The Latest from Iran (27 June): Messages for the Hunger Strikers

1750 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. MP Mohammad Dehghan has tried to check the move towards possible impeachment of President, saying that members of the Board of Parliament do not believe questioning Ahmadinejad is favourable for the country.

Dehghan said he will talk with Ali Motahari, one of the leaders of the petition to interrogate the President.

1735 GMT: Elections Watch. Ahmad Salek, the speaker of the principlist Motalefeh Party, has warned that reformists and the "deviant current" want to divide principlists. He said 60 of 80 provincial candidates had fallen prey to the scheme.

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The Latest from Iran (26 June): When Arrests Are "Normal"

2000 GMT: Reformist Watch. MP Dariush Ghanbari has given an indication that reformists --- or at least those allied with him --- will participate in the 2012 Parliamentary vote, saying they have "serious plans" for the elections.

1910 GMT: The Hunger Strikers. Kalemeh reports that two of the six hunger strikers at Rajai Shahr Prison, Masoud Bastani and Isa Saharkhiz, have been transferred to the infirmary.

Earlier today (see 1650 GMT) Isa Saharkhiz's son Mehdi said his father was in "critical condition" after three days on hunger strike.

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The Latest from Iran (25 June): A 2nd Week for the Hunger Strikes

2040 GMT: Elections Watch. Teaser of the day comes from Aftab News, which reports that a series of allies of Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf have resigned their posts to run for Parliament next March and that Qalibaf has set up an election headquarters.

1925 GMT: Oil and Politics. Further signs of pressure on Tehran over the international oil price....

Iran's OPEC representative Mohammad Ali Khatibi has charged, "America and Europe...have done everything they could to reduce global oil prices. The developments of the past few days are not at all based on supply and demand or the needs of the market, but are rather a side effect of political pressure exerted particularly from the American side."

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Iran Opinion: "We Should Side with the Clergy" in Tehran Showdown (Nasr)

Ahmadinejad is a threat to clerical supremacy, but without him, Khomeinism is even more vulnerable to reformist challengers. The alternative would be a right-wing ideological state -- nationalist, fundamentalist, populist, and ruled by militarism, something akin to the Japan of the 1930s. And that cannot last. In this contest between Iran's elite factions, the world should be rooting for the clergy -- their victory will bring about the quickest end to the Islamic Republic.

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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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The Latest from Iran (23 June): Welcome to Phase Zero

2045 GMT: Elections Watch. Yesterday, we reported the rumour that the Supreme Leader's representative to the Revolutionary Guards, Mojtaba Zolnour, is resigning to run for Parliament next March. Khabar Online continues the story with the claim that pro-Ahmadinejad officials such as Deputy Minister of Defense Javad Darvishvand, Hojatoleslam Mohammad Reza Mirtajoddini, and Ali Shahidi are leaving position to campaign for the Majlis.

2025 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Sharif University student activist Tara Sepehri has been sentenced to seven years in prison and 74 lashes.

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The Latest from Iran (22 June): A Bad Day for Ahmadinejad

1810 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. Website supporting the President are hitting back....

Didgah News claims all political tensions have arisen "from the graves of monopolists who hide behind the Supreme Leader". Bultan News declares that "bad MPs who interfere in govt matters" will weaken the Government and the Majlis.

1740 GMT: The Supreme Leader's Men. Iranian media are reporting that Mojtaba Zolnour, the Supreme Leader's representative to the Revolutionary Guards, is leaving his post. The reason is unclear. Hafte Sobh, the website linked to Presidential Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, says he has been dismissed for slander, while Fars claims Zolnour is running for Parliament next year.

In recent weeks, Zolnour has been an outspoken critic of the "deviant" current around President Ahmadinejad, including Rahim-Mashai (see 1500 GMT).

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Iran Cartoon of the Day: A Mousehole for Presidents, Past and President

Nikahang Kowsar, drawing for Rooz Online, envisages former President Abolhassan Bani Sadr --- chased from Iran in 1981 --- speaking to current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "Look, they won't allow you to go anywhere. Stick to this mouse hole!"

Iran Feature: The Danger of the Economic Slump (Harris)

Iran's biggest economic problem is the growing production slump at its factories and workshops. For both workers and the business elite, Iran's domestic industrial troubles are far more pressing--and generating far more public anxiety --- than international sanctions.

The biggest danger for Iran in 2011 is the combination of higher unemployment and inflation produced by government inaction, unintended consequences of subsidy reform, and dwindling foreign capital caused by banking sanctions.

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The Latest from Iran (20 June): A Fight Over the Foreign Ministry

1740 GMT: The Foreign Ministry Dispute. Leading MP Ahmad Tavakoli has increased the pressure on the Ahmadinejad camp over the proposed appointment of Mohammad Sharif Malekzadeh as staff and finance manager at the Foreign Ministry (see 0500 GMT).

Tavakoli has claimed that Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi told Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi not to appoint Malekzadeh because he is on the verge of arrest over financial irregularities. Tavakoli declared that Salehi had proposed three candidates before Malekzadeh to the President; Ahmadinejad rejected all of them.

Malekzadeh has responded that Tavakoli is spreading slander and should release documents. He claims the MP is providing a story for the enemy.

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