The Latest from Iran (2 June): A Revival of Dissent?

A photograph from last night's burial of Haleh Sahabi

2010 GMT: A Death at the Funeral. Our partner website, Arshama3's Blog", has posted an excellent summary in German of the case of Haleh Sahabi, "Anatomy of a Political Murder".

2005 GMT: A Death at the Funeral. Hamed Montazeri, the grandson of the late Grand Ayatollah, has written a note about the death of Haleh Sahabi. He said that Sahabi was beaten by security forces. Whether her death resulted from the impact of the blows or the shock of receiving them, Montazeri continued, "it can be said unequivocally that Ms Haleh Sahabi was murdered".

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The Latest from Iran (9 May): Ahmadinejad Bows Down?

1900 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. The husband of detained human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh says she has been cut off from her family for the past 10 days.

Reza Khandan said he has not been allowed telephone contact with his wife since she was transferred to a different ward in Evin Prison.

Sotoudeh was sentenced in December to 11 years in prison and a 20-year ban on the practice of law.

1855 GMT: Fashion Police. More on Iran's "moral security" force (see 1215 GMT), with 70,000 officers reportedly taking to the streets to enforce proper fashion and behaviour....

Commander Ahmad Rouzbehani, the head of the force, explained, “In some instances, some people have been seen to take off their head covering in their vehicles. Such vehicles will be stopped and their passengers will be referred to the judiciary.”

Commander Rouzbehani also listed “installation of satellite dishes and sale of alcoholic drinks” as violations.

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The Latest from Iran (8 May): Watching the Cabinet

1920 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. So, after a week of high political crisis, how does a President end his speech at a critical Cabinet meeting?

He congratulates the National Tae Kwon Do Team on its victory in the world championships.

1915 GMT: Cabinet Watch (Bin Laden Conspiracy Edition). So now that Ministre of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi has been allowed back into Cabinet meetings by the President, what does he have to say?

Iran’s Minister of Intelligence has accused the U.S. of fabricating its account of Osama Bin Laden’s death, alleging that Bin Laden had died much earlier from health complications....

[Moslehi said] Iran is in possession of “accurate information and reliable and significant documents” regarding Bin Laden’s death. He did not expand on the contents of thesaid documents....

“If the U.S. military and intelligence have truly arrested or killed Bin Laden,” Moslehi said, “why do they not show him to the world? Why do they dispose of his remains at sea?”

“We are of the opinion that the U.S. and its media dictatorship are trying to overshadow the regional uprisings with such news,” Moslehi said. “Furthermore, they are also trying to resolve internal problems such as their economical woes.”

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The Latest from Iran (30 April): Hiding

2130 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch (Cyber Edition). Another pro-Ahmadinejad website, Aeen News, has been filtered inside Iran.

The blocking of the recently-established Aeen follows the filtering of several other sites supporting the President.

2110 GMT: Subsidy Cuts Watch. Parliament has struck, during President Ahmadinejad's absence, by limiting the Government's subsidy cuts.

The Majlis cut the estimated savings from $59 billion to $28 billion. Legislators claimed the subsidy cuts would escalate inflation, especially through prices for food and energy.

There were no immediate comments from the office of the President.

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The Latest from Iran (25 April): Supporting the Workers

May Day Poster of Detained Labour Activists1900 GMT: The Battle Within. Another important snippet from the press conference of Iran Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei (see 1448 GMT)....

Mohseni-Ejei said the managing director of the State news agency, Ali Akbar Javanfekr, had been summoned to court, and he stressed that the Ministry of Intelligence belongs to the "nezam" (system).

That is a sharp slap-down for the Ahmadinejad camp. Javanfekr was a Presidential advisor before taking over IRNA, and the news agency had backed Ahmadinejad's office over the forced resignation of Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi.

Iran Video Special: Claimed Footage of Ahwaz Protests
The Latest from Iran (24 April): Noticing Syria

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Iran and the Green Movement: Life, Death, Rebirth (Ansari)

These circumstances create space for an emerging opposition committed to the objective of regime change conducted by Iranians in their own interests. This objective is even more evidently on the right side of history in 2011 as it was in 2009. This new Iranian force is intent on broadening its appeal, finessing its organisational structure, and developing a strategic plan. Those who risked their lives by taking to the streets in Iran in 2009 can take pride in the fact that their democratic spirit and bravery helped inspire the wind of change across the Arab middle east. They still aspire to reclaim their country and their destiny.

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Iran Snapshot: Who is Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai? (Rahimkhani)

In 1984, Rahim-Mashai joined the Intelligence Ministry in Kurdistan, where he met Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, then governor of the northwestern city of Khoy. The two men developed a close friendship that has endured almost three decades.

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Iran Snapshot: Oxford Investigates Ph.D. of Rafsanjani's Son (Syal)

The son of the former Iranian president Hashemi Rafsanjani is being investigated by Oxford University after claims that his successful doctoral thesis proposal was written with the help of others.

Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former head of Iran's state-owned gas company, began a five-year DPhil course in the Iranian constitution at the faculty of oriental studies in October.

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The Latest from Iran (23 March): New Year's Break

1700 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani has thrown another jab at the Government in his website message for the New Year: "We unfortunately witness the pursuing of indecent methods by those in charge, such as making lies and giving empty slogans to the people....The Iranian people are educated and well-informed and neither deserve lies nor promises which are impossible to be implemented....Those in charge should listen to criticism, and either convince the critics through logic or correct their policies.

Rafsanjani, who lost his post as head of the Assembly of Experts this month, even had a poke at the post-election repression: "What we should, however, definitely not do as Muslims is acting beyond ethics and eventually expose an Islamic society as disgrace."

1640 GMT: The Battle Within. Promient MP Hojatoleslam Hossein Sobhani-Nia has declared that the further the Government goes, the more dissent there is within the camp of the hardliners.

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The Latest from Iran (20 March): Anticipating a Happy Nowruz

1640 GMT: Cartoon of Day. Maya Nayestani presents a different version of the traditional 7-item "Haft Sin" table, offered by a member of Iran's security forces, for New Year --- Sandis (juice given to those attending regime rallies), Saloos (leech), Sarneyzeh (bayonet), Sangsaar (stoning), Sangdeli (hard-heartedness), Sarkoob (oppression), Saltanat-e Faghih (clerical monarchy). Her young boy responds, "I'll go to Grandpa's celebration."

1630 GMT: Missing. Journalist Behrouz Samadbeygi has not been seen since 15 March, the eve of Chahrshanbeh Suri (Fire Festival).

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