The Latest from Iran (1 May): The Supreme Leader Pins Economic Blame on Ahmadinejad

2025 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani has joined in the criticism of the Government over the economy, claiming it is increasing imports rather than supporting domestic production.

2015 GMT: Justice Watch. On Monday, we reported that Ali Akbar Heydarifar, a deputy to former Tehran Prosecutor General Saeed Mortazavi, was arrested over alleged involvement in the abuses at the Kahrizak detention centre in autumn 2009. Mortazavi, despite heated criticism from MPs and a file against him, has so far escaped prosecution and retains his post as a Presidential advisor.

A curious footnote from Radio Zamaneh:

Heydarifar, who reportedly signed the [Kahrizak] detainees’ transfer order, was involved in a recent altercation at a gas station in Esfahan.

He was reportedly trying to jump the line at the gas station when other customers complained. Media reports indicate that Heydarifard took out a gun and began shooting into the air. He was released after Security Forces called to scene checked his ID.

The Iran Prosecutor has announced that Heydarifar is also facing prosecution for the incident at the gas station.

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The Latest from Iran (28 April): Nuclear Step Forward, Nuclear Step Back

1513 GMT: War Watch. There has been quite a flutter on the Internet over comments by the former head of Israel's internal intelligence agency Shin Bet, Yuval Diskin, critising Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak over postures and policies on Iran based on "messianic feelings". Diskin said he would not trust the Israeli leaders in the event of a pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear sites.

The comments should be seen in the context of a wave of recent comments by former and current Israeli military and intelligence leaders, including former head of the Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence service, Meir Dagan and current Chief of General Staff Benny Gantz, playing down talk of an imminent Iranian nuclear weapons capability and warning against the consequences of an Israeli attack (see the discussion in Comments).

Interpretation? Seeing this as a possible contest and even rift between the military and the political leadership, I would note the significant influence of the ties between the Israeli and the US military and inteligence communities. Washington's military commanders have not only been vocal this spring in their caution against an assault; they have given signals to Israeli counterparts that they would like to see the same out of West Jerusalem.

Video from The Guardian:

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The Latest from Iran (25 April): The Economic Challenge Returns

See also The Latest from Iran (24 April): Oil and the Cyber-Attacks

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2240 GMT: A (Temporary) Break in Service. Apologies for the limited updates today, as I have been at a mini-conference on Israel and Iran this afternoon and evening. Full service will resume tomorrow at 0600 GMT on Thursday.

2235 GMT: Nuclear Watch. The buzz on the Internet tonight is over this report of a shift in Iran's position on its nuclear programme:

Iran is considering a Russian proposal to halt the expansion of its nuclear program in order to avert new sanctions, the country’s envoy in Moscow said.

“We need to study this proposal and to establish on what basis it has been made,” Ambassador Mahmoud-Reza Sajjadi said in an interview at the Iranian embassy in Moscow today. The Russian plan, announced by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov last week, would let Iran avoid a European Union ban on its crude that is scheduled to come into force in July....

Iran might also be willing to ratify the so-called Additional Protocol, a step urged by the United Nations Security Council that includes more thorough inspections of Iranian facilities, as part of a wider settlement, Sajjadi said.

Under the Russian proposal, Iran would stop building centrifuges, machines used to enrich uranium, and mothball ones that haven’t been put into use yet.

We will have more tomorrow, but this appears to be an Iranian move towards the Russian "step-by-step" approach for the negotiations, with a freeze and then an easing of sanctions with each Iranian pull-back from an expanded enrichment programme and towards tighter international oversight.

Two points which are unclear: 1) Is Sajjadi speaking with full backing of the highest levels of the regime; 2) Will Iran pull back from its recently-acquired ability to enrich uranium to 20%, accepting a level such as 3.5% or 5%?

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The Latest from Iran (23 April): "We Are the Inspiration for the Arab Spring"

See also The Latest from Iran (22 April): A Lull in the Politics

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Iraq PM Maliki & President Ahmadinejad2019 GMT: Elections Watch. More than seven weeks after the first round of Parliamentary elections --- and 11 days before the second round --- we finally have a claimed breakdown of the affiliation of those elected.

MP Asadollah Badamchian, quoting from a Ministry of Intelligence report, gives these figures for the 225 candidates elected in the first round: 64 are from the Unity Front, only nine from the Islamic Constancy Front headed by Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, 50 are on the lists of both the Unity Front and the Constancy Front, and 14 are from the Steadfastness Front linked to conservative politician Mohsen Rezaei. There are 35 reformists, 39 "independents, and 14 Sunnis.

The other 65 MPs will be elected in the second round on 4 May.

2011 GMT: Abolfazl Qadyani, a senior member of the reformist Mojahedin of Islamic Revolution, has used a court appearance to declare that the Supreme Leader "has dealt the biggest blow to the nezam (system)....He is the true taghout (false idol)."

Qadyani was initially detained on 28 December 2009, a day after the opposition's Ashura rallies. He was given a one-year sentence for "insulting the President" and then, in December 2011, give three more years in prison.

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The Latest from Iran (22 April): A Lull in the Politics

See also Iran Document: The Repression, Abuse, and Execution of Iranian Kurds
The Latest from Iran (21 April): Getting It Right on Politics and Nuclear Talks

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2040 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. President Ahmadinejad has used the set-piece of a visit from Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to put out the line of Tehran's close relations with Baghdad in a challenge to the West and Israel:

If Tehran and Baghdad are powerful and dignified, there will be no place in the region for the enemies of nations, including the US and the Zionist regime. “The hegemonic powers that have been slapped by the two nations are trying to keep countries like Iran and Iraq weak in order to bring the entire region under their domination and control by creating dissention and sowing discord.

