The Latest from Iran (27 July): Regime Wavering?

2020 GMT: Googling Iran. In a well-meaning but rather scattered New York Times article on Iranians living in the US, this episode stands out:

On a recent muggy afternoon in Washington Aliakbar Mousavi, a former member of Parliament, sat at a white table in a small Google conference room, imploring a top executive to provide more Persian-language Internet tools.

Speaking in halting English acquired during a year in the United States, Mr. Mousavi told Robert O. Boorstin, the company’s director of public policy, that activists inside Iran desperately needed Google earth, Google advertising and other services that can help thwart repression.

Mr. Boorstin was sympathetic if noncommittal, promising to consult with various engineers.

NEW Latest Iran Video: Ahmadinejad on Afghanistan, Sanctions, & the US (26 July)
NEW Iran Document: Mousavi on Governing and Mis-Governing, Now and in the 1980s (26 July)
NEW Iran Analysis: Interpreting Khamenei’s “Re-Appearing” Fatwa (Verde)
The Latest from Iran (26 July): Behind the International Screen

2015 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. An appellate court has upheld the four-year sentence of activist Amir Khosrow Dalirsani, jailed for assembly and conspiracy to act against national security. Dalirsani was detained after the Ashura protests in December.

2000 GMT: Arrested for Using Facebook. RAHANA reports Hanieh Farshi-Shatrian, a 28-year-old woman, has been arrested in Tabriz for "activism" on Facebook. Farshi-Shatrian has no history of political activity.

1825 GMT: We have posted the short video of the interview of President Ahmadinejad by CBS News, covering Afghanistan and sanctions but omitting any consideration of Iran's internal situation.

1815 GMT: The Missing Lawyer. Golnaz Esfandiari summarises the case of human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei, who is still missing and whose wife and brother-in-law are still detained.

1705 GMT: Claim of Day. Rah-e-Sabz asserts that a group of the Supreme Leader's advisors, including his son Mojtaba Khamenei, Basij commander Hossein Taeb, and Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, held a special meeting after the June 2009 election and laid off 250 pro-Green officers of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.

1700 GMT: Labour Front. Iran Labor Report has a special feature on "rampant wage thefts", where workers at large firms like Naghshe Iran Carpet Weaving in Qazvin, Khuzestan Pipe Factory, and Iran Telecommunication Industries have not been paid for months.

1650 GMT: The Battle Within. Looks like rifts within the establishment are getting worse....

Aftab News now has a second item critiquing divisions within the "hard-line camp" (for the first item, see 0845 GMT), saying that rifts are due to a lack of ability, law-breaking, and distortion of ideology.

But this may be small change compared to a fight brewing between Keyhan and the President's inner circle. We should have a special analysis on Wednesday.

1640 GMT: Mahmoud's Wisdom of the Day. Peyke Iran, from Islamic Students News Agency, summarises President Ahmadinejad's latest speech: "The biggest gift to is the Imam....If you are poor, get married and God will feed you."

1638 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Kurdish high school teacher Mohsen Jaladiani has been sentenced to six years in prison.

1633 GMT: Economy Watch (Revolutionary Guards Edition). Member of Parliament Mehrdad Lahouti has asserted that Khatam ol-Anbia, the engineering firm linked to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, may be entering the project to construct a freeway from Tehran to the Caspian Sea.

1630 GMT: Larijani Replies to Mousavi? Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, in an apparent response to Mir Hossein Mousavi's latest statement --- especially Mousavi's comments on the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-1988 --- has warned against the "classification of people", saying that accusations against them are "not right".

1330 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Earlier today we mentioned Hamed Saber, the photo-blogger and computer scientist detained for more than a month.

More than 70 Iranian university graduates and academics have launched a campaign calling for Saber's release.

1230 GMT: Ahmadinejad's War Strategy. The President has made another international move with an interview with Press TV.

On the surface, Ahmadinejad has restated his "war conspiracy", saying again that he expects the US to act soon: "They have decided to attack at least two countries in the region in the next three months....(We have) very precise information that the Americans have hatched a plot, according to which they to wage a psychological war against Iran."

Dig deeper, though, and you may find a more complex Ahmadinejad move. Notice that "Europe" and Britain do not take their usual roles alongside the US as Iran's opponents.

Could that be because Tehran --- and Ahmadinejad in particular --- are hoping to re-open talks on the uranium enrichment issue?

0907 GMT: Academic Corner. The commander of the Revolutionary Guard, General Mohammad Ali Jafari, has been appointed to the board of Yazd University by Minister of Science and Higher Education Kamran Daneshjoo.

