The Latest from Iran (14 January): Dealing with the Currency

See also Iran 1st-Hand: Detained Activist Mahdieh Golroo to Her Imprisoned Husband "Our Best Days Are Yet to Come"
Iran Feature: Israel's Mossad, Posing as CIA Officers, Recruited Anti-Regime Insurgents
The Latest from Iran (13 January): Beyond "Safe and Sane" --- Watching The Economy

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1744 GMT: At the Movies. Asghar Farhadi, director of the acclaimed Nader and Simin: A Separation, has written the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, challenging the order to close the House of Cinema, Iran’s largest organisation for cinema professionals.

Farhadi wrote, in an excerpt published by the reformist newspaper Shargh, “If the decision to dissolve the House of Cinema is based on the idea that the majority of the film community and members of the guild are in agreement with your method, then I suggest that you take a vote on this decision among the few thousand members of the House of Cinema.”

Dozens of directors, actors, and others in the film industry have signed open letters challenging the closure. The Ministry of Culture withdrew the ban earlier this week, saying it would await the decision of an administrative court.

1354 GMT: The Tehran Bomb. The Foreign Ministry has asserted in a letter, handed to the Swiss Ambassador, "We have reliable documents and evidence that this terrorist act was planned, guided and supported by the CIA. The documents clearly show that this terrorist act was carried out with the direct involvement of CIA-linked agents."

The Swiss Embassy represents the interests of the US, which broke diplomatic ties with Iran in 1979.

Iranian State TV said a "letter of condemnation" had also been sent to the British Government, contending that the killing of Iranian nuclear scientists had "started exactly after the British official John Sawers declared the beginning of intelligence operations against Iran".

1254 GMT: Oil Watch. Pirouz Mousavi of the National Iranian Oil Company has denied that Tehran is storing oil on tankers in the Gulf, claiming crude exports have not been disrupted amidst mounting international pressure and sanctions.

Earlier this week, shipping sources said the volume of Iranian crude oil stored at sea had doubled to 8 million barrels and was likely to increase further. Mousavi said, however, "There has been no disruption in Iran's crude exports through the Persian Gulf....We have not stored oil in the Gulf because of sanctions as some foreign media reported. We do not have even one drop of oil (stored) in the Persian Gulf."

1244 GMT: Notable developments over Hossein Alaei, the Revolutionary Guards commander who, using a newspaper article and the example of the Shah, warned the Supreme Leader this week that repression would only undermine his authority....

Twelve current Revolutionary Guards commanders have harshly attacked Alaei in an open letter,declaring that their former colleague is ungrateful to the esteemed Supreme Leader and has joined the enemy front.

Peyke Iran reports that a crowd of hundreds has shown up in front of Alaei's house, chanting slogans such as "Commander Wake up!", "Commander Alaei, You Have Failed", and "Alaei, Shame on You, Shame on You".

An EA correspondent assesses, "Khamenei is fully aware of the subversive effects of Alaei's comment, so he set his servants on him. In any case the split in the Revolutionary Guards has become more apparent."

1240 GMT: Economy Watch (China Front). ISNA reports Chinese merchants taking advantage of Iranian businessmen depending on exchange offices to transfer money from Tehran, with the Central Bank failing to open a branch in China.

1233 GMT: Kalemeh reports that physician and blogger Mehdi Khazali, returned to prison earlier this week, is in solitary confinement. It adds that his hand and teeth were injured in the raid by security forces and that he is on hunger strike.

The two-year prison sentence of Mohammad Ali Velayati, a campaign worker for Mir Hossein Mousavi, has been confirmed.

1230 GMT: Economy Watch. Green Voice of Freedom claims that bread prices are rising in some parts of Tehran, with sangak doubling in price from 500 to 1000 Tomans (about 60 cents).

Tabnak's weekly updates --- for example, between 15 Dey and 22 Dey (5 and 12 January) --- document the rising cost of food.

Khabar Online write that automobile manufacturers are under pressure because of the fall of the Iranian currency, refusing imports of components because they cannot pay for them.

1059 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. Will Parliament renew the pressure on the President by demanding his interrogation? The questioning before the National Security Committee, scheduled for last Tuesday, was delayed because of Ahmadinejad's Latin American tour, but Aftab says this will be the main issue for the Majlis this week.

1027 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Has the regime launched a new assault against Hashemi Rafsanjani? Peyke Iran reports that the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance has approved a new book trying to take down the former President.

The book, "5+1", claims to set out the seditious current trying to undermine the Islamic Republic amidst the disputed 2009 Presidential election. The "5" who are pictured are detained opposition figures Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, former President Mohammad Khatami, reformist Ayatollah Khoeiniha, and Grand Ayatollah Sane'i. The "1" in the centre is in silhouette but has a striking resemblance to the shape of Rafsanjani.

1020 GMT: Foreign Affairs (Syrian Front). "Senior US officials" allege that the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards was in Damascus this month, as Tehran supplied munitions to the Syrian regime.

One official said, "We are confident that he was received at the highest levels of the Syrian government, including by President Assad. We think this relates to Iranian support for the Syrian government's attempts to suppress its people."

The official said, "The US government believes Iran has supplied Syria with munitions," but did not give details.

(Cross-posted from our Syria Live Coverage)

0643 GMT: We Prefer Talking About the Tehran Bomb. State news agency IRNA does not mention the currency issue. Instead, it headlines an appearance> by Mohammad Khazaei, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, on CNN, in which the diplomat said "the Zionist regime" has formally declared that it is seeking to eliminate Iran's nuclear scientists.

0610 GMT: We open this morning with the headline story from Fars --- Ebrahim Darvishi, the supervisory deputy for the Central Bank, has re-asserted that trading dollars in the streets is prohibited from Sunday, with only banks and certified exchange offices allowed to change money.

Earlier this week Parliament passed legislation to punish anyone who sold foreign currency outside the banks and exchange offices.

The posted open-market rate for the Iranian Rial is 16950:1, the level at which it has hovered all week after the dramatic falls of the last month.