The Latest from Iran (14 March): Questioning Ahmadinejad

One of a set of photos of President Ahmadinejad's appearance in Parliament

See also The Latest from Iran (13 March): "Tehran is a Pioneer of Human Rights in the World"

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1805 GMT: Drumbeats of War Watch. Some of the better journalists on the Iran beat have noticed the "intriguing signs of potential diplomatic progress over Iran’s nuclear program", but that should not stop others from fishing for readers with the "Could It Be War?" bait.

CNN simply asks, "Will Israel Strike Iran?", opening:

It's late in Iran on a dark night, moonless or with heavy clouds. Suddenly the silence is broken by sonic booms, followed by the sound of jets roaring overhead.

Flying in tight formation, Israeli fighter planes drop bunker-busting bombs on a nuclear enrichment plant built into the side of a mountain.

Iranian pilots race for their own jets to fight back, but by the time they take to the sky, it's too late. The Israeli jets streak away.

And The Atlantic, which introduced "The Iran Doomsday Clock", seeks profit by arguing against itself --- James Fallows derides speculation without knowledge...by speculating without knowledge:

While I am skeptical of the journalistic bias toward guessing what might happen rather than analyzing what has actually occurred, in the current climate I'll hazard this prediction: the United States is in fact not going to bomb Iran, and in anything like the current set of facts not even Netanyahu's Israeli administration is likely to do so. Indeed we will look back on the hyped-up bomb-Iran frenzy of the past two months with an air of wonder and dismay.

1755 GMT: Nuclear Watch. Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, has continued the rapprochement with the "West" with a letter to the European Union's Catherine Ashton, welcoming the return to talks.

Jalili said contact should be maintained to set a date and venue for the talks, welcoming "Ashton's stance of respecting the rights of the Islamic Reupblic in using peaceful nuclear energy".

It has been reported that Iran will renew discussions with the 5+1 Powers (US, Britain, France, China, German, and Russia) in Ankara in early April.

1745 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. A couple of interesting twists in the President's 60-minute response to Parliament today....

Challenged that he was "soft" on cultural issues such as the enforcement of proper hijab for women, Ahmadinejad picked up a theme noted by observers during the Parliamentary elections --- eager to show high turnout, regime outlets had photographs of females wearly the headscarf loosely. The President said, “We show [badly veiled women] in election time but arrest them in the streets the other days. Such paradoxes will catch up with us someday.”

On the recurrent criticism that he and his advisors are "Iran-first" rather than "Islam-first" in their approach,Ahmadinejad replied, “Please tell me which country I should talk about instead, Britain? I want to say here: I am proud of being Iranian, and being Iranian means being with God and revolutionary.”

1740 GMT: Economy Watch. Fars reports that, while the poverty line in Iran is 850,000 Toman (about $450) per month, the minimum wage is less than half that at 389,754 Toman.

1710 GMT: Cartoon of Day. Nikahang Kowsar interprets the outcome of recent political developments for the Supreme Leader and for President Ahmadinejad, all in the context of Chahrshanbeh Suri, the Fire Festival:

1700 GMT: Supreme Leader Watch. Khabar Online has more on Ayatollah Khamenei's power play today, with the directive authoritising another five-year term for Hashemi Rafsanjani as head of the Expediency Council and an endorsement of the other members.

1625 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. The interrogation of the President may have proved a less-than-explosive event, but that did not stop authorities from being careful --- Tabnak reports that several news outlets were blocked during Ahmadinejad's questioning, with State broadcasting's Ma'aref radio the only way to listen to the proceedings.

1255 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. The New York Times summary of the Parliamentary session with the President focuses on a supposedly cool reception:

Mr. Ahmadinejad sought to crack jokes with the lawmakers.

“Here is not a place to share jokes. This is the Parliament. The President has no right to insult the legislature," lawmaker Mohammad Reza Khabbaz told the chamber angrily....

One legislator, Mostafa Reza Hosseini, was quoted as saying: “The president’s language was insulting during his entire speech. He escaped answering the questions. As predicted, we didn’t receive any logical answer from the president.”

Another lawmaker, Ghodrotollah Ali Khani, reportedly declared: “Hopefully, the next step is Ahmadinejad’s impeachment.”

Reuters takes the same line:

"Ahmadinejad's answers to lawmakers' questions were illogical, illegal and an attempt to avoid answering them. With an insulting tone, Ahmadinejad made fun of lawmakers' questions and insulted parliament," Mohammad Taqi Rahbar was quoted as saying by parliament's news agency....

Outgoing reformist lawmaker Mostafa Kavakebian said: "The president did not give any logical answers and took everything as a joke."

