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 (26 July): Behind the International Screen

2055 GMT: Moscow is Not Amused. Looks like President Ahmadinejad went too far in his shtick of "Russia is aiding and abetting the US-Israel plot to attack Arab allies of Iran".

The Russian Foreign Ministry has put out a statement, "For us the recent public statements of the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are categorically unacceptable....[They] distorted Russia's objective approach, our independent, constructive line towards the Iranian nuclear programme with the aim of finding a political and diplomatic resolution. We consider that instead of fruitless and irresponsible rhetoric, the Iranian leadership should take concrete, constructive steps towards the speediest regulation of the situation."

Iran Analysis: Re-Defining the Green Movement (Verde)
UPDATED Iran Media Follow-Up: War, War, War. Blah, Blah, Blah. No Facts. More War. Blah.
The Latest from Iran (25 July): The Re-Appearing Fatwa

2000 GMT: Academic Corner. Sima, the student newspaper at Ferdowsi University, has been banned.

1915 GMT: "Khamenei Must Go" (cont. --- see 1115 GMT). Ahmad Ghabel, seminary lecturer and author, has followed up his recent criticism of the Supreme Leader with a statement that arrests have happened with the approval of Ayatollah Khamenei and "the Iranian people are free on bail".

1910 GMT: Sanctions Watch. Canada has followed the European Union in imposing additional sanctions on Tehran, notably in the energy sector.

1630 GMT: The International Front. Forget the talking tough (see 1500 GMT): the theme today from Tehran is openness to discussions. Islamic News Republic Agency and Fars News are both highlighting the statement of Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran's nuclear organisation, "The clear message of this letter [to the International Atomic Energy Agency] was Iran's complete readiness to hold negotiations over the fuel for the Tehran reactor without any conditions."

1500 GMT: Talking Tough Time. The Iranian Foreign Ministry has criticised the latest measures adopted by the European Union (see 1430 GMT), "Sanctions… will only complicate matters and move away [the parties] from mutual understanding."

Yeah, yeah, whatever (the Iranians are actually angling for talks, via contact with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Turkey and Brazil's mediation, with the EU on the uranium issue). If you want some macho fire-breathing, you have to go to Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, who reveals the Obama Administration is "one of lies":

You witnessed what they did to Palestinians; Israeli settlements in Palestine are expanding by the day and the Zionist regime destroys mosques and of course Gaza is still under siege....Americans wrongly perceive Lebanon as a toy but they should be more careful lest this toy severs their hand.

On the surface they condemn terrorism but behind the curtain they support terrorists… as it became clear, during [Jundullah ringleader Abdolmalek] Rigi's confessions, that he was linked to the US and NATO and they supported this terrorist cell.

1430 GMT: Sanctions Watch. The European Union has formally adopted a package of new sanctions against Iran, targeting foreign trade, banking, and energy.

1425 GMT: Oil Squeeze. Reuters reports, from a shipping document, that only three cargoes of gasoline have so far reached Iran in July, far less than the seasonal norm, because of the pressure of sanctions.

Traditionally during the summer season, with people driving on holidays, Iran needs 11-13 cargoes a month.

The three cargoes this month and were supplied by Turkish refiner Tupras and the trading arm of China's Sinopec, Unipec. Another cargo is expected to arrive from Venezuela.

1150 GMT: Mousavi's Latest. Mir Hossein Mousavi, in his most recent speech, has discussed the "untold story" of the war between Iran and Iraq from 1980 to 1988.

1123 GMT: Revolutionary Guard in Control? Mehdi Karroubi, in an interview with BBC Persian, has declared that there is now an effective "monopoly" by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps and the Basij militia in the country.

1120 GMT: Parliament v. President. Reformist MP Hojatoleslam Qodratollah Alikhani has complained about President Ahmadinejad's "joy" at US and UN sanctions, saying that he hopes this has not increased the prospect of war.

1115 GMT: "Khamenei Must Go". Noted Iranian intellectual Abdolkarim Soroush, now living in exile, has complemented recent calls --- from Mohsen Kadivar and Ahmad Ghabel outside the country and Isa Saharkhiz inside it --- for the Supreme Leader to step down.

1040 GMT: Rumour of Day. Parleman News claims that the Hojjatieh Society has formally applied for a licence.

Hojjatieh has provoked much comment and speculation since its founding as a semi-clandestine Shi'a organisation in 1953. It was forced to dissolve after a speech by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1983, but stories circulate that it is connected to President Ahmadinejad and other senior figures in the Iranian regime.

1035 GMT: Energy Squeeze? Deputy Minister of Oil Alireza Zeighami has said,"We need $46 billion to finish our refinery projects." The funds will contribute to new capacity for 5 billion litres of liquid fuel.

