The Latest from Iran (24 October): The Interrogation of Ahmadinejad?

See also Iran Feature: The Week in Civil Society --- From Economic Crisis to Nasrin Sotoudeh's Hunger Strike
The Latest from Iran (23 October): Ahmadinejad v. the Judiciary

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1735 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. British Foreign Secretary William Hague has called on Iran to reconsider the "outrageous" and "deplorable" detention of human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who is in the second week of her hunger strike.

Sotoudeh is serving a six-year prison sentence, with a 20-year ban on legal practice, on charges of "acting against the national security" and "propaganda against the regime".

"Imprisoning Nasrin Sotoudeh on the outrageous basis of 'co-operation with Shirin Ebadi's Centre for the Defence of Human Rights' is deplorable," Hague said. "We urge the Iranian authorities to review her case urgently. We will continue to stand up for human rights defenders in Iran."

A spokesman for European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton also intervened, "We are following the case of Nasrin Sotoudeh and other human rights defenders in Iran with great concern. We will continue to campaign for the charges against them to be dropped, and look to Iran to respect the human rights obligations it has signed up to."

1733 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani has jumped into the latest dispute around the President, "Creating tensions and rifts within political factions is poison for Iran and its system."

1725 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. The head of judiciary, Sadegh Larijani, is not backing away from a fight over President Ahmadinejad's request to visit Evin Prison.

Larijani has answered the President's latest challenge, including publication of their correspondence, "I will strictly prevent any inappropriate interference in the affairs of the judiciary as independent power."

Larijani then contests Ahmadinejad's assertion that the President is upholding the Constitution with a long argument based on the respective powers of the Executive, legislature, and judiciary.

1609 GMT: Currency Watch. Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi has spoken about the mysterious "Jamshid Bismillah", blamed as the mastermind of Iran's currency currency: "I cannot comment. Wait for news when the court proceedings start."

First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said last weekend that "Jamshid Bismillah" had been responsible for the manipulation that sank the Iranian Rial by more than 60% in a month on the open market.

In a video from the Young Journalists Club, most currency dealers said they had never heard of Bismillah, but one described him as a tall without a moustache and with gelled hair. The website asks, "Now that Jamshid Bismillah has been arrested, why does the Rial-to-Dollar rate continue to fluctuate?"

1201 GMT: Accident Watch. The Basij militia has paid compensation to the families of 26 female students killed in a bus crash during a Basij-organised tour in southwestern Iran.

1157 GMT: Clerical Intervention. Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi has intervened in the dispute between President Ahmadinejad and the judiciary over Ahmadinejad's request to visit Evin Prison. The cleric warned officials about exchanging letters and said creating tensions in society is forbidden.

Grand Ayatollah Nouri Hamedani has echoed the criticism, calling for officials to "settle the problems of people instead".

1155 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Journalist Abdolnaser Mahimani has been released on furlough from prison.

Mahimani was arrested on 11 February 2011.

0955 GMT: Diplomacy Watch. Are these signs of an extended regime hand, in the hope of renewed negotiations over the nuclear issue?

Greeting the Swedish Ambassador to Iran, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has said, "Tehran is a reliable partner to Europe and our relations should be based on cooperation and mutual respect. There are many potentials and capacities for the development of bilateral cooperation and we are fully prepared for the expansion of ties [with Europe] in economic, trade, cultural, and scientific areas."

And Press TV uses a statement by an Obama Administration spokesman to declare, "White House Says US Open to Bilateral Talks with Iran".

0615 GMT: All-Is-Well Alert. The Deputy Minister of Oil has assured that gasoline prices will not rise by the end of the Iranian year in March, as the country's refineries are producing at "maximum capacity".

0535 GMT: Uncertainty this morning over the possible interrogation of President Ahmadinejad by Parliament....

Mehr reported on Tuesday that "Ahmadinejad must go to Parliament" to address questions "about the disarray in the foreign currency market and the importation of wheat and cars". However, it emerged that that the petition, signed by 102 MPs, has only been handed over to the Presiding Board of Parliament, which must still approve it.

This morning State news agency IRNA, linked to Ahmadinejad, understandably has no mention of the process, and Press TV is also silent.

Fars, associated with the Revolutionary Guards, does not make a direct reference, although it points to the key issues in the questioning with an article on Ahmadinejad's strategy over "national production" and the "resistance economy".

Khabar Online, the outlet for Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, takes an interesting path into the topic. It asks what happened at a meeting between MP Gholam Ali Haddad Adel --- a former Speaker of Parliament and member of the Supreme Leader's inner circle, who has expressed his opposition to the interrogation --- and Ahmadinejad.