Iran Letter: Activist Narges Mohammadi "Prison is Causing My Slow Death"

Narges Mohammadi with Her ChildrenSince entering this prison ward, I have encountered horrible situations that I am not even able to describe and write about.

Putting me under such a stressful situation is equivalent to feeding me cups of poison that help to destroy me moment by moment.

I persistently and emphatically proclaim that such treatment and actions towards me are in fact causing my slow death and the responsibility lies with the authorities.

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Iran Interview: What Happened on Election Day in 2009? (Mehrabi)

At the commission, the news went around by word of mouth. One news was that Mir Hossein Mousavi was planning to come to the commission. But no real news came into the headquarters.

Even prior to the voting, the Ministry [of Interior] appeared to be poised to win the election. We sensed that they seemed confident that they (the Ahmadinejad campaign) would win in any way. When we told the other reformist kids, who called us from the outside, of the atmosphere inside the building, they brushed us off as being influenced by the events inside.

We had no idea that they planned to rig the elections at this scale. When we spoke with reporters from the other side (i.e., supporting the administration), they told us that Ahmadinejad would win with 24 million votes.

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The Latest from Iran (24 July): Confusion over a Murdered "Nuclear Scientist"

Dariush Rezaeinejad & Daughter2015 GMT: Reformist Watch. MP Mohammad Mehdi Shahryari has given an answer both to ruling principlists and to Mohammad Reza Khabbaz, the reformist who has called for participation in the 2012 Parliamentary elections (see 0545 GMT): "The principlists cannot flee from responsibility for the current situation in country, as they supported it for six years."

1825 GMT: Why Can't We All Just Get Along? Aftab pulls out this highlight from an address by the Supreme Leader to military personnel and their families on Saturday night: "Avoiding differences is a religious duty for political officials and currents."

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Iran Interview: Attorney Dadkhah on 9 Years in Prison "I am Glad They Did Not Render a Death Sentence"

I am glad that they did not render a death sentence, for it was not outside the realm of possibility. When the law is not read and disregarded anything is possible....You take what comes your way.

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The Latest from Iran (24 June): The Net Closes on Ahmadinejad's Men....Continued

2005 GMT: Parliament v. President The head of Parliament's Article 90 Commission, which oversees Government activity, has said that a report on 18 violations of the Constitution by President Ahmadinejad will be read out in the Parliament this week.

Mohammad Ebrahim Nekounam said the violations include refusing to provide a budget for the Tehran Metro, failing to prepare the Ministry of Oil's article of association, and refusing to announce the establishment of the Ministry of Sports and Youth.

Nekounam said Ahmadinejad must answer questions about the constitutional violations.

1920 GMT: The Hunger Strikes. Kalemeh reports that five hunger strikers at Evin Prison --- Adbollah Momeni, Mohsen Aminzadeh, Abolfazl Ghadyani, Bahman Ahmadi Amoui, and Mehdi Karimiyan Eghbal --- have been transferred to the infirmary for treatment.

The five are among 12 political prisoners who are in the seventh day of the hunger strike, which protests the deaths of activists Haleh Sahabi and Hoda Saber and the general conditions in detention.

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Iran Letter: Nasrin Sotoudeh to Late Haleh Sahabi "Death is Not the End for a Dove"

Death is not the end of the road for a dove,

Though it has has been three days since your sudden departure, it is still so hard to believe that you are gone. Despite our grief when hearing this sad news, we continue to pray that it is untrue. In the past three days, your name has echoed across the female political prisoner ward at Evin alongside songs of love and freedom.

Your noble story spans from three generations that have endured suffering on the road to freedom and democracy to the night when we all escorted you with tears as you left prison so that your presence may give strength to your late father who had dedicated his life for the dignity and prosperity of our country.

...but alas, rather than consoling a late father, the nation of Iran also lost a daughter...

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The Latest from Iran (14 June): Presenting the Morality Police

New recruits to the morality police listen to instructions from a commander (more photos at bottom of LiveBlog)

2015 GMT: Press Watch. Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Doulatabadi said today that he has summoned the manager of Iran newspaper for insults against the head of judiciary and Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi.