Some numbers for comparison: the $46 billion is more than 15 times the $3.1 billion in Foreign Direct Investment in 2009 --- a number pushed by Iranian officials as a sign of the country's growth --- and 92 times the amount of the $500 million bond project announced today for the South Pars gas and oil field.

1015 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Rah-e-Sabz reports that former President Hashemi Rafsanjani will visit Hamzeh Karami, the director of Jumhoriat website and a senior official at Islamic Azad University, in hospital. Karami, detained soon after the June 2009 election, is in intensive care with a heart condition.

Last summer, Karami's "confession" in a televised trial in Tehran was used to implicate Rafsanjani's son, Mehdi Hashemi, in alleged fraud and misconduct over the election.

1010 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Agence France Presse has picked up the story --- noted in our updates yesterday --- that journalist Emad Baghi, detained in December 2009 and recently released on bail, has been given a one-year sentence and banned for five years from political activities from charges in a 2008 case.

1000 GMT: Reviewing the Supreme Leader. An entry on an Iranian blog puts forth supposed reaction from clerics in Qom to Ayatollah Khameini's fatwa, "I am the Rule of the Prophet".

0955 GMT: Picture of Day. Mir Hossein Mousavi meets reformist politician Mohsen Armin, recently released from detention on $200,000 bail:



0950 GMT: Parliament v. Government. Vice Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Reza Bahonar has reiterated that the Majlis will stand up to the Ahmadinejad Government, rejecting its implementation measures.

0945 GMT: Concessions to the Villagers? Kalemeh claims that a new Government directive removes limits on social security for Sunni residents in rural areas.

0935 GMT: Setting the Record Straight. Fereshteh Ghazi interviews the family of Mohammad-Hossein Feiz, shot dead in protests on 30 June 2009. They reveal that Feiz was not a Basij militiaman, as the regime claimed, but a demonstrator.

0930 GMT: Economy Watch. Iran Negah posts a video interview with a girl living in poverty in Tehran. She says, "God only helps rich people." (Persian2English has an English translation.)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnT7xl5zYDM[/youtube]

0925 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Peyke Iran claims that student Vahid Asghari has had his nose and ribs broken in Bushehr Prison.

0920 GMT: Parliament v. Government. Members of Parliament are continuing to threaten impeachment of Minister of Agriculture Sadegh Khalilian over claims that imports are driving down rice prices received by Iranian farmers.

0800 GMT: Water Pressure. Amidst stories of impurities and shortages in Iran's water supply, Tehran's Yaft-Abad quarter has installed a temporary water filter.

0730 GMT: Music of Dissent. Shahin Najafi, an Iranian musician and poet now living in Germany, has released "Vay Koshte Maro", a song of protest against the current Government.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTrlthfbcHQ[/youtube]

0725 GMT: Parliament v. President. The influential member of Parliament, Gholam-Reza Mesbahi-Moghaddam, has emphasised that "not all hardliners accepted the elimination of reformists" in the post-election conflict.

0720 GMT: The Saharkhiz Criticism. Persian2English has now posted the first part of journalist Isa Saharkhiz's statement in court --- featured on EA last week --- with its direct criticism of the Supreme Leader.

0715 GMT: No, No, Talk about the War. Press TV keeps up the Iranian state line, "Shameful Defeats Awaits US in 3rd War". The article features the Sunday comments of Brigadier General Masoud Jayazeri, “The United States, which has already suffered two heavy, disgraceful defeats against Hezbollah and Hamas in the region, can start a new war with a third country to endure another defeat.”

0710 GMT: So what is happening inside Iran? Credit to two "Western" outlets for stories that defy the trend of Nukes and War.

The Los Angeles Times posts a summary of "New Series of Attacks on Members of the Bahai Faith in Iran".

The Guardian of London picks up on the story --- reported in our updates yesterday --- of the disappearance of prominent human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei and the arrest of his wife and brother-in-law. Mostafaei represents Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the Iranian woman whose death sentence for adultery has provoked international criticism of Tehran.

0630 GMT: The lead stories in the media this morning on Iran are far from what is happening inside Tehran.

From the Iranian Government's point of view, the weekend's meeting between the Turkish, Brazilian, and Iranian Foreign Ministers is the platform to focus attention on the uranium enrichment issue. Paralleling the rhetoric denouncing the West, notably in the speeches of President Ahmadinejad, the possibility of renewed discussions --- raised by Iran's statement to the International Atomic Energy Agency today --- comes to the fore. The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi, says, "The Tehran nuclear declaration on a possible nuclear fuel swap is a good base for the sides to build confidence. Iran has prepared its response to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Vienna group which will be sent within the next two or three days."

And from the US --- not from the Government, I hasten to add, but from the chattering classes --- the topic is not resolution but war. CNN's Sunday interview with Michael Hayden, the head of the CIA in the Bush Administration, is the latest pretext to take speculation from someone far from the centre of developments and turn into a Most Important Prediction.

