The Latest from Iran (31 July): Past and Present
Saturday, July 31, 2010 at 7:14 
1520 GMT: More War, No Facts, Blah. The deputy head of Iran's armed forces, Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri, says the US is escalating its "war of nerves" against Iran: "US Congress Bill 1553 which gives the hated Zionist regime a free hand to confront Iran is part of a psychological warfare scenario devised at the request of an American think tank to affect Iranian nuclear insiders."
Hmm...Resolution 1553, which backs Israeli miitary action against Tehran, has been sponsored by a minority of Republicans --- which is the minority party --- in the House of Representatives, the junior chamber of the US Congress. It is unlikely to be adopted by Congress, let alone be supported by the Obama Administration.
Still, I'm not sure Jayazeri needs to worry about such details....(http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=136890§ionid=351020101)
NEW Iran Analysis: Looking Back on the 1980s (Verde)
Iran Music Video Special: The Award-Winning “Ayatollah, Leave Those Kids Alone”
Iran’s Persecution of Rights: The Pursuit of Lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei (Shahryar)
The Latest from Iran (30 July): Stepping Up the Criticism
1515 GMT: All Hail Rahim-Mashai. He may be widely disliked, even amongst conservatives, but the President's chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai continues to pile up the posts.
Indeed, the latest may help Rahim-Mashai answer his critics: Fars News says he will manage the Islamic Republic News Agency. (http://is.gd/dUUoU)
1340 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. A group of families of political prisoners have reportedly gathered in front of the office of the Tehran Prosecutor General to protest the detention of their relatives. (http://fb.me/ER74sOKd)
1330 GMT: Larijani Watch. Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani has said that that he is ready to “confront the government through legal channels” if they refuse to send their legislation to the parliament for review: “According to the constitution, government legislation has to be relayed to the parliament to assure correspondence with the law. But it is a while now that this has not been done and this is a blatant breach of law.”
Asked if he will summon President Ahmadinejad to the Parliament, Larijani said that it is not yet time for such an action.
The President’s parliamentary deputy has denied the allegation and said the Government is delivering the new legislation to Parliament before execution. (http://bit.ly/ccwHpe)
1315 GMT: We have posted a separate analysis considering the establishment of War with Iran as part of "normal" discussion in the US media.
1300 GMT: Missing Lawyer Mostafaei Update. A follow-up to this week's story on EA by Josh Shahryar about prominent human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei, who went into hiding after Iranian authorities tried to detain him, arresting his wife and brother-in-law....
Mostafaei has now written to the Tehran Prosecutor General, Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi. An Iranian activist summarises the letter, "I'll give myself in if my wife and brother-in law are released, and I am guaranteed a fair trial and legal process. Otherwise, catch me if you can." (http://bit.ly/9e9TLz)
1100 GMT: Threat of the Day. The head of Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, has become the go-to guy for Iranian state media for quotes challenging sanctions, and he does not disappoint today: “The European Union will receive an appropriate response should it put into practice [new] sanctions against the Iranian nation.” (http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=136860§ionid=351020104)
0600 GMT: We begin this morning with a feature from Mr Verde considering how the current political crisis is bringing out new information and debate on the Iran of the 1980s and the war with Iraq.
Meanwhile....
Getting (and Understanding) the News from Iran
Azadeh Moaveni has a sharp, incisive anlaysis on Foreign Policy, "What the West Isn't Hearing About":
With reporters on the ground so compromised by self-censorship, our ability to get a decent read of public opinion in Iran, let alone any smart, rigorously reported insight into domestic politics -- the opposition's strategy, the displeasure of the ayatollahs in Qom, the establishment's discomfiture at the prospect of sanctions -- is nonexistent. Even small, telling stories have become too sensitive to report, like the post-election defection of young journalists from Press TV (the government's English-language TV network) [Editor's Note: EA knows about this from personal correspondence with sources] or the distressing rise of so-called "experimental hires" as firms exploit young people's desperation for jobs to extract months of unpaid work under the false premise of a trial period....
It is perhaps understandable that Western readers are less interested in granular details from Iran than in the broad geopolitical sweep of the last year. But the loss of these stories is still a travesty, for it obscures the extent to which the spirit of the opposition still rules Iran. Certainly, the Islamic Republic knows better than to underestimate the scale and depth of people's disillusion and the swiftness with which inchoate grievances can be transformed into running street battles. A year after events so extraordinary that staid Tehran matrons found themselves setting fire to the barracks of Iran's feared Basij paramilitary, it would be unfortunate indeed if Western journalists, with whatever good intentions, faltered in their understanding of Iran, when it is so obvious that the regime itself acknowledges the power of its foes.
The Detained Americans
President Obama has made another appeal to Tehran to free three Americans --- Sarah Shourd, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal --- detained one year ago when they allegedly crossed the Iran-Iraq border on foot.
Sarah, Shane and Josh committed absolutely no crime. Yet for a full year, they have been held in prison, causing extraordinary grief and uncertainty for them, for their families, and for their loved ones. I want to be perfectly clear: Sarah, Shane and Josh have never worked for the United States government....
I call on the Iranian government to immediately release Sarah, Shane and Josh. Their unjust detention has nothing to do with the issues that continue to divide the United States and the international community from the Iranian government.
On a related matter, Iranian-American academic Kian Tajbakhsh, sentenced last autumn to 15 years in prison (later reduced to 5 years on appeal), remains on temporary release.