0905 GMT: The Rice Scandal. MP Hassan Tamini, the speaker of Parliament's Health Commission, says that he has "no doubt" that 11 types of imported rice are polluted with lead, arsenic, and carcinogens.

0855 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran posts an interview with the mother of human rights activist Shiva Nazar Ahari, who has been arrested twice and detained for ten months since the June 2009 election.

Student Iman Sadighi, who was detained for 130 days, reports on conditions in Mati Kala prison in Babol.

A statement from activists in Rah-e-Sabz claims sentences in courts are based on factional affiliations and demands the release of journalist Abdolreza Tajik and photo-blogger Hamed Saber.

0850 GMT: More Tension. MP Ali Motahari, now a persistent high-profile critic of the Government, has turned to the hijab issue to challenge the President, insisting that people will turn away if hijab is not defended. Motahari has also --- in line with others --- taken a swipe at Ahmadinejad as voicing the words of his Chief of Staff, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai.

0845 GMT: Economy Watch. Aftab News asserts that, instead of admitting its mistakes, the government is blaming the private sector for unemployment. The newspaper says critics are right in assuming that the Ahmadinejad administration continues to control companies by using subsidiary firms with non-government names.

0840 GMT: Threatening the Bloggers. The Committee to Protect Bloggers reports that Fariborz Shamshiri, who blogs at Rotten Gods and has worked with Amnesty International and Freedom House, has received death threats on his life. Shamshiri says, “This is not the first time I am receiving this kind of threats but this is getting out of hand.”

0835 GMT: Parliament Update. MP Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh has claimed that the elimination of reformists has led to a split within the hardline movement, with the struggle for power visible in the Majlis and Government. These problems are compounded by "radicals" who have forgotten that they are the people's representatives and are ready to sacrifice the Majlis for the Government.

MP Abolqasem Raoufian warns: "If we continue like this, reformists may win next elections. If the reformists are eliminated from next elections --- which is wrong --- hardliners will split into three camps."

0830 GMT: And What is Larijani Doing? Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani has joined in the post-fatwa debate to put in a few punches at the President. He has said that if a government wants to comply with that of the 12th ("hidden") Imam, it should establish social justice and give no alms because they are not necessary in such a just society. The government should also follow laws and fight against enemies such as the US and Zionists.

Larijani's parting shot? "Don't increase enemies with improper words", as Iran is "far away" from the just and effective government of the 12th Imam.

0825 GMT: Rallying around Khamenei? Hojatoleslam Mohammad Saeidi, the Friday Prayer leader in Qom, has asserted that there have always been senior clerics who prefered to oppose the Supreme Leader rather than "infidels" such as Zionists and the British.

Ayatollah Mohammad Qorvi has announced that the Khamenei fatwa is the "minimum approval" of velayat-e-faqih (clerical supremacy).

0800 GMT: We begin the morning with two features. Mr Verde analyses the problems for the Supreme Leader's "I am the Rule of the Prophet" fatwa, which has suddenly reappeared on his website. And we post the English translation of Mir Hossein Mousavi's latest statement, which links criticism of the current Government with a review of the political and military tensions during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War.

Meanwhile....

Rumour of the Day

Rah-e-Sabz tries to add to the pressure on the regime by alleging that Ministry of Intelligence operatives were responsible for the murders of Neda Agha Soltan, killed in June 2009, and Dr Masoud Alimohammadi, who died in an explosion in January.

The news site claims from sources that almost three weeks ago, a car bomb exploded in Shahrak-e Rahahan, apparently to destroy the body of a victim killed elsehwere.  Two Ministry of Intelligence operatives were allegedly arrested and are being held, with a third person, in the ministry cellblock in Evin Prison.

In a possibly related incident about the same time, a car bomb failed to kill a wealthy businessman.

According to Rah-e-Sabz, the two arrested men work for Hamidreza Daneshmandi, the Director of Internal Security at the ministry. Further investigation supposedly revealed that this team was responsible for the deaths of Neda Agha Soltan and Dr Alimohammadi and may also be responsible for the explosion in the Khomeini Shrine a few days after the June 2009 elections.

Rah-e-Sabz says the investigation has led to tensions between the police and judiciary on one side and the Ministry of Intelligence on the other.

The Latest from Iran (2 July): Ahmadinejad v. Larijani?

1930 GMT: The Battle Within. Back from a break to find what may or may not be a significant incident in the internal tension between the President and Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani.

