Iran Special: Breaking Mousavi's Movement --- Beheshti & Abutalabi

Throughout the day, skilled Iran-watchers have been noting the treatment of Dr Alireza Beheshti, the chief advisor to Mir Hossein Mousavi, as he appeared in a Tehran court on Monday. Mousavi's website Kalemeh reported that, when Beheshti appealed against his detention (an appeal which was denied), he was taken to the hearing in pajamas and slippers. Behesti also looked dishevelled with an unkempt beard, due to the lack of grooming kits or a mirror in solitary confinement.

Adding insult, Beheshti was kept waiting in the corridor and treated rudely by guards who accompanied him. The treatment is given an added edge because Beheshti, who was detained this autumn but soon released, is the the son of the revered martyr Ayatollah Mohammad Hossein Beheshti, the founder of the Islamic Republic's judiciary.

The Latest from Iran (19 January): Cross-Currents

The apparent campaign to break Beheshti is part of a wider story: this could be the regime's big push to crush the Mir Hossein Mousavi challenge once and for all. For it was not only Beheshti who appeared in court yesterday.

A valued EA source reports that Massoud Abutalabi, another key Mousavi advisor, also had to attend a hearing. Abutalabi, who is suffering from a heart condition, was arrested last week and has been held in Evin Prison. There is no news yet of the proceedings or any sentence for Abutalabi, who like Beheshti is a Professor at Tarbiet Modares University.