Where are you dear Mr. Khamenei to see what crimes and atrocities are being committed in the judiciary and the Islamic republic prisons, in particular in the security “Guantanamo” ward 209 in Evin prison? We both know very well that you are the main culprit behind all these crimes. It is you who has closed your eyes as you issue any order to protect your power.
1820 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has more on the case of Parvin Tajik (see 1140 GMT), given a 1 1/2-year sentence for speaking to foreign media about her brother, detained journalist Abdolreza Tajik.
The Tajik family had written in July that Abdolreza had been "dishonoured" in prison.
1740 GMT: Lost in Translation. Press TV clarifies confusion over the Iranian presentation of its war-crime exercises (see 1118 GMT):
Spokesman for the "Modafean Aseman Velayat 3," (Defenders of Velayat Skies) drill General Hamid Arjangi said earlier on Wednesday that Iranian forces have identified the mock (emphasis added) intrusion of six "unknown planes" into the country's airspace.
As part of the drill, we had six reports about the intrusion of six unknown planes into the country's space [on Tuesday], Arjangi said, adding that in every six cases the planes were forced to lift off and interception operations were carried out, Fars News Agency reported.
However, The Washington Post, Associated Press and AFP among other Western media outles, reported that Iran's armed forces intercepted six "unknown planes" that intruded into the country's airspace during aerial defense maneuvers, citing Fars News Agency as the source.
2030 GMT: Un-Diplomatic Behaviour. Well, here's a story to pick up a slow evening. From Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:
France has accused Iranian security services of committing "unacceptable acts of violence" on French diplomatic personnel in Tehran.
The French Foreign Ministry said in a statement today that the entry to the French Embassy residence in Tehran was blocked by unidentified officials on November 14.
French officials said plainclothes security officers struck at least two French diplomats and arrested guests arriving at the residence of Ambassador Bernard Poletti for a concert of Persian music.
The statement said that French authorities this morning summoned the Iranian ambassador in Paris "to express their strongest condemnation."
There have been no comments from Tehran on the incident.
1935 GMT: Sanctions Watch. Al-Rai newspaper claims, citing a central bank circular, that Kuwait has asked Gulf emirate banks, investment companies, and money exchange firms to start implementing United Nations sanctions against Iran.
The instructions call for the freezing of assets and financial resources related to “Iran’s sensitive nuclear programmes or activities”. The circular bans the opening of branches or representative offices for Iranian banks in Kuwait and forbids Kuwaiti financial institutions from opening offices or accounts in Iran.
1830 GMT: Really, It's Coming. Yet another declaration, after weeks of delays, that the government's subsidy cuts programme is going to be implemented: according to Mehr, new energy prices will be announced within days.
2025 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Kurdish activist Ahmad Baab has been sentenced to 14 years in prison.
1700 GMT: A "Tribute" to Ahmadinejad. A crowd in Shiraz, led by a chanter in call-and-response, offer a rhythmic satire on the achievements and poses of the President: "Mahmoud has made himself look ridiculous". The video, according to Le Monde, was shot around 1 November.
1655 GMT: Execution Watch. The conservative newspaper Alef, linked to high-profile MP Ahmad Tavakoli, has criticised the stoning sentence against condemned adultresss Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.
2110 GMT: Proper Teachers. The Ministry of Education Ministry has issued new directives barring the employment as school teachers of persons affiliated with "illegal" parties, organizations, and groups.
Such persons may not be employed as teachers "unless they repent" of the affiliation or withdraw the support.
The directive also gives priority of employment to those who "volunteer for activities in revolutionary institutions" and "participate in political, social, and religious activities".2055 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch (Hunger Strike Edition). Back from an extended break to find that detained attorney Nasrine Sotoudeh has resumed her hunger strike, refusing food and water since Sunday.
Sotoudeh, who was imprisoned at the start of September, went on a hunger strike for four weeks but ended it on 23 October.
There are reports that the prominent Italian lawyer Bruno Malattia has taken on the defence of condemned adultress Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani and her attorney Houtan Kian, who was detained last month.
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."
2205 GMT: Labour Front. Around 1,300 workers at the Alborz Tire Factory outside Tehran have now been on strike for a week demanding payment of six months of back wages and a New Year's bonus.
2200 GMT: Mousavi, Karroubi, and Subsidy Cuts. In Sunday's meeting with Mehdi Karroubi, Mir Hossein Mousavi said that the Ahmadinejad Government will not be able to implement subsidy cuts successfully: "Generally speaking, no one is against the subsidy cut plan, but our view is that there is no figure to manage this plan. Most prominent and competent experts have been sidelined."
Mousavi also criticized the government for stationing police and security forces around Tehran before the implementation of the cuts.
Karroubi expressed dismay over “institutionalisation” of lies and slander in the country and spoke about the “engineering” of votes during the 2009 elections and the post-election crackdowns that followed: “They treated the people in the worst way, using a great deal of violence. They cannot tolerate the slightest bit of response from opponents and critics, neither in the national media nor in the press...They cannot stand any form of freedom of speech and have effectively killed the freedom to speak the truth and to be truthful...even though they could have saved the country from all dangers by holding true elections.”
An Iranian woman mistaken for Neda Agha-Soltan, whose death in post-election protests last year became a symbol of Iran's opposition movement, has found her own political voice after being forced into exile.
"I have a personal link to her (the other Neda) because her death somehow caused a serious destruction of my life. Not her immediate death but the consequences of her death," Neda Soltani told AFP.
"I cannot claim that I am a political person. However I can say that after being targeted by such a huge case, I cannot remain indifferent to the politics of my country and what is happening there."
In the midst of its report on the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad road show in New York, Voice of America Persian captured an extraordinary moment.
At the 2:41 mark in the video, Iranian activists catch up with the President's Chief of Staff and close ally, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai near the United Nations and challenge him over human rights in Iran. Planet Iran summarises the conversation:
Thursday, November 18, 2010 at 2:22