The Latest from Iran (25 September): Which is More Important --- The Ahmadinejad Show or an Economy in Crisis?

Full interview of President Ahmadinejad by CNN's Piers Morgan: "How do you feel about being Public Enemy Number One?"

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2049 GMT: Cyber Denial of the Day. Minister of Communications Reza Taghipour has said that Google is not filtered in Iran. Gmail's problems were "because of the rule of the judiciary", and "we had to observe the law".

1727 GMT: Nuclear Confusion. Yesterday we noted that Iran's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, had confirmed --- for the first time in a public statement by an Iranian official --- that Tehran had offered to give up enrichment of 20% uranium in return for an easing of sanctions.

Now Soltanieh has denied the remark, reported by InterPress Service, “Let me tell you! I’ve taken part in no interviews about [the country’s uranium] enrichment and relevant issues with anyone in the past one month. I’ve not said such a thing."

1717 GMT: CyberWatch. Baztab writes that some government offices have installed Virtual Private Networks and filter-breakers because of the need to communicate via Gmail, blocked by authorities on Sunday.

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The Latest from Iran (17 August): Ahmadinejad Introduces Tehran Friday Prayer

One of a set of images by Mehr of Quds Day marches

See also The Latest from Iran (16 August): Hey, Look Over at Palestine!

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1810 GMT: The Earthquakes. One of a set of photos in Mehr, as clean-up efforts continue, of the aftermath of last Saturday's earthquakes in East Azerbaijan:

1340 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Kurdish activist Hadi Amini has been freed after five years in prison.

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The Latest from Iran (12 July): Keeping the Oil Flowing....Maybe

1551 GMT: Nuclear Watch. The latest ponderings of David Ignatius of The Washington Post on the nuclear discussions have little to do with an objective assessment of the situation (see 1505 GMT). Instead, the one paragraph of value is the spin from Western officials:

U.S. analysts believe that the past three months of talks should at least have convinced the Iranians that their bargaining position is weak. Tehran’s hard line hasn’t prevented the imposition of new sanctions, it hasn’t amplified Europe’s economic jitters and it hasn’t fractured the P5+1 coalition. Now the real bargaining begins, in the view of some U.S. and European officials, with economic sanctions adding more pressure on Tehran every day.

Then there is this curious conclusion:

The Obama administration has opted to work with international coalitions to confront Syria and Iran. This still seems like the most sensible policy. But if these multilateral efforts are failing, it will fall to the United States to devise an alternative strategy. If the United States wants to get to “yes” in these negotiations, it will have to bargain more independently and aggressively.

Is Ignatius suggesting --- either on his own behalf or that of officials feeding him the lines --- that Washington should break away from European partners and deal one-on-one with Tehran? And what does "aggressively" mean?

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The Latest from Iran (15 January): Sound and Fury over "Intelligence" and Assassinations

See also Iran Photo Feature: Former Revolutionary Guards Commander Warns the Supreme Leader --- What Happened Next?
The Latest from Iran (14 January): Dealing with the Currency

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2225 GMT: Elections Watch. An EA correspondent makes an important addition to our earlier news (see 2015 GMT) that the Ministry of Interior had reinstated three MPs and prominent critics of President Ahmadinejad --- Ali Motahari, Hamidireza Katouzian, and Ali Abbaspour --- as candidates in March's Parliamentary election:

The Khabar Online item has been since updated --- it is now saying that it is unclear on which list those names featured. The Minister has passed on separate lists containing approved and disapproved candidate to the Guardian Council: so it could be that the Interior Ministry stood firm on its initial decision.

2045 GMT: Protest Watch. Green Voice of Freedom reports on more protests through graffiti on Iranian banknotes, such as this reference to Neda Agha Soltan and Sohrab Arabi, slain in the post-election conflict, "Respecting Neda and Sohrab's blood, we don't participate in the elections (for Parliament in March)":

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The Latest from Iran (11 January): A Car Bomb in Tehran

State media Press TV's coverage of the bombing this morning in Tehran, killing Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, deputy head of procurement at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility (video via The Guardian)

See also Iran Feature: The Regime Isolates the Rafsanjani Family
Iran 1st-Hand: How the Currency Crisis Began
Ahmadinejad's Men Strike 1st Blow in the Elections
The Latest from Iran (10 January): "A Big Atomic Bomb Will Come Out"

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2108 GMT: The Tehran Bomb. According to Mehr, today's victim in the Tehran bombing, Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan --- scientist and deputy head of procurement at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility --- had met officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency, who are in Iran reviewing the nuclear operations.

Roshan's driver, wounded in the attack, later died from his injuries.

2058 GMT: Elections Watch. Rasa News reports that Soulat Mortazavi, the head of Iran's Election Commission has asked clerics in Qom to tell people that there is no fraud in the elections and that high turnout is important.

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The Latest from Iran (28 December): Look! State-of-the-Art Torpedoes!

See also Iran Feature: Former Detainee Sarah Shourd "The Plight of Iranians and 3 Decades of US Foreign Policy"
The Latest from Iran (27 December): Election Watch

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2110 GMT: The Battle Within (Literally). More on Tuesday's fight on the floor of Parliament, with the manager of President Ahmadinejad's subsidy cuts, Behrouz Moradi, swinging at an MP....

Moradi, who was expelled by Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani after the fight, reportedly called Parliament a "stable". Larijani has called for the prosecution of the official over the incident.

BBC Persian has video.

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The Latest from Iran (4 June): Remembering Khomeini...Without Ahmadinejad

1940 GMT: The security presence blocking the silent protest for Haleh Sahabi at a religious complex in north Tehran this afternoon:

1925 GMT: Preventing Haleh's Memorial. Witnesses say Iranian security forces fired in the air to disperse several hundred people who had gathered for silent protest over the death of activist Haleh Sahabi (see 1505 GMT).

The forces reportedly used batons as well to disperse the crowd outside the Hosseini Ershad mosque in northern Tehran.

Kalemeh reports that a "few dozen" protesters were arrested and some were "severely beaten".

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