The Latest from Iran (2 December): Ahmadinejad Puts His Right-Hand Man in a New Post

Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai & President Ahmadinejad1955 GMT: Foreign Affairs (Syrian Front). Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has said, “The second round of the meeting of Syrian groups, and national and popular figures, will be held with the participation of representatives from the Syrian government."

Appearing with Hesam Manaa, the vice chairman of the Damascus-based National Coordination Committee, Amir-Abdollahian said the meeting would again bring together members of the regime and the opposition, including the NCC.

In November, Iran promoted a two-day meeting in Tehran with representatives of both sides, to little apparent effect.

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The Latest from Iran (1 December): Politics, Oil, and Propaganda

See also Iran Analysis: How to Misread Ahmadinejad's Position
The Latest from Iran (30 November): An Economy in Confusion

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1935 GMT: Health Watch. A Ministry of Health official has said that the Central Bank has agreed to the Ministry's request for an earmarked $2 billion for imports of medicine to cope with domestic shortages.

Amid international sanctions that have reportedly limited drugs and medical supplies, the Ministry has been criticised for mismanagement and failure to allocate funds to deal with the worsening situation.

1715 GMT: Oil Watch. India's private refiner Essar Oil increased imports of Iranian oil about 30% in October.

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Iran Analysis: How to Misread Ahmadinejad's Position

Jason Rezaian, the Tehran correspondent of The Washington Post, proclaims, "Ahmadinejad Proves Resilient in Iran", a claim which might prove surprising to those who have closely followed months of political and economic turmoil for the President, as Rezaian admits: "[Ahmadinejad] has been seen here as an increasingly marginal figure who may not even be able to serve out his term, which ends next summer."

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The Latest from Iran (30 November): An Economy in Confusion

1251 GMT: Foreign Affairs Watch (Syria). A bomb attack in Damascus has destroyed six vehicles,including an SNG truck, belonging to Press TV and al-Alam television networks in Damascus.

Press TV reports that the explosion, which occurred near its office in the Syrian capital, was caused by a man “caught on camera sticking something to a car” who escaped moments before the blast.

1235 GMT: All the President's Men. Esfandiar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi reports another flutter over whether President Ahmadinejad's controversial right-hand man, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, is looking to succeed his boss in June 2013 elections.

Earlier this month, an alleged meeting between Rahim Mashai with an audience in Tehran, in which the aide said he would not be deterred from Presidential candidacy, was reported in Iranian media --- apparently from a leak by Rahim Mashai's opponents, as the Ahmadinejad Chief of Staff denied the reports.

Now, a Rahim Mashai speech in Kermanshah is the basis for an article in the pro-Ahmadinejad newspaper, “8 Solutions of Engineer Mashai for Solving the Historical Paradox (Revolution-Regime)". Rahim Mashai claimed that Ahmadinejad's achievements in the course of his Presidency are equivalent to the “entirety of contemporary history"; in contrast, there was almost no mention of the Supreme Leader.

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The Latest from Iran (25 November): Larijani's Diplomatic Push on Gaza and Syria

Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday

See also The Latest from Iran (24 November): Political Prisoners "Enjoy All Rights"

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1635 GMT: A Death in Detention. Three Iranian labour organisations have issued a joint statement urging the regime to pursue the case of blogger Sattar Beheshti, killed during interrogation in prison earlier this month, so the perpetrators of his death can be brought to justice.

The Vahed Transit Drivers Union, the Labour Union Project, and the Defenders of Labour Rights Centre said, "[Beheshti] had committed no crime other than to speak out against the injustice and poverty dominating the lives of workers.”

Behesthi was seized at his home on 30 October by cyber-police and died within the next week. The Tehran Prosecutor General's latest statement is that he died of "shock", but the blogger's family said he was in good health before the arrest.

