedition) and is acceptably within the system.

1805 GMT: Economy Watch. Hossein Taghavi, a member of Parliament's National Security Commission has said that the closure of companies and rising unemployment are the main reasons for the increase of insecurity in Iran.

1740 GMT: The Battle Within. Digarban has just published the English translation of an interview with Jafar Shojouni, a member of the Combatant Clergy Association, which is causing ripples in political circles.

Shojouni's line matches our analysis of a Supreme Leader trying to contain the President, but stopping short of removing him from power --- he said that Ayatollah Khamenei "now wants to tolerate Ahmadinejad, [with' the same approach as repair and maintenance project".

Talking to the reformist newspaper Shargh, Shojouni added, "If the Leader says that this person is no longer useful, we all will say that he is not useful." However, "we are not going to beat Ahmadi Nejad now. We like him less than before but we still like him".

Shojouni also put out the unconfirmed claimed that "[Vice President] Hamid Baghaei was arrested some days ago but freed for some reason, although the judicial investigations continue about him". He assserted that Baghaei and some other members of Ahmadinejad's team are barred from leaving the country.

1625 GMT: Kahrizak Watch. Iran Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei has emphasised that the cases of those accused of involvement in the post-election abuses at the Kahrizak detention centre remain under investigation.

Saeed Mortazavi, the Tehran Prosecutor General in 2009 and now an advisor to President Ahmadinejad, said last week that he had been "acquitted" of any crime over Kahrizak, where three detainees were murdered amidst the abuses.

Mortazavi and three judges have formally been suspended by an Iranian court over their claimed role, but the Presidential advisor continues in his office.

1615 GMT: Border Watch. Iranian forces have renewed shelling of suspected insurgent positions in Iraqi Kurdistan, killing two civilians and wounded three, according to Iraqi officials.

The artillery fire hit the small town of Sidkan, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) into Iraq.

In recent days, Iran's military has clashed with the Kurdish separatist group PJAK. An Iranian senior commander and five troops were slain this weekend, soon after Iran had reportedly occupied three PJAK camps in Iraq.

1605 GMT: Oil Watch. In another sign of the effect of US-led sanctions, Iran and China are reportedly discussing a barter system exchanging Iranian oil for Chinese goods and services.

The Financial Times, citing sources close to the case, claimed that the sanctions have blocked China from paying at least $20 billion for oil. Beijing may owe Iran as much as $30 billion over the last two years.

Officials of the two governments are in early-stage talks about how to "offset" the debt, according to the FT.

In recent months, Tehran has been increasingly concerned about India's inability to pay for imported oil. Delhi suspended payment from an Asian currency basket last December; Iranian officials have put out estimates of $5 billion to $9 billion owed for shipments.

1555 GMT: The Battle Within. Radio Zamaneh offers a full English-language summary of the sweeping attack by prominent MP Ahmad Tavakoli --- covered by EA on Sunday --- on President Ahmadinejad's mismanagement of the economy.

Tavakoli, the head of Parliament’s Research Committee, claimed information is being withheld from the public on Ahmadinejad’s direct orders. Erlier this month the Central Bank announced it will no longer publish inflation rates, leaving that task to the Statistics Centre.

The Central Bank has not announced economic growth rates for three years.

Tavakoli said the Ministry of Economy had provided Parliament with a report on the Government's financial activities since January. In the vacumm, he claimed Ahmadinejad was making false announcements about Iran's economic performance, declaring annual inflation of 3.5% and economic growth of 10%.

Iranian semi-official media have said the "real" figure is inflation of more than 15%, and international bodies have estimated the Iranian growth rate at 1%.

Tavakoli also accused the administration of flooding the market with money to hide the effect of cuts to government subsidies

0850 GMT: Clerical Intervention. Ayatollah Dastgheib has joined those reformists and activists calling for a boycott of the 2012 Parliamentary campaigns unless conditions are met: "If the Constitution continues to be violated, participating in elections has no religious or rational base."

Dastgheib re-stated the conditions: freedom for Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and all pol prisoners, elimination of "supervision" (e.g. the Guardian Council) of elections, return of the Supreme Leader to his legal position, and no interference by security and intelligence services in politics and the economy.

0840 GMT: Labour Front. Protesting unpaid wages over the last 24 months 350 employees of the Shiraz telecommunications industry have demonstrated in front of Parliament.

0820 GMT: Unity Watch. Lots of chatter this weekend amongst conservatives and principlists as they try to find unity through a revived group, the "7+8" committee.

The committee, initially formed as a three-member panel last November by President Ahmadinejad but largely dormant until its recent expansion, is now being seen as the focus for reconciliation among factions. Latest statements include those of Hojatoleslam Mehdi Taeb, declaring that elections will be free and people's votes will count, and 2009 Presidential candidate Mohsen Rezaei, praising the leadership of Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani, the head of the Assembly of Experts, in bringing the committee together.

0625 GMT: Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guards. The Supreme Leader declared this weekend that the Government must co-operate with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

While the statement might appear a rhetorical formality --- Ayatollah Khamenei was speaking to military officers and their families in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas --- an EA correspondent has a further explanation, "The Supreme Leader signalled, 'Support their (illegal) activists because we need their defence capabilities."

Earlier this month President Ahmadinejad implicitly accused the Revolutionary Guards of using their ports and docks for commercial activities, including illegal imports.

0615 GMT: Reformist Watch. While reformist Mohammad Reza Khabbaz spoke this weekend of participation in the 2012 Parliamentary elections, yesterday was notable for sharp attacks on the Government by his Parliamentary colleagues. We already noted Mehdi Shahryari's declaration, "Principlists cannot flee from responsibility for current situation in the country." Hossein-Ali Shahryari, told Parliament that people have suffered greatly from inflation and high unemployment, given the detail that none of 40 companied announced by the Government in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, which Shahryari represents, have been established.

Hossein-Ali Shahryari added, "Pensioners can't live on their pensions....People are getting more dissatisfied."

0600 GMT: A photo emerged Sunday which apparently is of political prisoners Ahmad Zeidabadi and Majid Tavakoli inside Rajai Shahr Prison. Zeidabadi, a journalist and head of student organisation Daftar-e Tahkim Vahdat (Office for Strengthening Unity), was arrested just after the 2009 election and sentenced to six years in prison. Leading student activist Tavakoli was arrested in December 2009 and has been given 8 1/2 years.

Meanwhile, more confusion on Sunday over the weekend murder of postgraduate student Dariush Rezaeinejad. The initial story that professor of physics Dariush Rezaei, "associated" with Iran's nuclear movement, was the victim finally receded as claimed footage of the murder emerged and Rezaeinejad was buried in Tehran. However, Iranian politicians and officials then contradicted each other over the reason for the attack.

Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani declared that Rezaeinejead was a victim of US-Zionist terror, but Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi distanced himself from any claim that foreign powers were involved. Other Iranian officials pulled back the claim that Rezaeinejad was also involved with Iran's defence establishment.

Footage of Rezaeinejad's funeral: