The Latest from Iran (27 January): No Money for the Babies

2145 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. We started with babies this morning, we'll close with very adult behaviour. Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi has attacked former President Hashemi Rafsanjani once again, saying religious seditionists and silent elites must be dealt with. Moslehi declared that he had documents of the 2009 sedition to back up his allegations.

2140 GMT: Parliament v. President. Reformist MP Mostafa Kavakebian has invited President Ahmadinejad to a public discussion about his letter to MPs warning that Parliament, the judiciary, and the Expediency Council were acting wrongly to oppose his plans on the budget and the Central Bank.

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Iran Interview: Daughter of Condemned Zahra Bahrami "A Political Death Sentence"

UPDATE 1645 GMT: Radio Farda reports that Zahra Bahrami had a visit from her daughter, Banafsheh Nayebpour, on Tuesday. "I was allowed to meet her...at Evin [Prison] for about 20 minutes and I could tell that she was extremely scared," Nayebpour said.

“The death sentence issued to my mother is completely political and I implore people, the media, and all human rights activists to not believe the fabricated and trumped-up charge of ‘possession of narcotics’ [levelled against my mother]. The accusation is meant to distract and deceive people to believe the reason behind the death sentence is ‘possession of drugs’ so they refrain from supporting and helping us.”

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The Latest from Iran (11 January): Remembering Hundreds of Political Prisoners

2100 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. The son-in-law of detained journalist Emaduddin Baghi, Ali Maghami, has been released on bail.

Maghami was arrested last month. Baghi, detained in December 2009, was sentenced last autumn to seven years in prison.

Eight students of the Islamic Society of Arak University have reportedly been arrested.

2040 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. On Sunday we noted a speech by former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, marking the anniversary of a January 1978 protest that helped spur the Islamic Republic. A correspondent commented Rafsanjani made his historical parallel to jab directly at Ahmadinejad aide Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai and indirectly at the Supreme Leader: "those who build their power on cobwebs". He pointedly referred to the situation then of "fire under the ashes", a possible reference to the state of protest today, and blamed those who practiced "lies and hypocrisy".

Well, the newspaper Kayhan is not impressed.

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The Latest from Iran (6 January): Spying Fantasy, Death Sentence Reality

2100 GMT: Sanctions Watch. The Financial Times reviews the Washington-led effort to shut down the operations of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, "US Takes Aim at Iranian Shipping".

2055 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Two activists from the Tehran Bus Workers Union in Iran, Morteza Komsari and Aliakbar Nazariis, have been released in prison. Four others --- Gholamreza Gholamhosseini, Ebrahim Madadi, Mansour Osanloo, and Reza Shahabi --- remain in detention.

1720 GMT: Striking at the Lies. Alireza Beheshti, Chief of Staff to Mir Hossein Mousavi during the 2009 campaign, has written an open letter challenging the regime's line of "sedition" around the Presidential election as a "flood of slander and insult".

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Iran Note: A Message to the Media About "American Woman Spying Through Her Teeth"

UPDATE 2105 GMT: Given my crankiness this morning at the lack of scrutiny by most in the media sensationally recycling this story, it is only fair to give a big tip of the hat to Scott Peterson of the Christian Science Monitor, who gets to the heart of the matter, "US Woman Arrested in Iran as Spy: Why the Story May Not Have Teeth".

Peterson updates on the changing stories in the Iranian media --- Fars says, “The detained spy asked the Iranian authorities not to return her to Armenia in fear of her life,” but the TV outlet Al-Alam says Hall Talayan never entered Iran, as she did not have the proper visa --- and notes the lack of support from Iranian government officials and outlets like Press TV.

Peterson notes our original entry, "The uncertainties prompted the EAWorldView website, which closely follows daily events in Iran, to urge caution."

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