2010 GMT: Spin Watch. An instructive story about how Iranian State media re-packages economic news to find the "positive"....

Earlier today (see 1257 GMT) we reported the finding of the International Monetary Fund that Iran's inflation rate in 2011 was twice that of other countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

Well, although that story was in Iran's Aftab News, you won't find it in Fars or State outlets IRNA and Press TV. Instead, IRNA features a message from Tehran to the IMF:

Iran as one of the co-founders of International Monetary Found expects a supportive role from this organization, Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Mahmoud Bahmani said here on Friday.

Bahmani made the remark in a meeting with the IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde on the sidelines of semiannual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington.

Fars has almost the exact same story.

Now watch as today's Press TV, citing Fars, suddenly turns the story, "Iran Economic Reforms Positive, Constructive: IMF Chief":

Managing director of International Monetary Fund (IMF) says the economic reforms carried out by the Iranian government in recent years, especially the Subsidy Reform Plan, have been positive and constructive.

In a meeting with Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Mahmoud Bahmani on the sidelines of semiannual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington, Christine Lagarde expressed hope that Western sanctions against Iran's central bank would be lifted.

Lagarde also indicated her concern about the fluctuations in global oil prices and their impact on the world economic growth.

We can find no record anywhere of Lagarde making these alleged remarks.

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The Latest from Iran (21 April): Getting It Right on Politics and Nuclear Talks

See also Iran Snap Analysis: The New Battle Within Tehran Over the Nuclear Talks
The Latest from Iran (20 April): A Golden Sign of Trouble?

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1855 GMT: All-Is-Well Alert. Little did we know how our Caption Competition, "Ahmadinejad and Rafsanjani --- Best Friends Forever?", would capture the spirit of the day....

Mehr proclaims, "Rafsanjani Greets Ahmadinejad's attandance in EC [Expediency Council] Meeting", noting that it was the first time in three years that the President had troubled himself to attend a Council session.

Mehr further notes, "The secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili, presented a report of the negotiations that were held between Iran and the 5+1 group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) in Istanbul on April 14."

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Iran Caption Competition: Ahmadinejad and Rafsanjani --- Best Friends Forever?

You might have thought that President Mahmoud Rafsanjani and former President Hashemi Rafsanjani are bitter political rivals, but here they are sharing a special moment at today's Expediency Council session.

The caption is up to you.

Iran Video Feature: The Unemployed and Hungry Beg Ahmadinejad for Help

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Vivid footage from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Hormozgan Province in southern Iran on Saturday --- as the President, en route to a speech, waves to bystanders from his motorcade, people try to give him written notes with appeals for help.

An elderly man shouts, “I’m hungry, I’m hungry." A young woman in a black chador scrambles on the hood of Ahmadinejad's car until she is face-to-face with the President. She complains about economic hardships; he listens for a moment before she is moved on.

A couple of notes on the video: it is common for Iranians to make these dramatic appeals to Ahmadinejad on his tours. An EA correspondent from Iran explains, "This may appear strange to foreigners, but an emotional outburst in a desperate situation is absolutely normal, for example, at mourning ceremonies."

And, perhaps perversely, the approach to the President --- even though his Government is blamed by many for the Islamic Republic's current economic woes and in one of the poorest parts of Iran --- can be seen as a sign of his strength amid political manoeuvres within the system. Our correspondent continues, "This has been Ahmadinejad's populist policy, presenting himself as a saviour to poor people for the past seven years. Very humiliating but true."

The Latest from Iran (17 April): Splitting Europe from the US Over Nukes and Sanctions

Protesting steel workers outside Ministry of Industry on Monday

See also Iran Special: The Inside Story of the Nuclear Talks in Istanbul
The Latest from Iran (16 April): A Common Understanding?

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1805 GMT: Student Watch. Iranian student organisations have asked the public to support their protests against the imprisonment of young activists. In a campaign called “Be the Voice of Enchained Students”, they declared:

The office of Tahkim-e Vahdat and Danesh Amoukhtegan Organization of Iran, while expressing disgust over the continued imprisonment of political prisoners and the house arrest of the leaders of the Green Movement, celebrate the perseverance of the 29 enchained students and protest against their continued imprisonment, as we urge support for these detainees from universities, human rights and civic organizations and Iranians inside and outside the country

The statement called for “academic freedom” and the return of the detained students to their classes and universities.

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The Latest from Iran (16 April): A Common Understanding?

See also Iran Special: Why Both Sides Shifted in Nuclear Talks --- And What Comes Next
The Latest from Iran (15 April): A Setback for the President

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1755 GMT: Supreme Leader Watch. Former Government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham has declared that Ayatollah Khamenei is dealing with "slackers" on the Expediency Council because idle people disturb the Iranian system.

1750 GMT: All the President's Men. Yet more confusion in the case of President Ahmadinejad's advisor Saeed Mortazavi and his appointment as head of the Social Security Fund (see 0830 and 1203 GMT)....

Gholam Ali Haddad Adel --- MP, former Speaker of Parliament, and member of the Supreme Leader's inner circle --- has insisted that Mortazavi is adhering to his promise as head of the Fund amidst criticism from MPs of the appointment.

President Ahmadinejad has reportedly rejected Mortazavi's resignation.

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