Iran Feature: Ahmadinejad Floored By Bugs, Spirits, And Djinns (Tait)

Whenever cornered, Mahmud Ahmadinejad always seems to come out swinging. But Iran's notoriously abrasive president appears in danger of suffering a knockout blow over his political attachment to Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, a man widely seen as a threat to the country's clerical-based political system.

What had been a long-rumbling but low-intensity row has now become so rancorous that it appears Ahmadinejad has lost the political support of his onetime patron, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, who has the final say on all state matters.

And dislike of Rahim-Mashaei, the president's chief of staff whom he is believed to have anointed as an eventual successor, has grown so visceral and widespread that some believe it has reduced Ahmadinejad to a lame duck and may even prevent him completing his second term.

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Libya-Syria-Yemen-Bahrain: Is It All About the US and Iran? (Tait)

Iranians Protest in front of the Saudi Embassy"The U.S. is applying a relatively old strategy of linking up with elites in the region to a new situation and I don't think they're really thinking through the consequences" argues Lucas, who says the approach is unsuited to an "asymmetrical battle" that is being waged. "The issue of political legitimacy is the one that people are pushing. It's not the U.S.-Iran contest, it's not even the question of economic factors and if you are seen in any way as basically not really being on board with that question of political legitimacy, if you are seen as in effect trying to impose this Iran question on top of it, I think it'll bite you on the backside."

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Belarus Updates: Agents Provocateurs?

1445 GMT: The state security service KGB has issued a warrant for Belarus Free Theatre co-founder Nikolai Khalezin. 

The Belarus Free Theatre is a prominent challenger to the Lukaskenko regime. On 5 December, Index on Censorship hosted a double-bill performance by the Free Theatre at London's Young Vic with guest appearances from Sir Ian McKellen, Jude Law, Siena Miller, Samuel West, and Adjoa Andoh. There is speculation that the arrest of Khalezin is an attempt by the authorities to stop a forthcoming performance in New York.

Before founding the Belarus Free Theatre with his wife, Khalezin was a renowned journalist. who was dismissed  by various newspapers for criticism of President Lukashenko.

1410 GMT: The human rights organisation Vyasna publishes the latest known status of 700 detainees from Sunday's post-election protests.

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Iran "Gold Medal" Feature: The List of More than 100 Detained Journalists

This week the Committee to Protect Journalists announced that 145 journalists were in prison in 2010. Iran and China led an ignominious list with each having 34 reporters behind bars. 

We suspected, however, that Tehran may actually have claimed the gold medal for detentions. So we turned to Arshama3's Blog, which has maintained a comprehensive list since autumn 2009.

We asked Arshama for an update and received this list. While further information is needed in some cases, it appears that more than 100 journalists are in prison today, with others facing a return to serve sentences that have been handed down:

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Iran Feature: If a Protest Occurs and No One Notices, Does It Make a Sound?

For some, it is as if the demonstrations on National Student Day --- 16 Azar --- never happened.

You will not, for example, find any reference in Iranian state media to the protests on campuses across the nation. Press TV's top story prefers the relative security of the nuclear discussions, with Iran's National Security Council "call[ing] on Western powers to exercise commitment to agreements they make with the Islamic Republic".

I guess that's understandable --- no one really likes to mention domestic arguments. A bit more surprising that CNN's website forgot to mention 16 Azar.

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Iran Document: Director Jafar Panahi in Court "This is the Trial of Artists of This Country"

This is not my trial only. It's the trial of the art and artists of this country. The witnesses to any country's history are artwork and the way artists are being dealt with. Therefore any sentence that will be given by the court will be a sentence against all the artists, particularly the filmmakers of this country. And even a sentence for the Iranian society that has been for years the audience of that art. My sapling and the saplings of all the artists of Iran have their roots in the soil of this country and the fruit of our art tree is the result of the beauties and ugliness of this land. Therefore, any sentence that you give for my thought is a sentence against the people of this country.

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Iran Witness: Journalist Jalali Farahani "We Knew That Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Was Not Re-Elected"

On the night of the election at the Mehr news agency, we knew that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was not reelected because Mehr had reporters in cities across Iran and we were receiving reports every minute about the results in different cities, we knew about the votes Ahmadinejad had received and the votes that went to Mir Hossein Musavi. We even had figures about the ballot boxes from outside the country. 

Around 7 p.m. when we did an approximate count of the vote, we came to the conclusion that Mir Hossein Musavi was the new president. Around 4 p.m. our reporter reported that armed Revolutionary Guards had attacked the central election office of Musavi. 

Imagine, we're there covering the news and we're receiving all these reports, around 6 p.m. a friend of mine who worked at the "Iran" daily called me and said that the manager of the paper had told all the staff to come to work to prepare a special issue for the victory of Ahmadinejad -- the election process had not ended at this point. 

That night was the worst night of my career, not only me but for all my colleagues -- even those who supported Ahmadinejad who were only a few at the Mehr news agency -- they could see that there was fraud.

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Iran Witness: On the State of the Economy and Standing in Line (Tohidlou)

[Officials] don't like to speak about the rise of prices. The [lack of transparency] is the factor that is leading people to try hoarding what they can. And this is how the lines for gasoline get longer and longer.

All the news is about rising prices. For example, the 30 percent rise in the price of plane tickets, which means a rise in the price of other things and also a rise in the price of rice and oil, which has led many to go to shops to buy rice and oil at the old price.

There is worry these days over an uncertain future. A future that will bring a shock to the economy and to people's lives like the 10 percent increase in the dollar rate did. These days in different lines that are spreading, you can hear the concern of the people about their way of life now and in the future.

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