Iran Live Coverage: All-Is-Well Oil Alerts

See also Sunday's Iran Live Coverage: Celebrating Victory Over Protests

---

2050 GMT: The Battle Within. Facing renewed attacks over his economic policies (see 1740 GMT), President Ahmadinejad has repeated his allegation that most of the Iranian economy is in the hands of 300 or 400 influential people. He said the Government cannot control them because "they reject it via the media".

Ahmadinejad continued --- in what can be construed as an attack on the Revolutionary Guards --- that "some organisations have their own banks and businesses and don't explain themselves" as they pursue "privatisation without rules".

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (25 October): No Gratitude for CNN

See also Iran Video Interview: Ahmadinejad Puts Out His Standard Lines to CNN's Zakaria
The Latest from Iran (24 October): How To Instantly Become an Iranian Citizen

---

1845 GMT: All-Is-Well Alert. In an interview with the Swiss newspaper NZZ, Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani has said that everyone in Iran has access to the Internet, and there are daily papers from all political camps.

1835 GMT: No Gratitude for CNN. Back to where we began this morning, with Iran State TV's attack on CNN and Fareed Zakaria....

It appears the cause for the assault was not Zakaria's interview of the President but an accompanying piece he did about life in Tehran. Zakaria was positive about many aspects of life in a Tehran of "order" and "cleanliness" (somehow missing Tehran's extraordinary levels of air pollution and minimising the significance of its crowded roads), but State TV claimed he had spoken of a "dark and gloomy" city. Specifically, he "tried to prove U.S. claims that Iran is under pressure because of the sanctions. In order to do so he resorted to lies".

Indeed, Zakaria, while ignoring issues such as unemployment and inflation, did hone in on sanctions. He said Iranians blamed the regime in part for the situation and indicated that the Western measures had strengthened the grip of the Revolutionary Guards on the economy:

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (30 May): Handcuffing Justice

Sotoudeh & Husband Reza Khandan2005 GMT: Foreign Affairs. It is reported that the National Security Council has banned Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi from visiting Saudi Arabia, linking the mission to the "deviant current".

2000 GMT: Campus Watch. Deutsche Welle reports that female students are being barred from some postgraduate programmes in Iranian universities.

1940 GMT: Oil and Politics. A spokesman for Parliament's Energy Committee has reiterated the warning (see 1645 GMT) that President Ahmadinejad's attempt to be caretaker Minister of Oil is illegal and has said that, subject to a Majlis vote, a report will be sent to the judiciary for action.

Click to read more ...