Iran Feature: The Fear in the Corridors of Evin Prison (Theodoulou)

From grim experience, Maziar Bahari knows the fear that is probably gripping eight Iranian journalists who were arrested late last month and taken to Tehran's notorious Evin prison.

Mr Bahari was among the approximately 100 journalists detained in June 2009 during the tumult following president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election.

The latest crackdown on reporters affiliated with reformist news outlets appears to be aimed at muzzling dissenting or independent voices, and suggests that as Iran gears up for its next presidential election in June, the regime's fears of unrest are escalating.

"My guess is they're all in solitary confinement," said Mr Bahari, an Iranian-Canadian journalist and filmmaker who spent 118 days in Evin, all but 11 of them alone in a small cell.

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Iran Video Feature: The Regime's "Justified" Imprisonment of Journalists (Al Jazeera English)

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The Latest from Iran (16 October): "Currency Market Disruptors Will Be Executed"

See also Iran Feature: The Week in Civil Society --- Another Day Older and Deeper in Debt
Iran Audio Feature: Nuclear Talks and Scare Stories --- Scott Lucas with Monocle 24
The Latest from Iran (15 October): European Union Announces More Sanctions

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2257 GMT: Economy Watch. Shoe producers gathered in front of Parliament today to protest against the high prices they pay for material, as "people do not buy expensive shoes".

2250 GMT: Currency Watch. Baztab claims that the Rial, when foreign exchange is offered, is trading at 37000:1 vs. the US dollar, a fall of about 7% from Monday.

The website also claims that the cost of old gold coin has risen to 14.4 million Rials.

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The Latest from Iran (3 December): A Regime Feeling Remorse?

Men and women wait at a Tehran airport for the Iranian diplomats expelled from Britain --- the personnel were taken away before the crowd could welcome them

See also Iran Music Special: The Basij Militia Rap for Occupy Wall Street
Iran 1st-Hand Special: Basij Student's Account of the Attack on the British Embassy
The Latest from Iran (2 December): After the Embassy, It's Back to the Economy

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2025 GMT: Economy Watch. The Tehran Stock Exchange has been removed from the World Federation of Exchanges.

1935 GMT: Bank Fraud Watch. Gholamreza Asadollahi, the head of Parliament's Article 90 Commission has repeated his claim that the Ministries of Trade, Transport, and Economy, as well as the Privatisation Organisation and Customs are involved in the $2.6 billion bank fraud.

Asadollahi said the Aria Group, at the centre of the fraud, was the import agent for subsidised goods 4 the Ministry of Trade ministry and was involved in an illegal permit for the Shiraz-Bandar Abbas railway with the Ministry of Transport.

Asadollahi also said Aria received illegal permits for privatisation of the National Steel Company, Luristan Automotive, and Railway Services.

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Iran Feature: "One Voice" Campaign for 12 Political Prisoners on Hunger Strike

Last Saturday, 12 political detainees in Evin Prison began a hunger strike, protesting the recent deaths of activists Haleh Sahabi and Hoda Saber and the general conditions for prisoners.

A campaign of support has arisen inside and outside Iran, featuring video messages to the hunger striker and to the general public.

Journalist Masih Alinejad, now living in exile in Britain:

Journalist Maziar Bahari, who was detained for four months after the 2009 Presidential election:

Other videos, including messages from cartoonist Nikahang Kowsar, lawyer and activist Mehranghiz Kar, and academic Hamid Dabashi, have been posted at Iranian.com.

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The Latest from Iran (14 June): Presenting the Morality Police

New recruits to the morality police listen to instructions from a commander (more photos at bottom of LiveBlog)

2015 GMT: Press Watch. Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Doulatabadi said today that he has summoned the manager of Iran newspaper for insults against the head of judiciary and Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi.

2000 GMT: The US Hikers. Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Doulatabadi has said a final decision in the case of three US hikers, charged with espionage, is expected Americans charged with espionage by late August.

Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal are still in custody after almost 23 months in detention. The latest hearing in their trial was cancelled without explanation on 11 May.

Sarah Shourd was released in September 2010 on $500,000 bail and has refused to return to Iran for trial.

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The Latest from Iran (19 September): While the President's Away....

1920 GMT: Striking Back. Mehr News posts responses from eight members of Parliament, ranging from conservative to reformist, on the President's recent remarks about his office and the Majlis. The summary --- "A number of lawmakers have criticized President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent claim that the executive branch of government is more important than the legislature" --- is far milder than the comments summarised. 

An example? Key MP Ali Motahari's statement, "Among the three branches of government, the parliament is still on top of affairs and has the authority to impeach the president and remove him from office."

1850 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Student activist Majid Tavakoli, detained since December, has reportedly met his family for the first time in two months.

Tavakoli's sentence of 8 1/2 years in prison was confirmed last week by an appeals court. Last month, he and 16 other political prisoners went on hunger strike; one of their demands was the restoration of visits with relatives.

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