Remember Iran Flashback: 17 June 2009 --- Political Prisoners, A "Blinded" Media, and A Rally in 7 Tir Square

7 Tir Square, Tehran, 17 June 2009

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2115 GMT: We're closing off our coverage for the night with news that Mousavi has called for the release of protesters arrested in the past days' rallies. That news comes via CNN, who also have more on the Iranian football team's green wrist bands.

1700 GMT: Al Jazeera says state-run media in Iran briefly showed this afternoon's rally. SkyNews and CNN (albeit briefly) also are now showing images.

One of the banners from the Iran-South Korea World Cup football qualifier: "Go to Hell Dictator".

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Iran Feature: Challenging the Plans for the "National Internet" (Arseh Sevom)

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A brief summary of the state of the project:

• Construction of a national internet continues. If anything, the regime is even more dedicated to its implementation given recent proclamations from the Supreme Leader;
• It seems clear that Iran has been getting outside support for the development of its national internet;
• Many inside Iran have begun receiving text messages urging them to register for IranMail (http://mail.iran.ir/register/?module=new). Registration requires the use of a valid national identification number;
• Bloggers and owners of websites are being forced to register with a national system;
• NGOs are now being asked to register with a national network;
• Internet bandwidth is controlled by the state;
• Five million sites are blocked;
• Twenty-nine netizens have been arrested and some are facing the death penalty;
• Justifications for Iran’s construction of a national internet are the need for “national security,” echoing the justifications for surveillance given by democratic governments.

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The Latest from Iran (28 October): "Our Prisons Are Full"

1854 GMT: James Miller takes the liveblog.

Reuters is reporting that three separate explosions have rocked Iran's oil and gas industry, though the government is stating that they are unrelated:

The fatal incident at the oil field at Bibi Hakimeh near the Gulf occurred during drilling, when workers unexpectedly encountered an "enormous volume of unknown accumulated gas" in the layers of a reservoir, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported. Three people were injured.

Mehr also reported a separate blast at the Shazand oil refinery in central Iran, but the plant's managing director later told state radio the incident had been exaggerated.

"Nothing special has happened there. There was no fire at all," Majid Rajabi said. "The refinery is functioning normally."

The third blast happened on a 26-inch pipeline carrying gas to an oilfield in Gachsaran in south-western Iran later on Friday, according to the official IRNA news agency.

Even if the blasts turn out to be unrelated, in the direct sense, this will raise serious concerns about the safety of Iran's infrastructure, especially in light of the explosion at the Abadan refinery in May while Ahmadinejad was at the plant.

1810 GMT: Deviant Current Watch. Ali Rezaei, Friday Prayer leader in Birjand and a representative of the Supreme Leader, has said he did not participate in a provincial government meeting because members of the "deviant current" were present.

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