The Latest from Iran (17 August): Ahmadinejad Introduces Tehran Friday Prayer

One of a set of images by Mehr of Quds Day marches

See also The Latest from Iran (16 August): Hey, Look Over at Palestine!

---

1810 GMT: The Earthquakes. One of a set of photos in Mehr, as clean-up efforts continue, of the aftermath of last Saturday's earthquakes in East Azerbaijan:

1340 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Kurdish activist Hadi Amini has been freed after five years in prison.

1237 GMT: Human Rights Watch. Expatriate activists have posted an open letter to members of the Non-Aligned Movement:

We are writing this letter to express our concerns about the deteriorating situation in Iran. Human rights of the citizens are being violated on a daily basis, and democratic aspirations of the people have been crushed. We would respectfully request that you help alleviate the grave situation by reviewing your program when you attend the Sixteenth Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran to include discussion on human rights in Iran.

1159 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. The President among the people today:

1143 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. Another extract from the President's introduction to the Tehran Friday Prayer "The Western and American Spring is on its way."

An EA correspondent wonders why Ahmadinejad is using variants of the "Arab Spring" rather than the Supreme Leader's preferred term of "Islamic Awakening".

Meanwhile, it looks like this will be the take-away passage for the Western media:

The Zionist regime and the Zionists are a cancerous tumour. Even if one cell of them is left in one inch of (Palestinian) land, in the future this story (of Israel's existence) will repeat.

The nations of the region will soon finish off the usurper Zionists in the Palestinian land....A new Middle East will definitely be formed. With the grace of God and help of the nations, in the new Middle East there will be no trace of the Americans and Zionists.

1033 GMT: Still Nervous. Amidst all the proclamations of massive crowds on the streets for Quds Day, Fars expresses its relief that there has been no re-appearance of the Green Movement.

1028 GMT: Your Tehran Friday Prayer Update. Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, setting out the five Qur'anic rules for confrontation with Zionists, has told the Quds (Palestine) Day audience that Israel only understands force.

Khatami also said that members of the Non-Aligned Movement, coming to a summit in Tehran later this month, should prove their non-alignment with a statement against the US.

0958 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. Introducing Tehran Friday Prayers on Quds (Palestine) Day, President Ahmadinejad has declared, “Today, countering the entity of Zionism and the fabricated Zionist regime safeguards the rights of all human beings, defends human dignity, and paves the way to save humankind from arrogance, poverty and misery.

Ahmadinejad said Zionists masterminded World Wars I and II to dominate nations and prepare the ground for US power. He claimed "the world’s main centers of power, media, and banks" are controlled by Zionists "for destruction of values and nations".

0948 GMT: Foreign Affairs Watch (Saudi Front). Not everyone is happy with President Ahmadinejad's presence at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit in Saudi Arabia this week. Farda News was agitated in particular by Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi's statement, "Here I feel I am in my own home. I have lived here in Jeddah for four years. Saudi Arabia is a sacred country and I wish the nation and government of Saudi Arabia success, dignity and glory." The website commented:

Speaking in such a way about a country which is responsible for organising the enemies of the country [Iran] in the region, is ruining a country friendly to it [Syria] and has decapitated its citizens [a reference to Iranian fishermen beheaded in Saudi Arabia], either means that he is scared and wants to bribe [Saudi Arabia] to stop this [enmity], or the past is over and a new chapter has begun in the bilateral relations. None of this is true about Iran and Saudi Arabia....

Why does he wish success to a country which repeats the stupid positions of the West concerning Iran's nuclear program, has unfairly killed Iranian citizens... has military forces in Bahrain and kills the freedom seekers, and feeds arms and money to Wahhabi terrorists in Syria, Iran's ally?

MP Behrouz Nemati asked Salehi: "If Saudi Arabia is your home, why are you Iran's foreign minister?", while Asr-e Iran finished a long denunciation of Ahmadinejad and Salehi, "The gentlemen must not forget that what they say, apart from publicity abroad, will also get publicity at home and they must speak in such a way that the national pride of the people is not hurt."

0902 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Ahmad Reza Ahmadpour, cleric and member of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, has been granted a two-week furlough from prison.

However, Mehdi Saharkhiz reports that furlough has been denied to his father Isa, a journalist detained since June 2009.

0855 GMT: All the President's Men. The Administrative Court has insisted again on the dismissal of Presidential aide Mortazavi, asserting that further actions by him are illegal.

The Court has ordered the suspension of Mortazavi because of allegations that, as Tehran Prosecutor General, he was responsible for abuses and killings at the Kahrizak detention centre in summer 2009.

0725 GMT: The Battle Within. Tension continues over this week's attack on Ali Akbar Nategh Nouri, the leading conservative politician who is close to the Supreme Leader, as he spoke at a religious ceremony in Mashhad.

Former Revolutionary Guards commander Saeed Qassemi said he organised the protest, in which young men chanted and threw water bottles, for the hard-line group Ansar-e Hezbollah. The organisation denied, however, that Qassemi is a member.

Meanwhile, eight student organisations have issued a statement that Nategh Nouri for "betraying the memory of martyrs" and insulting "valiant Basiji" who served Iran in war.

0525 GMT: President Ahmadinejad will soon be introducing the Tehran Friday Prayer. Not just any Friday Prayer --- today is Quds Day, the occasion declared by the late Ayatollah Khomeini to show solidarity with the Palestinian people.

The Supreme Leader's advisor on foreign policy, Ali Akbar Velayati, will also address the crowd before Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami delivers the main sermon.

With the continuing stuggle within the political elite, criticism of Ahmadinejad for paying little attention to last Saturday's deadly earthquakes in East Azerbaijan, and the President getting little out of his high-profile trip to Saudi Arabia for an extraordinary meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, I will be watching for signs of Ahmadinejad's success --- or failure --- today.