The Latest from Iran (6 August): Breaking Ranks

See also Iran Feature: Can Tehran and the West Close the Nuclear "Trust Gap"?
The Latest from Iran (5 August): The Supreme Leader Talks About Morality

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Mohsen Rezaei (see 0555 GMT)1910 GMT: All the President's Men. Ali Akbar Bakhtiari, the head of the Administrative Court, has maintained the pressure for enforcement of the Court's ruling that Presidential aide Saeed Mortazavi must resign as head of the Social Security Fund.

The Court has ordered Mortazavi to step down because of his alleged role, as Tehran Prosecutor General, in the abuse and killing of protesters at Kahrizak detention centre in summer 2009; however, President Ahmadinejad and his advisors have defied the command.

1530 GMT: Foreign Affairs Watch (Syrian Front). Insurgents have said three of the 48 Iranians seized on Saturday near Damascus died during a regime air attack in Damascus Province today.

"They were killed when the aircraft attacked, one of the houses they were in collapsed over their heads," insurgent spokesman Moutassam al-Ahmad said.

Al-Ahmad warned, "We will kill the rest if the army does not stop its assault. They have one hour."

1440 GMT: School Watch. BBC Persian reports that religious instruction has been established in Iran's pre-school classes.

Meanwhile, teachers have been protesting in Parliament over their training and conditions of employment.

1350 GMT: Foreign Affairs Watch (Syrian Front). Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian has asserted that 10 countries will participate in a Ministerial meeting on Thursday of those with a "realistic position" on Syria.

Adbollahian did not name those attending, saying instead, "We are asking why the United States and other countries back sending heavy and semi-heavy weapons, while we are seeing the presence of Al-Qaeda and an increase in the number of terrorist and violent acts in Syria."

1325 GMT: Campus Watch. BBC Persian claims that women are not being accepted for 77 undergraduate majors in Iran's universities. Authorities claim the programmes have a "lack of capacity" because they are already "oversubscribed" by female candidates.

1315 GMT: Reformist Watch. Leading reformist Abdollah Nouri, amidst reports that reformists are looking for a revival in the Presidential election next year, has declared that the political faction stands with the deprived classes.

1145 GMT: Currency Watch. Mehr reports that exchange bureaux in Tehran stopped trading dollars and removed rates from their windows this morning.

The site says the Iranian Rial was as weak at 22000:1 v. the dollar --- an almost 15% drop in 24 hours --- before settling for the moment at 21400:1.

1140 GMT: Economy Watch. Even the "hard-line" Raja News is reporting on high prices for beef and mutton, putting them at 14-17,000 Toman per kilogramme (about $5.50-$6.50 per pound at official rate).

1125 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. Despite criticism by leading Iranian politicians of Saudi Arabia's hosting of an emergency summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (see 0645 GMT), President Ahmadinejad has accepted the invitation of King Abdullah to the meeting next week.

1050 GMT: The House Arrests. Ardeshir Amir Arjomand, the spokesperson for the Coordination Council of the Green Path of Hope, has said the release of detained Green Movement figures Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi is the only solution for Iran's crisis: "Without national reconciliation, there will be no way out of the current international and domestic deadlock.”

Amir Arjomand claimed, “The hardliners have shut their eyes and ears and think that by resorting to deceit and the blame game they can somehow find a way out.”

The former legal advisor to Mousavi called on countries participating in the forthcoming summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran to highlight the plight of political prisoners in Iran, send low-level delegations to the conference in protest at ongoing human rights violations.

Amir-Arjomand described recent remarks by Judiciary spokesman Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei about the condition of Karroubi and Mousavi, who have been under strict house arrest since February 2011, as “shameful": “Mr Ej’i is the country’s so-called Chief Prosecutor but claims to have no information about anything. He has no say in the important issues. There’s no doubt that higher-ranking officials are behind the decisions made regarding the [Green] Movement’s leaders and not the judiciary and Mr Ejei.”

The advisor claimed, “The authorities are in fact afraid of the people. Rahnavard, Karroubi and Mousavi mirror the demands of a large segment of the Iranian people.”

1040 GMT: Economy Watch. The head of the Basij militia, Mohammad Reza Naqdi has offered suggestions to deal with economic difficulties: "Why should we import soft drinks? People should start producing chicken, rugs, and toys at home."

