The Latest from Iran (13 July): Revolutionary Enemy-Breaking Queues for Chicken

See also Iran Snapshot: A Clumsy Intervention by Britain's Intelligence Chief
The Latest from Iran (12 July): Keeping the Oil Flowing....Maybe

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1549 GMT: Immigration Watch. Kalemeh claims that Afghan immigrants, the subject of increasing restrictions by the regime in recent weeks, are no longer allowed to drive.

1545 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Saham News says that opposition figure Mehdi Karroubi, held under strict house arrests for 17 months, has not been allowed to attend the funeral of his sister.

1541 GMT: Economy Watch. ISNA reports that the price of domestically-produced cigarettes has doubled in recent weeks.

1455 GMT: Remembering the Dead. Green Voice of Freedom claims that the memorial for Sohrab Arabi, killed three years by the security forces during protests over the Presidential election, was cancelled because of pressure from authorities.

1445 GMT: Your Tehran Friday Prayer Update. Hojatoleslam Kazem Seddiqi takes the podium today for the good-news message that the West's economic restrictions are “an opportunity” for the country, as it is steadfast, resolute, and resistant: “Sanctions have been imposed against Iran since the [1979] Islamic Revolution and are nothing new.”

But it wasn't all sanctions today --- Seddiqi also observed that "women are objectified in the West and have neither value nor humanity”.

1440 GMT: Guess Who's Back? An EA correspondent brings us the news that President Ahmadinejad's controversial Chief of Staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, has reappeared after a long public absence.

Speaking to the International Globalization Center and the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation, Mashai spoke about globalisation: "To dry up the roots of lethargy and inhumane selfishness, backwardness, ignorance and all manifestations of badness there is no way open to humanity other than for everyone to work together to reach this goal; only a small minority is unable to tolerate this logic."

Could this be an attempt by Rahim Mashai, the oft-rumoured choice of Ahmadinejad to succeed to the Presidency, to resurrect his profile for the 2013 election?

1140 GMT: Advice of the Day. The head of the Iranian armed forces, Hassan Firouzabadi, has sent a message to President Obama: "Rethink your foreign policy."

The general also said that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has long outstayed her usefulness in office and should retire.

1130 GMT: Economy Watch. Aftab takes a shot at the Government's economic record --- while President Ahmadinejad has claimed to create 3.2 million jobs in the past two years, 700,000 jobs have been destroyed in agriculture because of imports and drought.

MP Hossein Tamini adds that distribution of foreign rice during the Iranian harvest has been "a catastrophe", with prices for domestic production not covering costs.

And Hamid Haj Esmaili, the workers' representative in the Arbitration Council, asserts that up to 300,000 jobs this year have been lost because of subsidy cuts.

0709 GMT: Opposition Watch. A Green Movement conference in Göteborg, Sweden has blamed dictatorship and mismanagement for a "reducing tablecloth", cutting the food and income of Iranians. The gathering called for a "national democracy" to address the issues of ethnic minorities and women as well as the Movement.

0703 GMT: Economy Watch. A notable intervention from Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf, Tehran Mayor and possible Presidential candidate in 2013? Calling for "economic jihad", he said that even with $120 billion income, Iran has problems with inflation and unemployment, blaming "bad management".

0659 GMT: Cartoon of the Day. Maya Neyestani's "There Are No Political Prisoners":

0651 GMT: Sanctions Watch. The US Government has tried to tighten sanctions by designating the National Iranian Tanker Company, 58 of its vessels and 27 of its affiliates as extensions of the State, countering Iran's attempts to use renamed vessels to evade sanctions.

Recent reports have indicated that Tehran has tried to counter latest restrictions, including European Union measure introduced on 1 July, by putting its tankers under the flags of other countries such as Tuvalu and Tanzania.

The main part of NITC's oil fleet can carry a maximum of around 62 million barrels of oil.

"We will continue to ratchet up the pressure so long as Iran refuses to address the international community's well-founded concerns about its nuclear program," Treasury Undersecretary David Cohen said in a statement.

The Treasury named Malaysian-based Noor Energy, Petro Suisse, Dubai-based Petro Energy, and Hong Kong Intertrade were identified asn controlled by or acting on behalf of the Iranian Government.

0635 GMT: We start this morning with a story from the economic front. Earlier this week some Iranian media hailed a 10% decrease in the price of chicken, but opposition sites are portraying a much different story, at least in Tehran. Both Khodnevis and Kalemeh claim that the open-market cost of chicken has soared, reaching more than 8000 Toman per kilogramme (about $3.00 per pound at official rate), although if you are willing to line up for hours, you can get less expensive meat,

Kalemeh drives home the point by portraying the cost of chicken in different cities, for example, showing how much cheaper it is in New York, while Khodnevis treats the situation with dark humour: "Revolutionary People Defy Sanctions in Tight Enemy-breaking Queues for 4650 Toman Chicken".