Iranian Labor News Agency reports that, after Qom Friday Prayers, a number of supporters of the Ahmadinejad Government issued a statement --- signed "People of Hezbollah" --- saying that they no longer regard Larijani as their representative in the Parliament and "want their votes back".

The statement claimed, "“It is said that you voted for Mr. Ahmadinejad’s opponent.”

NEW Iran: Establishing the First “Anti-Censorship Shelter”
NEW Iran Analysis: Assessing Europe’s Sanctions & Tehran’s Oil (Noel)
Iran Interview: Ahmad Batebi “The Green Movement Goes Underground”
The Latest from Iran (1 July): Establishing the Pattern

1755 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. HRANA reports that Hamed Rouhinejad is in critical condition in Evin Prison due to complications related to multiple sclerosis and a lack of proper medical care.

Rouhinejad, a philosophy student, has been in detention since April 2009 on charges of membership in an anti-government organization and has been refused medical leave. He was sentenced to death in a trial last autumn but this was later commuted to 10 years in prison.

The website also writes that authorities in Karaj’s Rajae Shahr Prison have extended Behrouz Javid Tehrani’s time in solitary confinement, which has now lasted more than a month, at the request of the Ministry of Intelligence.

Javid Tehrani is the last remaining political prisoner from the 1999 student protests, the anniversary of which takes place next week.

1420 GMT: Friday Prayers Goes to Penalties Update. Looks like Ayatollah Emami Kashani may have made it through to the next round with a couple of late, hard challenges in his Tehran Friday Prayers sermons (see 1320 GMT).

Having played a conventional, unexciting game, Kashani suddenly got aggressive and put his boot into lawyers: "Defending the false is religiously prohibited and court attorneys should only defend the rightful. When they read a file and realize that the client is not in the right, they should not defend them.”

1415 GMT: Assessing the Situation. The full interview with Professor Ardeshir Amir-Arjomand, an advisor to Mir Hossein Mousavi, which we noted noted this morning (0725 GMT), is now in English.

1320 GMT: Your Friday Prayer Summary. Ayatollah Emami Kashani giving it his best today on the Tehran podium but I'm not sure he is going to eclipse World Cup fever.

Emami Kashani played it safe by going with a bash-the-West approach, "They accuse Iran of [efforts aimed at] producing nuclear weapons while Iran's [nuclear] program is scientific and industrial. Producing nuclear weapons has no place in Iran's nuclear pursuit."

There was the "they're keeping us down line" --- "They are well aware of this but they do not see Muslim states prosper. They do not want Islamic glory and awakening" --- which moved into the rallying call, "[Let's] join hands and through cooperation manage the country's affairs in the best possible way, particularly at present when the enemies are attacking the Islamic Republic with false accusations."

And Kashani went to the tried-and-true of Palestine, notably Gaza: "If Muslim states awaken and fulfill their duties, this land (Palestine) will not be swallowed up by the enemy."

So a competent performance but nothing too creative: I'm not sure if that would get Kashani past the quarter-finals of a major competition.

Then again, when are we likely to see the champions of recent years. e.g., H. Rafsanjani, vie for the Friday Prayers Cup?

1015 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Peyke Iran claims that Ghaemshahr Prison with a capacity of 250 prisoners, now has 763 detainees.

The website also has published this list of detainees in Rejai Shahr Prison:

Behrouz Javid Tehrani, 9 years imprisonment
Kobra Banazadeh, 5 years
Zahra Joushan, 1 year
Mansour Radpour, 8 years
Mansoor Osanloo, 5 years
Alireza Karami-Kheyrabadi, sentenced to death
Heshmatollah Tabarzadi, unclear status
Mostafa Eskandari, unclear status
Masoud Bastani, unclear status
Ahmad Zeyabadi, unclear status
Mehdi Mahmoudian, unclear status
Reza Rafiee, unclear status
Behnam Foyuji, unclear status
Rassoul Bodaghi, unclear status
Isa Saharkhiz, unclear status
Davoud Soleymani, unclear status
Ali Saremi, sentenced to death
Mohammad Ali Mansouri, 17 years of prison
Saeed Massouri, lifetime sentence
Houd Yazorlou, 3 years
Meyslogh Yazdannejad, 13 years
Ali Moubedi, 3 years
Afshin Baymani, lifetime sentence
Seyed Mehdi Fetrat, 3 years
Karim Marouf-Aziz, lifetime sentence
Hossein Tofah, 15 years
Shir-Mohammad Rezaie, 4 years
Farhang Pour-Mansouri, lifetime sentence
Reza Joushan, 1 year
Shahram Pour-Mansouri, lifetime sentence
Nasseh Yousefi, 5 years
Esmail Ordouie, 15 years

1010 GMT: More on the Drug Issue (see 0915 GMT). Abbas Deylamizadeh, the head of an Iranian welfare organisation, claims 300,000 poor drug users are in danger of becoming street addicts.