1020 GMT: Currency Watch. The sinking Iranian Rial fell sharply this morning, weakening more than 4% to 21300:1 vs. the US dollar.

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The Rial is now close to its low point during the currency crisis earlier this year.

0907 GMT: Foreign Affairs Watch (Syrian Front). The daily Arman puts forth reasons for Saturday's abduction of 48 Iranian men --- claimed by the regime as pilgrims, but by the Free Syrian Army as militia or members of the Revolutionary Guards --- including exposure of a lack of security, a warning against co-operation with President Assad, and damage to the tourist industry.

0709 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Iranian media are claiming that Faezeh Hashemi, activist and daughter of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, has left Iran for Britain.

Hashemi has been under sustained pressure --- through official prosecution, critical articles, and harassment by regime supporters --- since the 2009 Presidential election. In January, she was sentenced to six months in prison for propaganda against the regime.

The activist's brother Mehdi, also threatened with prosecution, is in Britain and has not been in Iran since 2009.

0705 GMT: Currency Watch. Mehr is one of the Iranian outlet showing concern over the Rial, as the currency slipped on Sunday to its lowest point since February.

The Rial, despite sustained Government efforts to support it, has fallen 7% in the last two weeks --- it is now at 20420:1 vs. the US dollar.

0645 GMT: So Much for Rapprochement. Saudi State media reported this weekend that King Abdullah has invited President Ahmadinejad to the extraordinary meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), scheduled for Mecca on 14-15 August.

It does not appear, however, that the extended hand is being grasped by all --- Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the chairman of Parliament's National Security Committee, has snapped:

Since the beginning of the unrest in Syria, the Arab League and countries such as Saudi Arabia set a bad record of themselves by adopting hostile stances. Therefore, it seems unlikely that they intend to take steps to resolve the Syrian unrest....

Saudi officials along with the Arab League as well as certain regional countries and trans-regional powers such as the US and Britain employed all their capacities to fuel tension in Syria. After facing several defeats in Syria, Saudi Arabia is trying to use the sacred and spiritual atmosphere of Mecca to provoke the public opinion of Muslim nations against Syria,” he added.

0615 GMT: Espionage Watch. State TV has broadcast "confessions" by 14 suspects over the killing of five nuclear scientists since 2010.

The broadcast showed some of the detainees --- eight men and six women --- re-enacting the assassinations in areas of the capital Tehran and displayed pictures from an alleged training camp outside Tel Aviv in Israel.

One of the suspects, Behzad Abdoli, claimed that he and several others received training in Israel: "I entered Turkey and then was taken to Cyprus by ship. From there, I entered Israel and (then) Tel Aviv....They (Israelis) said that this group is being supported financially by the US and Israel."

Another suspect, Arash Kheradkish, said he received training in attaching magnetic bombs to moving cars:

There was a motorcycle racing complex (in Tel Aviv) where we received training. We were told we needed to improve our skills so that we would be able to attach magnetized bombs to moving cars....We were given time bombs that we had to push the start button when we attached it. At the end of the training course, members (of the group) were given money. They arranged our return (to Iran).

The broadcast said Majid Jamali Fashi, executed in May, and Kheradkish were chosen to lead the operations.

Maziar Ebrahimi, another suspect, said there were three groups involved in the bombings: one on a motorbike, a car driving in front to slow the target car, and a support team waiting nearby to help if necessary.

0555 GMT: We begin with ripples in an Iranian outlet pointing to tensions within the regime on domestic and foreign issues.

Baztab, which is reportedly linked to Mohsen Rezaei --- former head of the Revolutionary Guards, Secretary of the Expediency Council, and candidate for President in 2013 --- takes aim at Mehrdad Bazrpash, a close ally of President Ahmadinejad. The site claims Bazrpash, a former Vice President, became the Chief Executive Officer of Saipa, a major automobile manufacturer, without qualifications. 

Baztab then alleges that Bazrpash's Vatan Emrooz daily newspaper has been supported by Government funds, with pro-Ahmadinejad bloggers writing for the paper each day. 

Baztab also takes a different line from other Iranian outlets on Syria. Perhaps mischievously, it says that State broadcaster IRIB is "not guilty" over the abduction of 48 Iranians near Damascus on Saturday. Then --- in a sharp break from the Iranian leadership's defence of the Syrian regime --- it compares the behaviour of Presdent Assad's troops to that of Israelis in their recent wars in Lebanon and Gaza.