The Latest from Iran (24 July): A Protest in Neyshabour "About The High Prices of Food, About Everything"

Protest in Neyshabour over inflation, especially for food: "Death to High Prices" (see 0545 GMT)

See also The Latest from Iran (23 July): Picking A Fight Over an Ahmadinejad Advisor?

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1715 GMT: The deputy nuclear negotiators for Iran and the 5+1 Power have met in Istanbul today.

No details were given of the discussion between the European Union's Helga Schmid and her Iranian counterpart, Dr. Ali Bagheri, other than this will be followed by contact between” the EU High Representative Catherine Ashton, acting for the 5+1, and Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Dr. Saeed Jalili.

1712 GMT: Impeachment Watch. A demand by 20 MPs for the interrogation of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Mehdi Ghazanfari, has been sent to the Majlis.

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The Latest from Iran (23 January): Hibernating While The Currency Falls

1944 GMT: Sanctions Watch. Fars, citing an "informed source", dismisses today's sanctions adopted by the European Union, which included a ban on oil imports starting 1 July and an immediate tightening of restrictions on deals with Iran's Central Bank.

"One of the sanctions announced recently was blocking the Central Bank's assets in the European countries, while the CBI does not have even one single Rial (Iran's currency unit) in Europe," the source said.

Fars, reflecting the regime line that the dollar can be bypassed (see 1325 GMT), insists, "During the last two years, Iran has been replacing dollar with other currencies in its trade with the outside world."

Iranian officials have said that arrangements have been made for trade with Russia in rubles and the Iranian Rials, and Tehran is pursuing exchange with India in yen as well as rupees.

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The Latest from Iran (19 May): An Ahmadinejad Albatross Named Rahim-Mashai

1540 GMT: The President's Right-Hand Man. Another shot at Presidential Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai....

The weekly Ya Lesarat Al-Hossein quotes a student of Ahmadinejad’s mentor, Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi: “Mashai is a freemason and should be arrested.”

Qasem Ravanbakhsh added that the contents of the president’s public speeches prove he has been heavily influenced by Mashai’s ideas.

The head of the conservative Society of Islamic Republic Martyrs, Hossein Fadai, accused the “deviant current” in the government of trying to foster relations with the US and foreign intelligence services (see 0500 GMT).

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Latest from Iran (27 February): The Power of Nonviolent Movements?

Because of the significance of the news that the regime has detained opposition figures Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi and Fatemeh Karroubi, putting them under the control of the Islamic Revolutoinary Guards Corps, we are now covering developments in that case in a separate LiveBlog.

2150 GMT: Pressing on Rights. The White House has issued a statement, "The United States strongly condemns the Iranian government's organized intimidation campaign and arrests of political figures, human rights defenders, political activists, student leaders, journalists and bloggers....The Iranian government should allow active dialogue among its citizens, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly without fear. Iranians deserve the same justice and rights that their government extols the virtue of abroad."

The statement did not refer to specific cases, including this weekend's detention of opposition figures Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi and Fatemeh Karroubi.

On Wednesday, the US imposed financial sanctions on Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Doulatabadi and the head of the Basij militia, Mohammad Reza Naqdi, for alleged human rights abuses.

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