2000 GMT: The US Hikers. Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Doulatabadi has said a final decision in the case of three US hikers, charged with espionage, is expected Americans charged with espionage by late August.

Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal are still in custody after almost 23 months in detention. The latest hearing in their trial was cancelled without explanation on 11 May.

Sarah Shourd was released in September 2010 on $500,000 bail and has refused to return to Iran for trial.

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The Latest from Iran (13 June): Back to the "Normal" of In-Fighting

1755 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch (Saber Edition). The wife of journalist Hoda Saber, who passed away after a hunger strike in Evin Prison, claimed on Sunday: ""My husband died two days ago, but we were unaware of his death until today when someone in the hospital informed one of our friends."

1750 GMT: Corruption Watch. Iran Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei has confirmed that leading MP Ahmad Tavakoli is formally accusing 1st Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi of corruption. Mohseni-Ejei said judicial deputies had met with President Ahmadinejad to discuss the matter.

Rahimi has been accused by critics of involvement in a massive insurance fraud.

1730 GMT: Warning of the Day. A writer for http://digarban.com/node/1314" target="_blank">the hardline Raja News claims that supporters of Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, formerly an ally of the President, have warned the Ahmadinejad camp: "When you trespass the red lines, we will act."

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The Latest from Iran (9 June): Devaluing

2055 GMT: Diversion Watch. Back from a conference break to find that Iranian authorities, the press, and State broadcasting have teamed up --- well, sort of --- to offer a spy story as an alternative to real-life political tension.

Both State broadcaster IRNA and Fars have claimed that the Ministry of Intelligence has foiled a US plan to form a "government in exile" for Iran.

The scheme, which included scholars Gene Sharp and Joseph Nye and the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, was headed by former Repvolutionary Guard commander Mohammad Reza Madhi. The American organisers arranged for Madhi to travel to Washington, where he met with Vice President Joe Biden, who promised full support.

Meanwhile, Dennis Ross of the National Security Council tried to establish the government in exile. Candidates included Amir Hossein Jahanshahi, a businessman with dual French-Israeli citizenship who is close to Ashraf Pahlavi, the twin sister of the late Shah; Abdollah Mohtadi, leader of Kurdish dissident organisation Komala; Hassan Sharafi; Alireza Nourizadeh, a London-based political analyst; Reza Hosseinbor, the leader of a secessionist group; and filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, all of whom participated in a conference at the Atlantic Hotel in Paris.

The US provided $7 billion for the effort, but it fell apart when the identity of Ahmad Maleki, a diplomat in the Iranian embassy in Italy and a nephew of Mehdi Karroubi, was revealed.

A grand story, although there have been glitches. For Fars claimed that Madhi, working for the Ministry of Intelligence, had penetrated the "counterrevolutionaries", while IRNA and Kayhan referred to him as a "CIA spy".

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The Latest from Iran (6 June): A Call for An Investigation

Funeral of Haleh Sahabi

1650 GMT: Fars News is reporting that Manouchehr Gharavi, the former CEO of the Iranian car maker, Iran-Khodro, and a few others were arrested last Monday.

1640 GMT: On Saturday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei called for a political cease-fire between Ahmadinejad and his most vocal critics inside the conservative party. Those calls, apparently, have gone unheaded.

Mehr News reports that Khamenei's representative to the Republican Guard Corps, Hojatoleslam Mojtaba Zolnour, insinuated today that Ahmadinejad is a threat to the core of the Islamic Republic:

"The current of deviation seeks to weaken the foundations of the Islamic establishment... I believe this movement is the gravest danger in the history of Shiite Islam.

"The head of this new sedition should be removed if the government wants to be clean... We hope this problem will be resolved, but it seems very unlikely such a thing will happen in the near future."

The insinuation is that Ahmadinejad, and his presumed choice for a successor, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, are behind the "current of deviation," a phrase used before to criticise the current president. Zolnour's disregard for political calm, and his association with the IRGC, is a notable event.

1200 GMT: Ali Larijani has warned Ahmadinejad that delegating decisions on oil matters special representatives appointed by the president is illegal.

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