2120 GMT: Claim of the Day. We close Sunday --- and foreshadow Monday's LiveBlog on the resumption of political conflict in Iran --- with this prize assertion from the hard-line publication Fararu: President Ahmadinejad's controversial Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai will not return to Iran with Ahmadinejad from New York because he has applied for a six-month visa to remain in the US.
2040 GMT: Shutting Down the Reformists. Mohammad Javad Larijani, the head of the human rights section of Iran's judiciary, has put pressure on reformists, criticising them for claiming to be adherents to the principles of the Islamic Republic but in practice supporting a secular system.
Larijani said reformists were opportunist “sworn enemies of democracy” and were not qualified to run in Parliamentary elections next March.
1930 GMT: The US Hikers. American nationals Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer, freed this week after 26 months in detention, have arrived in New York on a flight from Oman.
1925 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. With allegations swirling within the establishment about different factions trying to manipulate the Parliamentary elections in March, the public relations department of the Expediency Council, headed by former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, has rejected claims that he is engaged in electoral affairs.
The statement called the claims defamatory, trying to divert public opinion from the main issues and problems affecting Iran.
1915 GMT: The Battle Within. Remember how we said this morning (see 0640 GMT), "We do not expect much in the way of political conflict in Tehran until the President returns from his trip to the United Nations"?
Let's modify that.
Conservative and principlist MPs and media are criticising President Ahmadinejad for repeatedly talking about resuming ties with the US --- a gambit which EA has been following closely in its analyses --- during his visit to New York.
MP Ali Motahari, a persistent critic of Ahmadinejad who has now reportedly resigned from Parliament, declared, "Expressing an interest in resumption of ties with America and saying in an interview that lack of such relations is a loss for both nations is not appropriate." (Significantly, Motahari's words were carried by Khabar Online, the website linked to Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani.)
As we noted earlier, MP Ahmad Tavakoli, Larijani's brother-in-law, snapped, "The approach of some is contrary to the interests of the country."
1900 GMT: BBC Watch. Back from a weekend break to find Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi continues the regime's campaign against BBC Persian.
Earlier this month, authorities arrested six filmmakers on the pretext that they worked for BBC Persian --- the channel denies the assertion --- and on Sunday, Moslehi advised people against any links with the broadcaster, “We are closely monitoring these connections and will appropriately deal with them in due course.”
Moslehi said that the British intelligence service, under the cover of BBC, had started a new phase of destructive activities against Iran, and the Intelligence Ministry stepped in to prevent people from falling into London's trap. He said the arrest of the six filmmakers was the first step, as the Intelligence Ministry had obtained important information about other people with connections and was diligently pursuing the issue.
0640 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. We do not expect much in the way of political conflict in Tehran until the President returns from his trip to the United Nations, but there are warning shots. Note this declaration from MP Ahmad Tavakoli, brother-in-law of Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, and one of the President's biggest foes, over this week's release of US nationals Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer:
Last year when Ahmadinejad traveled to the United States the American woman accused of being a spy [Fattal and Bauer's companion Sarah Shroud] was released, and this year this was repeated. First, the Office of the President announced that the two will be released, then the judiciary denied the report, but they were ultimately released. Apparently, Mr. President wants to pretend that he is the main hero here, even if it [his actions] is at the price of hurting the country's interest.Why is it every year when the President travels to the United States, the judiciary's ra'fat [mercy] spills over again? Getting $500,000 bail from each of the three is hilarious. Did the woman accused of spying [Shroud] appear in court for you [the judiciary] to [then] accept bails from the other two? This is more like getting ransom than a proper conversion of an arrest warrant to a bail.
In its statement, the Foreign Ministry declared that the two Americans were released due to Islamic ra'fat, whereas one must ask why the President's ra'fat only spills over when he travels to the United States? Instead of creating a hero out of the President, the Foreign Ministry must try to gain the freedom of Iranian citizens [imprisoned in the US].
0630 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Amir Ali Allamehzadeh, a journalist with the Iranian Labor News Agency, has been arrested.
0620 GMT: Seyed Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of the late Ayatollah Khomeini, has complained about "the caricature of Islam" that is now prevalent in "95%" of the Iranian media. He said that, unfortunately, the media was no longer presenting the ideas of his grandfather and that he hoped "tomorrow" to get out of the oppression shown in the coverage.
He declared, "The first expectation is that mass media should not lie."
The younger Khomeni has occupied a tenuous position in the regime during the post-election conflict. He has offered coded criticism of the Government on a number of occasions. In a notable incident in June 2010, he was shouted down by supporters of President Ahmadinejad while he was addressed the crowd gathered to commemorate Ayatollah Khomeini's death.