The Latest from Iran (15 April): Two Months Later --- The House Arrests and the Opposition

2140 GMT: The Ahwaz Day of Rage. Activists in Ahwaz claimed at least nine protesters have died, scores have been injured, and hundreds have been detained by security services this week.

2130 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Student activist Foad Sojoudi-Farimani has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

Sojoudi-Farimani was arrested on 13 September 2010. After 45 days, he was released on $500,000 bail, but he was barred from pursuing his postgraduate education.

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The Latest from Iran (1 April): A Burst of Green

2040 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Kalemeh reports that detained activist Fakhrossadat Mohtashamipour is in a coma after a hunger strike and has been transferred to hospital.

Mohtashamipour, the wife of imprisoned reformist leader Mostafa Tajzadeh, had said she would fast if she was not allowed to visit her husband.

2030 GMT: Your Tehran Friday Prayer Update --- An Update. Well, I guess I owe Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami an apology --- while he was making a grand tour of Egypt-Libya-Yemen-Bahrain to blame the West for distortions, manipulations, and general evil, he did have a chat with the faithful about the situation in Iran today.

Khatami took his lead from the Supreme Leader's 2011 theme of "economic jihad" to declare there would be economic growth, a narrowed gap between those with high and low incomes, and a one-digit unemployment rate.

The Ayatollah assured that Iran would have 8% economic growth rate in the 5th 5-Year Plan (2010-2015), even though that plan has not been passed by Parliament, and said officials of the country have had successful projects for employment.

But he still didn't mention Syria.

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The Latest from Iran (28 March): Politics Resumes

1800 GMT: Economy Watch. Prominent economist Saeed Leylaz has declared that the main problem of the Iranian economy is domestic mismanagement rather than foreign sanctions, adding that smuggling is $20 billion per year.

1755 GMT: Labour Front. Claimed video of a strike on 19 March at the Bandar Imam Petrochemical Complex in Mahshahr in southwestern Iran:

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The Latest from Iran (26 March): Trying Not to Forget

1640 GMT: CyberWatch. Is there an Iran-related blog you quite like? Deutsche Welle's awards, The BOBs, is looking for nominations for "Best Blog Persian".

1630 GMT: In the Skies. Austria's OMV says it has stopped refuelling Iran Air flights.

Several European companies suspended supplies to Iran Air last year, leading to the grounding of aircraft and cancellation of flights in Europe.

1140 GMT: Economy Watch. Workers of the Bandar Emam Petrochemical Plant are protesting against temporary employment contracts.

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The Latest from Iran (19 March): Past and Future Elections

1710 GMT: A New Year's Message. The opposition Coordination Council has released another message for Nowruz, calling for patience, perseverance, and hope for victory. The poster with the message declares, "We are a wave whose calmness would mean our non-being":

1650 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. RAHANA has posted statistics on more than 1250 arrests in Iran in the past year, including 185 students, 165 members of religious minorities, 129 Kurdish activists, and 43 journalists.

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The Latest from Iran (17 March): Economy Watch

2100 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Journalist and human rights activist Kaveh Kermanshahi has been given a four-year sentence by an appeals court.

Kermanshahi was originally sentenced to five years in prison.

1700 GMT: We're Watching You. Ayatollah Nourollah Tabarasi, a member of the Assembly of Experts, has declared that 53 intelligence networks have been established to spy on 60,000 seminary students.

1645 GMT: Back from an academic break to find that Ali Karroubi, the son of Mehdi Karroubi, has been released from detention.

Ali Karroubi was arrested more than three weeks ago during a raid on his parents' home and their possible move from house arrest to detention.

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The Latest from Iran (16 March): The Fire Festival

1955 GMT: The House Arrests. This just in from Saham News, translated by Banooye Sabz:

A few hours ago, Mohammad Taghi Karroubi, Mehdi Karroubi's second son published a short note on his personal site indicating that a close family friend has visited with his parents.

The following is an excerpt of the note on Mohammad Taghi Karroubi's site:

"A dear clergyman trusted both by the family and the ruling government contacted me today by phone stating that he had met with my mother and father last night in a friendly setting. This beloved person informed me that they are doing well, are in good health and peaceful."

Note the curiosity in the story: the clergyman did not meet the Karroubis in their residence, where they are supposedly under house arrest, but in "a friendly setting". (The same situation occurred last week with Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard when they met their daughters in a building "near their home".) That leaves open the question of the exact status of the Karroubis --- strict house arrest or detention? And it also leaves open the question of when the Karroubis will next be able to speak to someone.

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The Latest from Iran (11 March): In the Balance

2118 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Hashemi Rafsanjani may have lost the contest to retain his leadership of the Assembly of Experts, but he has triumphed elsewhere: in a poll of Khabar Online readers on the political figure of the last year, Rafsanjani gets 59% of the vote vs. 17% for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Conservative MP and Government critic Ali Motahari is third with 9.2%.

2115 GMT: The New Leader. Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani has issued his first statement after the Assembly of Experts election, declaring, "We must preserve unity."

2100 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Political activists Mohammad Reza Malekian and Iman Sedighi have been freed on bail.

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The Latest from Iran (10 March): President Rahim-Mashai?

1650 GMT: "Proper" Studies. Iran's Ministry of Sciences and Higher Education has banned Iranian graduate students from pursuing a dissertation on any subject related to Iran while studying abroad.

The ban covers all Iranian students, whether they are financially supported by the Government or paying for their education. Students who violate the directive will face problems with confirmation of their degrees by the Iranian authorities and with applications for jobs.

1615 GMT: Labour Front. Workers at Tabriz Petrochemical Plant have ended an 11-day strike after their demands were met.

1610 GMT: Smoothing the Waters. More on the Supreme Leader's appearance at the Assembly of Experts....

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Iran Special: First-Hand from Tehran "The Government Is Finished"

A well-placed Iranian source in Tehran sends a letter through an EA correspondent:

I hear the same thing being repeated: the regime are terrified, divided and thus making very bad decisions. (Bad for them, and their survival!) People are agreed that the arrests of [Mehdi] Karroubi, [Mir Hossein] Mousavi and their wives will only create more enemies for the regime. People who have consistently supported them are now beginning to turn against the regime, saying ‘enough’. Even my contacts [within the regime] are aware that, with every passing day, more and more hardliners are turning against them. One friend told me, “There are too many bosses, but no one is really in control”.

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