The Latest from Iran (19 October): "The Sanctions Will Hurt Europe"

See also Iran Feature: Students Suffer as Currency Falls
The Latest from Iran (18 October): The Mysterious Sliding Currency

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2130 GMT: CyberWatch. Golnaz Esfandiari of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty summarises the story --- covered in EA earlier this month --- of the Ministry of Intelligence's launch of the website vaja.ir.

She observes, "Somewhat ironically for an agency that has admitted hacking into the email accounts of opposition members, it also offers tips on how to protect online data."

1800 GMT: Economy Watch. Prominent businessman Asadollah Asgarouladi has has continued his criticism of the Government's management of the economy, claiming that annual oil revenue has fallen from $100 billion to $30 billion.

1335 GMT: Tough Talk of the Day. The head of the Basij militia, Mohammad Reza Naqdi, has told reporters that last week's flight of Hezbollah's Iranian-made drone over Israel is only the first of many: “Zionists must expect hundreds of other drones in 25 different models with new flying systems that they won’t know how to confront them."

While Israeli forces tracked and shot down the drone, reportedly after it neared the Dimona nuclear facility, Naqdi said the "infiltration" had dealt a heavy blow to Israel.

Naqdi also told Basij members in a rally in Tehran, “The nearer that Iran’s rivalry with America draws to the final the better. We would like this event to occur sooner." He continued:

The time when America was a superpower economically and politically, Iran resisted it and kicked out the Shah, but now everything is the reverse. America’s economy is bankrupt and politically has also become embroiled in bankruptcy. Now we [should] say let’s negotiate with America? Of course some [American] dependents inside [the country] wish to have relations with America, but the words which our politicians say in this regard are more a kind of political game.

1305 GMT: Your Tehran Friday Prayer Update. Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami takes the podium today as applause for the Supreme Leader's week-long tour of northeastern Iran, a "very rare and very welcome" trip which was received by the "love and devotion of the people...from all ethnicities".

Khatami hailed Ayatollah Khamenei's speeches during the week as a strategy to defeat "war and economic sanctions" by the Islamic Republic's enemies.

1244 GMT: An Explosion. Fars report that a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a mosque in Chabahar in southern Iran today, killing a Basij militiaman and injuring another after he was prevented from entering the building.

Chabahar is in Sistan-Baluchistan province, where Baluch insurgents have carried out a long campaign against the Islamic Republic. More than 30 people were killed at the same mosque in an attack by two suicide bombers in December 2010.

1057 GMT: Foreign Affairs Watch (Syrian Front). President Ahmadinejad has reportedly rejected a Turkish proposal for a transitional government led by Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa.

According to Al-Anbaa newspaper, Ahmadinejad told journalists in Kuwait, " “This means we are imposing a foreign solution on the Syrians. The solution must be Syrian rather than imposed from outside and the Syrian people should decide through elections."

Ahmadinejad reportedly met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for 40 minutes earlier this week on the sidelines of a summit in Azerbaijan. The meeting occurred amid reports of a renewed attempt at an Egypt-Turkey-Iran "contact group" over the Syrian crisis.

(Cross-posted from Syria and Beyond Live Coverage)

0842 GMT: Dissident Watch. Detained senior reformist Mostafa Tajazdeh has put out a letter about the economic crisis, warning about continued support of the Syrian regime.

0839 GMT: Human Rights Watch. Head of judiciary Sadegh Larijani has called the recent report of Ahmad Shaheed, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights for Iran, an "affront to Islamic laws":

Not only in Iran but also in all Islamic countries, the death penalty exists and it is in effect one of the values of all the Muslims of the world. The question is why Iran is the only country being pressured while there is no action against any other country.

Shaheed's report noted the continuing repression of the Iranian regime, specifically calling for the release of all political prisoners and commutation of all death sentences. The Special Rapporteur noted hundreds of executions in Iran this year, most of them for drugs offences.

0830 GMT: Campus Watch. Nazanin Shahrokni and Parastou Dokouhaki post a detailed examination of segregation in Iranian universities:

New restrictions affect both men and women, and are part of a long-standing scheme of gender segregation that is not an invention of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s hardline conservative government. Such schemes date back to the early years of the Islamic Republic and have been tried by different governments in the service of different goals.

0510 GMT: Broadcast Watch. As Iranian media continues its campaign against Eutelsat's suspension of 19 State TV channels, the German service Deutsche Welle has accused Tehran of jamming its signals.

The BBC said on Thursday that broadcasts had been disrupted in the Middle East and Europe. It did not name Iran, but Eutelsat had claimed on 4 October that it was being jammed by the Islamic Republic.

0505 GMT: Speaking in Kuwait on Wednesday, President Ahmadinejad, declaring that the European Union is on the verge of collapse, said, "The question is whether it is the economic situation in Iran or Europe which is in bad conditions today?”

Ahmadinejad then answered with the assurance that Iran has a "very large economy" so it can manage without oil sales --- which make up more than 80% of its export revenue: "The arrogant powers want to take revenge on the Iranian nation through the imposition of sanctions, but they will certainly fail.”