1240 GMT: Energy Watch. The Pakistani newspaper Dawn> reports that a consortium headed by a top Chinese bank has withdrawn financial advisory services for the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project, apparently because of US opposition.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is responsible for arranging funds for the 800-kilometre (500-mile) pipeline inside Pakistan at an estimated cost of $1.5 billion.

Petroleum Secretary Mohammad Ejaz Chaudhry told a Cabinet committee that the consortium’s leader had “run away from the project”. The committee is now looking for alternative financiers.

1215 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. ILNA reports that former President Hashemi Rafsanjani will retain his position as head of the Expediency Council for another five years, thanks to an order from the Supreme Leader.

1135 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. Another soundbite from the President's appearance before the Majlis this morning, "I expect that the parliament should pass me with grade A, anything else would be unfair."

1115 GMT: CyberWatch. The British Foreign Office has launched a new website and social media presence, including Google+, Facebook and Twitter accounts, for Iranians.

The British presence in Iran was effectively ended last November when the Embassy was stormed by a crowd ad the staff were withdrawn from the country.

It appears that the website has not been blocked by the Iranian authorities.

Foreign Secretary William Hague's message for the launch:

1054 GMT: Battle on the Airwaves. BBC Director-General Mark Thompson has accused Iranian authorities of a sustained attack on the broadcaster:

It now looks as if those who seek to disrupt or block BBC Persian may be widening their tactics. There was a day recently when there was a simultaneous attempt to jam two different satellite feeds of BBC Persian into Iran, to disrupt the Service's London phone-lines by the use of multiple automatic calls, and a sophisticated cyber-attack on the BBC.

It is difficult, and may prove impossible, to confirm the source of these attacks, though attempted jamming of BBC services into Iran is nothing new and we regard the coincidence of these different attacks as self-evidently suspicious.

0832 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. Another snippet from the President's defiant response to the interrogation in Parliament, "There are no hard questions. I have asked myself better ones....The architect of the summoning [Ali Motahari] was not very well educated."

Ahmadinejad denied that his Government stood against the Supreme Leader and declared, "Work in this state is not shut down, even for a day."

0822 GMT: The House Arrests. Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Jaafari Dowlatabadi has put out a lengthy defence of the 13-month detentions of opposition figures Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi.

Dowlatabadi said that the decision, part of "preventive measures to prevent future crimes from occurring", was "made at different levels of review and design".

0818 GMT: The Fire Festival. Last night was Chahrshanbeh Suri, the Fire Festival saying good-bye to winter and looking forward to spring. Claimed footage of youth celebrating in Tehran:

0759 GMT: Military Intervention. The head of Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards, Qassem Suleimani, has declared that his forces "will show Iranian zeal in the face of any possible aggression against the country" while "highlight[ing[ the role of the velayat-e faqih (clerical supremacy) in safeguarding the Islamic system".

0755 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. The "interrogation" did not extend beyond the 15-minute speech by Ali Motahari, setting out the 10 questions, and Ahmadinejad's hour-long response.

Now the important part may really begin --- the political reactions to and manoeuvres over this morning's show.

0705 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. Khabar Online reports on responses by the President to the Parliamentary criticisms.

Addressing the claim that his Government acted illegally in defiance of Parliament when it blocked $2 billion in funds to the Tehran Metro, Ahmadinejad claimed that the "reserve account balance was zero" so "how can loans be given to the subway?"

The President also tried to turn the allegation of economic mismanagement back on the Parliament, saying that he could created more than 1.6 million jobs and asking for the help of legislators.

Facing the claim that he was "soft" on cultural offences, including the wearing of "bad hijab" by women, Ahmadinejad replied, "Which one of us so far have not sinned? But sin is bad and I disagree with it."

0655 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. MP Ali Motahari, who led the months-long campaign to interrogate President Ahmadinejad, opened the session with a 15-minute speech. He said that where the President committed violations, "the law must be recognised", and challenged Ahmadinejad on a range of political, social, and economic issues.

0625 GMT: President Ahmadinejad has arrived at Parliament for his interrogation by MPs. Ahmadinejad faces a list of ten questions, including challenges over his Government's handling of the economy, improper appointment of Ministers, suspect items in the Government budget, and Ahmadinejad's 2011 attempt to take control of the Ministry of Intelligence .

The process could lead to impeachment; however, the immediate pressure was eased on Monday when a group of seven MPs, including Ahmadinejad's leading critics and supporters, released a letter calling for a "discussion" rather than a grilling of the President. Ahmad Tavakoli, prominent in the criticism of the Government, later said that Ahmadinejad could serve out his remaining 14 months in office provided he gave honest answers in that discussion.

Ahmadinejad, accompanied by 1st Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi and several Ministers, was welcomed by Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani.

MPs will put their questions in a 15-minute presentation by Ali Motahari, who led the effort to question Ahmadinejad, and the President will have an hour to reply. Larijani called on all to respect the "dignity and discipline" of the meeting.