Earlier this week, cleric Jafar Shojouni said that the Iranian system, led by the Supreme Leader, "will repair [President] Ahmadinejad, not replace him". Cartoonist Maya Nayestani offers her perspective, as a Revolutionary Guard declares, "Repair is a waste of time."
Maya Nayestani captures both the question and the challenge for the Iranian opposition:
Maya Nayestani Maya Nayestani places the death of Osama bin Laden in an Iranian context:
Maya Nayestani Cartoons following up the marches of 25 Bahman on Monday:
MAYA NAYESTANI: "THE THEFT OF A MARTYR" (ON REGIME EFFORTS TO CLAIM SLAIN PROTESTER SANEE ZHALEH AS A SUPPORTER)
1700 GMT: Just Asking. Why weren't former President Hashemi Rafsanjani and Ali Akbar Nategh-Nouri, Presidential candidate in 1997, at the Supreme Leader's Friday Prayers?
1655 GMT: Reply of the Day. The Expediency Council, which is formally mandated to resolve disputes between branches of the Iranian system, has recently been criticised by President Ahmadinejad for hindering his plans.
The response, according to Green Voice of Freedom: "Mr President, you don't like what we are doing? Change the Constitution".
1945 GMT: Execution Watch. Looks like the Iranian authorities are scrambling to justify their sudden execution of Dutch-Iranian national Zahra Bahrami (see separate feature)....
Press TV is claiming it has a video in which Bahrami explains how she concealed cocaine and opium in her house. In the video, Bahrami gives the camera crew a tour of her house, showing them how she concealed drugs in a compartment inside her bed, in cereal boxes and in an electric heater.
The style of the video sounds similar to Press TV's recent "documentary" in which Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, whose death sentence for adultery has also been condemned internationally, was released from prison to make a "confession" in her home.
The Tehran Prosecutor's Office now claims that, during a search of Bahrami's house, 450 grams of cocaine and 420 grams of opium were uncovered. Previously, Iranian officials said Bahrami was holding a kilogramme of cocaine.
2100 GMT: Nuke Talks. A hat tip to Scott Peterson of the Christian Science Monitor for his article today trying to sort out the details of the failed Istanbul talks on Iran's nuclear programme....
After my initial criticism of the US media's coverage of Istanbul, Peterson followed up with a message, which we noted in our subsequent analysis. And he has continued to consider those points while other US reporters --- most of whom have not noticed the key points at issue in the talks --- have moved on.
2145 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Mousavi campaign Poriya Mousavi has been arrested after a raid on the family home.
Economist Fariborz Reisdana has been released on bail.
Reisdana was arrested a month ago after he gave an interview criticising the Government's subsidy cuts.1945 GMT: A Note to the President. MP Gholam Reza Mesbahi-Moghaddam has jabbed at the President over his failure to fulfil goals in the development plan and his "untrue" remarks about government achievements.
1930 GMT: Economy Watch. From the latest inflation figures,
highlights a 123% annual rise in the price of tomatoes. Other increases are 46% for fresh vegetables, 20% for red meat, 30% for oil, 34% for sugar, 15% for fruit, and 12% for tea. In contrast, chicken only rose in price by 5%.
1915 GMT: On Campus. Opposition websites claim that thousands of leaflets for rallies on 16 Azar (7 December) have been distributed at Qazvin University.
1845 GMT: Student activist Ali Gholizadeh has been released from prison.
The 15-year sentence imposed on blogger Hossein Ronaghi Maleki (Babak Khorramdin) has been confirmed by an appellate court.
Ali Akbar Nazari, a member of the Tehran Bus Workers Union, has been arrested.
1715 GMT: Music and Politics. An EA reader tips us off to this nugget from a documentary on the musical legend Mohammad Reza Shajarian.
Asked why he became more vocal in his protests after the 2009 election, Shajarian says, "Some guy [Ahmadinejad] described the people as dirt and dust. In a typhoon, dust can blind you. I want to speak for that dust."
Then this. Q: "Are you not afraid?" Sharjarian: "What can they do to me?" Q: "They can arrest you" Shajarian: "I have no fear."
The exchange is in the last quarter of the documentary.
1700 GMT: Khatami's Appeal to Hezbollah. It has emerged that former President Mohammad Khatami wrote to Sayyid Hassan Nasrullah, the head of Hezbollah, about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's trip to Lebanon:
