The Latest from Iran (15 November): Watching Rafsanjani, Listening to Karroubi

2045 GMT: Dropping the Sword. Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi publicly confirmed the regime's handling of post-election detainees who are allowed out of jail: "If political prisoners hold meetings, issue statements and pursue activities within their political parties, their right to temporary leave of absence from prison will be removed."

2025 GMT: Execution Watch (Prime-Time TV Edition). Looks like the Iranian regime is feeling a bit of pressure on the "human rights" front.....

How else to explain yet another "confession" on national television by Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, condemned to death for adultery and complicity in her husband's murder.

The blurred face of a woman, claimed to be Ashtiani, said, "I am a sinner". (The "confession" was voiced over, as Ashtiani speaks only Azeri.)

The report also contained purported statements by Ashtiani's son, Sajad Ghaderzadeh, and her lawyer, Houtan Kian, both of whom were arrested last month, and of the two German journalists who were trying to interview them.

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The Latest from Iran (14 November): "Green Movement is Alive"

2120 GMT: CyberWatch. The website of the Feminist School has been filtered for the 19th time by Iranian authorities.

2100 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. HRANA reports that Commander Moghaddam, head of Mir Hossein Mousavi's Isargaran Committee, has been arrested after he and other veterans had a meeting with Mousavi this week.

2055 GMT: Economy Watch. While Iran waits for the implementation of subsidy cuts, Rah-e-Sabz reports that prices for 29 essential foods have risen weekly, with the highest increases for fresh vegetables (10.3%) and legumes (5.6%).

2045 GMT: Free Thinking, Khatami Style. Former President Mohammad Khatami, meeting former academics, has said that criticism of the regime is "due to sympathy". Speaking directly about the suspension of "Western-style" humanities instruction in universities, Khatami declared, "You cannot change the world or humanities with official orders".

The former President added, "If politics is based on free elections, many problems will be solved."

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The Latest from Iran (13 November): Sanctions, Talks, and a Twist on Iraq

1838 GMT: Economic Revelation of Day. Minister of Welfare and Social Security Sadegh Mahsouli has explained that Iran cannot define a poverty line due to huge differences between rural and urban areas, although the Government "does everything to distribute national wealth".

Fun Fact: Sadegh Mahsouli is a millionaire.

1835 GMT: Subsidy Cuts Watch. Arsalan Fathipour, the head of Parliament's Economy Commission, has said that the Majlis has no information on the government's "support packages" to ease the economic pain of the cuts.

1830 GMT: Soft War is Everywhere! It's in the pulpits: Kalemeh claims an official order has been sent to Friday Prayer leaders for the holy month of Muharram (December/January), telling them to explain the 2009 "fitna" (sedition) and informing people about the soft war.

And it's on the easels: Minister of Culture Mohammad Hosseini has declared that artists are "front commanders" in the soft war.

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Iran Guidance: How Should the US Talk with Tehran?

An EA correspondent writes:

Marginalising Ahmadinejad and his stubbornly anti-Western thought is the only way forward for meaningful dialogue with people inside the regime, but even then at the cost of throwing the human rights issue under the train: no regime insider, not even more flexible ones such as Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf, will come to terms on that front.

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The Latest from Iran (11 November): "The Safest Country in the World"

1440 GMT: Cartoon of Day. Nikahang Kowsar portrays the rejection of Iran's candidacy for the Execution Board of a new UN agency on women's rights --- the UN says to a disguised Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, "Sister! You Don't Look Much Like A Woman."

1435 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Tabriz student activists have protested the ongoing immunity of Iranian officials from prosecution over the post-election abuses and killings at the Kahrizak detention centre.

The demonstration took place on the anniversary of the death, in mysterious circumstances, of Ramin Pourandarjani, a physician at Kahrizak.

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Iran Snapshot: The Nuke Talks Take Over

UPDATE 1420 GMT: In the middle of Agence France Presse's report on the speech of President Ahmadinejad, this curious reference: "On Tuesday, Iran informed the six powers that it was ready for talks with them on November 23 or December 5 in Istanbul, according to a European diplomat."

Up to now, indications were that the proposed date was 15 November.

UPDATE 0910 GMT: Mahmoud, Let's Cut to the Chase. A lot of posturing by President Ahmadinejad in a speech in Qazvin in central Iran today, after he opened, "Iran is ready to hold talks on equal conditions to help settle ongoing problems, ease international concerns and establish peace and security in the world."

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The Latest from Iran (7 November): Tearing Down (the Poster of) Ahmadinejad's Men

2100 GMT: Shutting Down Khatami. The head of the Baran Foundation, linked to former President Mohammad Khatami, has declared that its activities are legal and demanded an end to filtering of the website.

He may have a difficult task with that demand: the chair of Parliament's Article 10 Commission says the Baran Foundation has no file in the Ministry of Interior and thus no right to be active.

2000 GMT: The Supreme Leader and the Clerics. Rah-e-Sabz, citing Fars, offers an explanation for Ayatollah Khamenei's follow-up trip to Qom. According to a member of the Seminaries Council, the subjects were President Ahmadinejad's obedience to the Supreme Leader, the behaviour of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, hijab and chastity, and the "Iranian School of thought".

Khamenei defended Ahmadinjead against allegations that he was divisive. The Supreme Leader said that although he did not accept some of the government's behaviours, Ahmadinejad "obeys immediately when he is told so".

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The Latest from Iran (5 November): A Disappointment?

1740 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Student activist Ali Gholizadeh has been arrested in Mashhad.

1640 GMT: The Medical University. Claimed video of a Thursday protest at the Tehran University of Medical Sciences, closed last week by Government order. The students chant, "We will not go to class until we've reclaimed Iran."

1635 GMT: Clerical Intervention. Ayatollahs Bayat Zanjani, Dastgheib & Sadeghi Tehrani have condemned attacks on Gonabadi dervishes.

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Iran Feature: Revolutionary Guards Speak Out Against Ahmadinejad (Theodoulou)

Analysts suspect the [Revolutionary Guards'] magazine was encouraged to publish the [critical] article by the office of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. If so, however, this does not mean there is a major rift between the ayatollah and the president: it is more likely to be a warning shot aimed at reining in Mr Ahmadinejad, analysts said.

"It [the article] should not be turned into a narrative of withdrawal of support for Ahmadinejad and a sign of his imminent downfall," said Farideh Farhi, an Iran expert at the University of Hawaii. "But it should give pause to those who keep explaining Ahmadinejad's success in maintaining power in terms of his base of support in the Guards."

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The Latest from Iran (3 November): The Execution Rumour

2050 GMT: Labour Front. Green Voice of Freedom reports that about 500 workers in the South Pars gas field have gone on strike over unpaid wages.

2015 GMT: Battling Statements. The Society of Teachers and Researchers of Qom has called for an enthusiastic presence at 13 Aban (4 November) rallies>

In contrast, the youth and students of the reformist Islamic Iran Participation Front declared that rulers should take a lesson from 13 Aban and return from the wrong track of tyranny.

1905 GMT: Execution Watch. Attorney Mohammed Mostafaei, who now lives in exile in Norway, has told Voice of America that he has been informed that a report of the imminent hanging of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani was not correct.

Mostafaei asserts, "This news was wrong. I called my friends in Iran....I have some friends in the Iranian judiciary in Tabriz and I talked about this news and they said the news is not true and they informed me that there is not any hanging execution in Sakineh's case. There is only a stoning punishment."

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