The Latest from Iran (14 December): Power Plays

2030 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Lawyers Sara Sabaghian and Maryam Kianarsi have been released on bail.

Sebaghian, Kianarsi, and fellow attorney Maryam Karbasi were seized at Imam Khomeini Airport in mid-November as they returned from Turkey.

2025 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. More from the statement of Reza Khandan (see 1154 GMT), the husband of detained attorney Nasrine Sotoudeh, about his wife's situation....

Khandan explained the new charge in Sotoudeh's file of “failing to adhere to the Islamic code of dressing (hijab)”: “Two years ago Sotoudeh had been awarded a prize by the Italian Human Rights Committee and to express her gratitude, she had recorded a video message in Iran without covering her hair. The message was not shown in Iran.”

Khandan also denied the most recent claim of judiciary official Mohammad Javad Larijani that Sotoudeh had met with terrorist groups: "[She] has at no time been linked to terrorist groups and no such charge is in her file.”

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The Latest from Iran (5 December): Hope and Resistance

2105 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Journalist Isa Saharkhiz has reportedly undergone an operation for international bleeding in Rajai Shahr Prison's infirmary.

Leyla Tavassoli has been transferred to Evin Prison to begin a two-year prison sentence.

Tavassoli is the daughter of Mohammad Tavassoli, a senior member of the Freedom Movement of Iran.

2058 GMT: Labour Front. Workers of Kashan spinning factory have gathered in front of the governor's office to protest over being paid half-wages for 27 months.

2055 GMT: All-is-Well Alert. The Deputy Minister of Trade has said that bread prices will rise "a bit" after subsidy cuts but added that quality will rise as well.

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The Latest from Iran (3 November): The Execution Rumour

2050 GMT: Labour Front. Green Voice of Freedom reports that about 500 workers in the South Pars gas field have gone on strike over unpaid wages.

2015 GMT: Battling Statements. The Society of Teachers and Researchers of Qom has called for an enthusiastic presence at 13 Aban (4 November) rallies>

In contrast, the youth and students of the reformist Islamic Iran Participation Front declared that rulers should take a lesson from 13 Aban and return from the wrong track of tyranny.

1905 GMT: Execution Watch. Attorney Mohammed Mostafaei, who now lives in exile in Norway, has told Voice of America that he has been informed that a report of the imminent hanging of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani was not correct.

Mostafaei asserts, "This news was wrong. I called my friends in Iran....I have some friends in the Iranian judiciary in Tabriz and I talked about this news and they said the news is not true and they informed me that there is not any hanging execution in Sakineh's case. There is only a stoning punishment."

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Iran Analysis (We Told You So): Why the Trial of US Hikers Bauer and Fattal Has Been Postponed

As EA predicted in September, the trial of detained American hikers Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer, scheduled for 6 November, has been postponed.

Officially, Iran's Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei is claiming that the trial could not proceed because of the absence of Sarah Shourd, who was detained with Fattal and Bauer in July 2009 when they were walking along the Iran-Iraq border: "Due to the absence of the third person, the court has delayed the trial time so that in between this time the third person can return to Iran or, in the event of her refusal to appear, her case be dealt with differently."

To be blunt, that is a very thin excuse. The cover for Shourd's release, arranged just before President Ahmadinejad's trip to New York, was that a $500,000 "guarantee" had been lodged that she would return for trial. Whether or not the money was actually placed in the control of Iran, that arrangement pretty much ensured that Shourd would not face further prosecution.

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The Latest from Iran (8 October): Hey, Look Over There!

1845 GMT: Banning the Reformists (Confusion Edition). Yesterday we erroneously reported, "Alireza Avayi, the head of the judiciary in Tehran Province, has denied that a banning order has been issued against the reformist Islamic Iran Participation Front."

Here's the rather muddled story. The IIPF is claiming that, after it complained about a ban on its activities, an Iranian court cancelled its dissolution and authorised the resumption of its activities.

Avayi has denied the IIPF's claim, saying that the file on the case has merely been transferred to the Tehran Revolutionary Court. The IIPF is still not allowed to engage in any political activity.

Last week, Iran Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei said the IIPF and another reformist party, the Mojahedin of Islamic Revolution, were banned.

1815 GMT: Sanctions Watch. Iranian Labor News Agency reports that paint factories are unable to import raw material due to sanctions, and retailers are now out of stock.

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The Latest from Iran (2 October): Adding Up the Punishments

1707 GMT: The Bazaar Strikes. Claimed video of the closing of the gold market today in Ahvaz in southern Iran:

1655 GMT: Syria in Tehran. So how did President Ahmadinejad's showpiece visit from Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad go?

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Iran Breaking: "Terrorist Attack" Kills At Least 10, Injures At Least 57

UPDATE 2105 GMT: Press TV says Iranian authorities have arrested two suspects.

UPDATE 1905 GMT: Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast has found both the culprit and the motive for the bombing: "The terrorist attack in Mahabad is the reaction of Israeli agents and the supporters of the Zionist regime to the country's defensive prowess in the Sacred Defense Week [commemorating the Iran-Iraq War] and the successes of the Islamic Republic of Iran's active diplomacy in the biggest international arena in New York. This terrorist attack coincided with the influential presence of the Iranian delegation headed by Dr. Ahmadinejad in New York and his influential public diplomacy in raising public awareness as well as his defense of our country's rightful stances."

UPDATE 1835 GMT: Press TV now reports 12 killed and 70 wounded.

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