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The Latest from Iran (24 November): Political Prisoners "Enjoy All Rights"

A video, posted on Thursday, remembering those who were killed during the demonstrations on the religious day of Ashura in December 2009

See also Iran Feature: An Activist's Imprisonment Turns a Family Against the Regime
The Latest from Iran (23 November): A Wobble Over Gaza

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1745 GMT: A Death in Detention. A source close to the family of Sattar Beheshti, the blogger killed in detention earlier this month, has said that Beheshti’s mother, Gohar Eshghi, was taken to a notary office to sign a form to release officials from responsibility.

Eshghi said she is requesting a meeting with head of judiciary Sadegh Larijani: "I don’t want another Sattar to happen; I beg all authorities to pursue my child’s death and not to let his spilled blood be in vain…I want nothing other than for those responsible for my son’s murder to be punished.”

Eshghi continued to question official statements that her son died from natural causes or illness: "They took my son on a Tuesday and on the next Tuesday they said to come and take his body. How can I believe that his was a natural death?"

On Thursday, the Tehran Prosecutor published a statement about the Medical Examiner’s report, claiming g that the most likely cause of Beheshti’s death could be “shock”. Previous explaination have cited "extreme exhaustion" or "cardiac arrest" from natural causes.

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The Latest from Iran (22 November): Ahmadinejad Benefits from Tehran's Problems Abroad

See also Iran Feature: The Week in Civil Society --- A Health Crisis, A Hunger Strike, and Keeping Women at Home
The Latest from Iran (21 November): The Economy? "All Is Well"

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1740 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Doulatabi has stopped all in-person visits in the women’s section of Evin Prison, according to opposition websites.

Kalemeh wrote that female inmates who had children were allowed to meet with them in person on Wednesday, but yesterday the prisoners were told that these visits are cancelled until further notice.

Prison authorities have informed detainees that the decision has been handed down from the prosecutor’s office and prison officials have no authority to alter it.

Up to nine women political prisoners recently went on hunger strike over their treatment, including denial of visits, and seven of them signed a statement of condolence to the family of Sattar Beheshti, a blogger killed earlier this month during interrogation in prison. The women have also expressed sympathy with detained lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who is in the fifth week of her hunger strike.

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The Latest from Iran (19 November): "Empathy and Cooperation Will Defeat Sanctions"

See also The Latest from Iran (18 November): A Move on Syria

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2115 GMT: Gaza Watch. According to journalist Thomas Erdbrink, a representative of Gaza's Islamic Jihad has confirmed that Iran gave them rockets --- he said "thank you" on the Islamic Republic's Arabic-language TV channel Al Alam.

2025 GMT: Gaza Watch. Entekhab reports that Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has refused permission for Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi to enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border.

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Iran Analysis: The Resurrection of Ahmadinejad's Right-Hand Man?

In the first part of President Ahmadinejad's second term, after protests over the disputed 2009 election had been suppressed, Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai was a headline figure. The expectation that Ahmadinejad would name Rahim-Mashai as his desired successor guaranteed both support and criticism of the controversial aide.

As Ahmadinejad became engulfed in his own political problems after his failed attempt to extend power in spring 2011, Rahim-Mashai receded from view. Opponents pressed him with allegations that he was a supporter of the US and Israel --- even that he was Jewish --- as well as claims of corruption and financial mismanagement. The Chief of Staff, once vocal, maintained a cautious silence.

However, on Thursday, there was an apparent resurrection.

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The Latest from Iran (15 November): Tehran's Open Call for Nuclear Talks

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and Iran's Secretary of the National Security Council, Saeed Jalili

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1759 GMT: A Death in Detention. Head of judiciary Sadegh Larijani has declared that he will deal "firmly" with anyone found guilty of abuse, torture, and/or wrongful behaviour in the case of blogger Sattar Beheshti, who died during interrogation in prison last week.

See Iran Feature: The Last Blog of Sattar Beheshti, Murdered by Security Forces in Prison

1753 GMT: Health Watch. Minister of Health Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, trying to stave off criticism and calls for her impeachment (see 0945 GMT), has declared that Iran has risen from 56th to 20th in the world in medical care in the last 10 years, and that the Islamic Republic is 14th in the world for pharmaceuticals.

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