The Latest from Iran (18 August): The Watermelons of Sedition

http://bit.ly/cAqF5b/1810 GMT: Unity Watch. Hassan Ghafourifard, the head of Iran's House of Parties, has warned that if the Islamic Constancy Front --- led by Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi --- does not participate in the unity front meetings of the "7+8" conservative/principlist committee, it can easily be replaced.

The Constancy Front has reportedly threatened to pull out of the 15-member committee because of the presence of representatives of Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani and Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf (see Thursday's LiveBlog).

1800 GMT: Literature Watch. Presenting a sharp contrast to this week's injunctions of the Supreme Leader's about poetry needing to serve the Republic (see 0755 GMT), famous poet Simin Behbahani has harshly attacked the regime's censorship of classics and contemporary fiction: "You cannot castrate the Persian language."

1735 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. And the Supreme Leader (see 1725 GMT) isn't the only one wagging a finger at the Government over its economic performance --- former President Hashemi Rafsanjani has said that, with Iran's possibilities and huge oil income, the country should not be enduring serious problems.

And MP Musalreza Servati, who earlier this week demanded publication of economic statistics, said the Government has not fulfilled two-thirds of the 4th Budget Plan (2005-2010), alleging that three or four relevant reports were never even debated in Parliament.

1725 GMT: Supreme Leader v. President. Did Ayatollah Khamenei just take an economic swing at Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? The Supreme Leader said the Government's proclamation of 8% economic growth, reduction of unemployment and inflation, and an increase in investments had not been realised.

Ayatollah Khamenei added that the "intrusion of corruption in government offices must be persecuted mercilessly".

1715 GMT: CyberWatch. State news agency IRNA claims "a network of anti-religious elements in cyberspace, using various tricks to destroy religious beliefs and the noble people of Iran", has been broken up by the Ministry of Intelligence.

The network is supposedly back by "embassies of European countries and the Zionist sect of the Baha'i faith". Suspects have "confessed to having contacts with foreign agents" in their attemp to "undermine the foundations of the current anti-religious beliefs, especially among young people".

1645 GMT: On the Telly. Asr-e Iran, a site associated with the ministry of intelligence, has questioned the effectiveness of the campaign against satellite dishes, and has admitted that it is only a temporary solution:

They have tried to implement this law by pulling all their forces together and expending humongous amounts of money. However, the question is how successful this project has been. Hasn’t the number of dishes increased over the roofs of houses? Or haven’t the collected dishes been replaces by more modern dishes and more advanced and updated receivers?

The site then blamed poor state-run television and radio programming for the demand for satellite dishes.

1625 GMT: Kaleme has released a statement that denies the recent reports about Mousavi's illness. According to Kaleme, he has lost weight because of Ramadan fasting (which is normal) and he went to the hospital this week for some routine checks, but is not sick at all. The opposition site notes that these reports are highly suspicious, and it then goes on to ask a pertinent question - why would the press report such a rumor without evidence?

1555 GMT: In a statement today, Reformist Mohammad Mousavi Khoeiniha reiterated today that under article 107 of the Constitution, the Supreme Leader is equal to others under the law, and the law applies to him.

0825 GMT: Maybe They Were at the Beyonce Concert. Aftab News reports that Hojatoleslam Ahmad Abedi, the Supreme Leader's Appointee to the Board of the Office of Islamic Propagation, went to Malaysia for Ramadan to give a series of speeches. The only problem was that, at four different venues, no one showed up.

So the Supreme Leader's representative came home.

0810 GMT: All the President's Men (Pulling Strings Edition). The conservative Jahan News has published a letter, supposedly signed by the President's right-hand man Esfandiar Rahim Mashai and invoking the name of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which asks the Minister of Higher Education to ensure that a relative of Ahmadineajd's is admitted to a Ph.D. program at Amir-Kabir University in Tehran.

0755 GMT: Poetry Corner. Earlier this week we noted that the Supreme Leader advising young poets, such as ensuring that their words always upheld the Republic to ensure they did not help the enemy.

Looks like that at least one writer did not get the message --- poet Mohammad-Hossein Jafarian complained to Ayatollah Khamenei about censorship of the poems prepared for the evening. JafarianThe poet says his poem was about a "specific political current".

0715 GMT: Nuclear Front. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi visited Moscow yesterday for discussion of a Russian "step-by-step" proposal on Tehran's nuclear programme.

Caution was still the order of the day, however, as Salehi sid, "We agreed that we will study all the details of this project and will continue to perfect it through expert work.  A very long journey begins with a first step."

Salehi said, adding that Iran was ready for talks but would not be pressured.

The Russian proposal.would match Iran's addressing of the concerns of the International Atomic Energy Agency with a phased withdrawal of sanctions.

0524 GMT: Nuclear Assurance. The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Firuddin Abbas, has asserted that Tehran is in position to produce sufficient uranium of high quality to power the Amirabad nuclear reactor before the next Iranian year begins in March: "We have temporarily provided the Amirabad nuclear reactor with the existing fuel, we will produce 20-percent enriched uranium fuel and provide the reactor by late this year."

The Amirabad Research Reactor, providing material for medical purposes, requires 120 kilograms of uranium enriched to 19.75%.

Problems with the supply of the uranium led Iran to approach the International Atomic Energy Agency in summer 2009 for a solution. Talks with Western powers, Russia, and China failed at the end of 2009, and attempts since then have not produced a sustained resumption of talks.

0520 GMT: Purifying Facebook. Sticking with our theme of the Western Facebook-led sedition, Ali Abbaspour, the head of Parliament's Education Committee, has said that launching an Islamic social network will help to establish a "clean Internet" and prevent cultural invasion.

0510 GMT: Scott Lucas writes in...

We begin with a slightly different threat alert.

Alef has repeated the regime's injunction --- highlighted by arrests earlier this month of youth in Tehran --- against Facebook appointments and water games.

That part of the warning I understand. What is beyond me is why the conservative site is also calling the eating of watermelons "cultural sedition and a threat to the nezam(system)".