1005 GMT: The Battle Within. Hojatoleslam Mohammad Ashrafi Esfahani has warned that "radicals", with their unwillingness to discussion, have divided the "hard-line" camp in Iran, splitting it into two groups.

0959 GMT: The Budget Battle. The Parliament has passed President Ahmadinejad's 5th Plan on Monday with the cancellation of three articles. One of the cancelled provisions would have given the President millions in spending for "cultural purposes". Ahmadinejad's representatives reportedly were offended and left the session.

0955 GMT: The Oil Squeeze. Rah-e-Sabz reports that the Kuwaiti Independent Oil Group has joined the international suspension of gasoline sales to Iran.

0945 GMT: Labour Front. Peyke Iran claims that dismissed workers in Sanandaj in Kurdistan have gathered in front of the work ministry and that workers of Tabriz Tile Company have not been paid for four months.

0940 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. RAHANA reports that detained student Zia Nabavi is in serious condition after hysteria and convulsions in Evin Prison.

0915 GMT: "Psyche Spinners" in Tehran. Writing for The Huffington Post, Setareh Sabety takes a look at disillusionment and drug use in Iran's capital.

0910 GMT: The Labour Front. Iran Labor Report claims that many Tehran Bus Company employees with more than 20 years of service have been offered a "buyout" of $15,000. The website adds that, to put pressure on  the workers, the company has moved depots farther from the city and even to other cities such as Karaj while reducing employee bus shuttles.

Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran asserts the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps is starting a takeover of the company with purchase of buses and new bus lines. The chief executive of the company is alleged to be Revolutionary Guards commander Ardeshir Moghimpour, using the pseudonym Hossein Bijani.

There is still no news from detained bus union members Saeed Torabian and Reza Shahabi.

0905 GMT: We have posted a separate feature on the establishment of the world's first "anti-censorship shelter".

0735 GMT: The Oil Front. Amidst our discussion today of Iran's energy sector, a point to note about its internal production: Deutsche Welle claims that a fire at the Naft Shahr wells is still burning 40 days after it started.

And, with thanks to EA readers, another item about foreign investment: "South Korea's GS Engineering & Construction ( said on Thursday that it has called off a 1.42 trillion won ($1.2 billion) gas project in Iran following sanctions on the Middle East nation."

0730 GMT: The Battle Within. The Motalefeh party, fighting back against pressure from Ahmadinejad supporters, has asserted its "good" credentials, declaring that the hope for leaders of "fitna" (sedition") to return to the Revolution has faded.

0725 GMT: Challenging the Radicals. Mohammad Salamati, secretary-general of the reformist Mojahedin of Islamic Revolution, says that radicals have "no real understanding of leading a country". Professor Ardeshir Amir-Arjomand claims "hardliners" are implementing a new constitution and declares that an independent media is needed.

Those criticisms do not appear to have had any effect, however, on Gholam-Hossein Elham, a member of the Guardian Council. He says those who want to change the religious regime into a secular state, on the basis of the Constitution and "wrong" reformist currents, are a symbol of division.

0715 GMT: Nuclear Front. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Andrei Nesterenko has announced that the P5+1 group (US, UK, Russia, France, Germany, China) will meet today in Brussels.

0605 GMT: We start today with a look at Iran's economic position and sanctions. In a separate feature, Pierre Noël looks at Europe's sanctions and their effect on Iran's oil and gas sectors.

The Christian Science Monitor runs with the "Ahmadinejad bans Coca-Cola" story, which links up with Tehran's public spin of defiance: Press TV is headlining, "Iran Sanctions May Hit Japanese Firms".

More significantly, Press is featuring a sign of hope amidst the growing international pressure on Iran. Turkey's Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz said in an interview, "Turkey will continue to cooperate with Iran because the sanctions did not include any specific restriction on energy deals....Energy is not part of the UN sanctions."

Oh, I guess we should also mention that President Obama has signed the new US legislation passed by Congress earlier this week: "With these sanctions --- along with others --- we are striking at the heart of the Iranian government's ability to fund and develop its nuclear programmes."

Obama added:

To date, Iran has chosen the path of defiance. The door to diplomacy remains open. Iran can prove that its intentions are peaceful. It can meet its obligations under the [nuclear non-proliferation treaty) and achieve the security and prosperity worthy of a great nation.