Latest from Iran (4 September): Shrinking Lake, Growing Protests

1710 GMT:Environment Watch. Associated Press' coverage of the Lake Urmia protests is taken entirely from the summary of Mehr, which claims demonstrations have ended with no casualties.

Mehr --- and thus AP --- assert that the protests ended Saturday night.

1410 GMT: Protest Watch. Peyke Iran reports that the strike of cloth merchants in the Tehran Bazaar, complaining about the Government's policies on value-added tax, is continuing despite talks with MPs.

1405 GMT: More claimed footage from Saturday's protests in Tabriz over Lake Urmia:

1355 GMT: Remembering the Dead. Ali Karimi, one of Iran's most famous football players, has dedicated his shirt from the UEFA Cup to the post-election victim Ashkan Sohrabi.

Sohrabi, an 18 year-old student, was shot dead near his home on 20 June 2009 by Basij militia.

1345 GMT: Currency Watch. In a sign that Iranians are hedging against instability, both in the country's currency and in the general economic situation, the price of gold coin continues to soar. It has risen another 6% in recent days and is now $580 per 7.3-gram coin.

As an ounce of gold is about 31.1 grams, the Iranian rate is equivalent to $2465 per ounce. While the global price of gold has also risen this year, it is now about $1882.

1335 GMT: The Battle Within. Javan Online, the outlet of the Revolutionary Guards, has declared that the "deviant current" around President Ahmadinejad is "power-thirsty" and wants to create unrests in small towns at the next elections, just like the 2009 "fitna" (sedition).

And the conservative Jahan News claims several members of the "deviant current" were among those granted amnesty by the Supreme Leader last weekend.

1330 GMT: Environment Watch. In an open letter to Parliament, 140 Iranian journalists have called on the Government to fulfil its duties over Lake Urmia.

1325 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. A dose of realism over the Supreme Leader's amnesty of almost 100 political prisoners last weekend --- not one detained journalist was freed.

Kalemeh has names and information.

1320 GMT: A Clash with the Dervishes. A curious story from Friday....

Basiji militia reportedly opened fire with tear gas and bullets on members of the Gonabadi Dervishes, a sect of Sufi Islam. The shooting lasted almost an hour until a Special Forces Unit, despatched from Shiraz in southern Iran, ended the clashes.

The Basiji also allegedly raided houses and set stores on fire. The trouble reportedly began when a young Muslim seminary student distributed pamphlets and CDs amongst Basiji forces and chanted “Death to American Dervishes”, inciting them to attack.

A number of injuries amongst Basiji and dervishes were claimed.

Darvishan Online posts further details and video.

1300 GMT: Energy Watch. Iranian officials claim that, after repeated delays, they have finally produced power from the Bushehr nuclear plant. They say the plant, hooked up to the national grid, is supplying 60 megawatts of its 1000-megawatt capacity.

1255 GMT:CNN has picked up on Saturday's story that the Iranian military is claiming it has killed 30 members of the Kurdish insurgency PJAK in a new offensive on the Iraq border.

There are further significant developments. The separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged a long battled against Turkish forces, said on Saturday that it will aid PJAK, based in camps in northern Iraq.

“From now on we will fight on the side of the fighters of PJAK (Party of Free Life of Kurdistan) against the Iranian attacks, that are trying to enter the Kurdistan region of Iraq, especially in the Qandil area,” PKK spokesman Dozdar Hammo said. “We are a force to protect the people of Kurdistan. We see it is our duty to protect the achievements of the people of Kurdistan in any part....We see that the goal of Iran is eliminating the Kurdish people, and not the PJAK party, and these are the reasons that led us to take this decision.

A local official from the Iran-Iraq border area said that Iranian forces attempted to take control from PJAK of a mountain near Sardasht in Iran on Friday. They were not able to do so, and then began shelling several areas of Iraq Kurdistan, with the attack continuing through Saturday.

A shepherd was reportedly killed by Iranian shelling earlier on Saturday, while Iranian State broadcaster IRNA says a member of the Iranian security forces in Sardasht has been slain.

1245 GMT:Claimed footage of arrests by security forces in Urmia (Orumiyeh) in northwest Iran:

0400 GMT: There were dramatic developments yesterday in Iran. Weeks of unrest, centered around the drying up of the Urmia lake, finally reached a breaking point. Thousands took part in demonstrations in Urmia and Tabriz, and the protests were met with gunfire, beatings, tear gas, and arrests.

See Also, Yesterday's Liveblog, Latest from Iran (3 September): Elections and the Revolution

There is something different about these protests. The demonstrations that started after the elections in 2009 were driven by a desire for real democracy; freedom of speech, expression, religion, and assembly; and a general discontent at the state of life in Iran, especially among the youth.

This spate of dissent and anger has been propelled by a specific environmental issue that is growing in its economic impact. As Lake Urmia dries, the ecological disaster is disrupting trade and industries that relied on the lake, and it is affecting the health of the residents. These issues are more urgent, more immediate, and as a result, the protest over them may catch on faster and spread further.

In Arab Spring, the catalysts for unrest were economic, though the goals of the protesters always include democratic ends. These protests are coming from a similar place, as government policies result in real economic hardship in the cities and towns affected by the lake. Economic drivers, plus political drivers, led to the fall of three governments. This is ultimately the largest threat to the Iranian regime.