Indeed, there is a convenient symmetry here. On one side, those who desire regime change in Iran can do so with little reference to politics, society, religion, or any other matter inside the country --- it's always and only the spectral "imminent threat" that is featured. On the other, those who support the Iranian Government --- irrespective of what it does inside the country --- can avoid troubling themselves with human rights, justice, and legitimacy. Instead, they can raise the speculative and unsupported to a clear-and-present danger and argue that the avoidance of a US-Iran war takes priority.

The Latest from Iran (25 July): The Re-Appearing Fatwa

2100 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Kayvan Samimi, chief editor of the banned publication Nameh has been given a six-year jail term and has been banned from social, political, and cultural activities for 15 years.

1845 GMT: Defining Irony. From Press TV:

An Iranian lawmaker says Tehran plans to file a lawsuit against the US over the inhumane policies adopted by Washington towards the people of Iran.

"It has been agreed that the issue of US violation of human rights as well as its double standard policies be raised in the international community and a lawsuit be filed to seek compensation for some of the damages inflicted on Iran because of it," member of the Majlis Human Rights Committee Zohreh Elahian said on Sunday.

The Iranian lawmaker said American media have turned human rights into a tool by means of which they manipulate world public opinion, adding, “The US uses human rights to pressure Iran while this country does not observe even the most basic articles of the human rights law.”

NEW Iran Analysis: Re-Defining the Green Movement (Verde)
Iran Analysis: Rafsanjani Bowing Out? (Abedin)
UPDATED Iran Media Follow-Up: War, War, War. Blah, Blah, Blah. No Facts. More War. Blah.
The Latest from Iran (24 July): Reviewing the Situation

1825 GMT: The International Front. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has confirmed statements by his Turkish and Brazilian counterparts (see 1410 GMT) that Iran will be ready for discussions on its nuclear programme after the month of Ramadan ends in the second week of September.

1820 GMT: Easing the Energy Squeeze? Mehr News claims that Iran has signed a $1.29 billion deal sending its natural gas to Turkey, which secure 77% of the required funding for completing the 660-kilometre pipeline.

Iran currently exports 25 million cubic meters of natural gas to Turkey per day and the figure could rise to 30 million cubic meters a day.

1810 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. An appellate court has upheld the two-year sentence of Garmsar Azad University student Masoud Babapour.

Journalist Emaduddin Baghi has been sentenced to one year in prison and a five-year ban on political and media activities.

The punishment is not in connection with Baghi's December 2009 arrest, which followed his interview with the late Grand Ayatollah Montazeri for BBC Persian, but stems from a 2008 case. Baghi is currently free on bail.

1458 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Journalist Ali Malihi has been sentenced to four years in prison.

1454 GMT: Energy Squeeze. Emad Hosseini of Parliament's Energy Commission says the situation with Iran's ministry overseeing electricity and water is at its worst point since the Revolution.

1450 GMT: Economy Watch. Aftab News reports that 600 workers at Khuzestan Pipe Factory have not been paid for 15 months.

1440 GMT: Economy Watch (China Edition). Aftab News summarises how local products are being replaced by Chinese imports, including green raisins in Kashmar, handicrafts in Isfahan, rice in Caspian Sea provinces. Perhaps "caraways in Kerman" (for British readers, equal to "coals to Newcastle") will be next?

Mehr drives home the point with pictures of the old Carpet Bazaar in Qom, now closed because of imported Chinese rugs.

1435 GMT: Rahnavard Watch. Activist Zahra Rahnavard, meeting a group of political activists, has declared: “A part of the current government sees women as a serious threat. They attack women in the streets, prisons, and in their media in different ways, and by repression, torture, and character assassination they are putting women under unprecedented pressure. These kinds of treatments have saddened noble Iranian men and for sure will strengthen their resistance for democracy and freedom. Of course the Green Movement also realizes that achieving its high values will not be possible without women’s presence and paying attention to their demands.”

1430 GMT: And a Kidnapped Activist? Hoda Saber of the National Religious Front is missing, possibly kidnapped, after leaving the office on Saturday afternoon.

1425 GMT: The Missing Lawyer. The Committee of Human Rights Reporters reports that prominent human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei is missing and his wife and brother-in-law have been detained.

Earlier in the week Mostafaei was summoned to the Prosecutor's Office in Evin Prison and questioned for four hours. Security forces tried to arrest Mostafaei yesterday afternoon but could not find him, arresting family members near his office instead.

Mostafaei is the lawyer of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, whose death sentence for adultery has provoked international criticism of the Iranian regime.

1420 GMT: Labour Front. Human Rights Activists News Agency reports that Saeed Torabian, an activist with the Tehran Bus Workers Union, has been prevented from working after his recent release from detention.

1415 GMT: Economy Watch. Another sign of the recession? Khabar Online reports that automobile companies have closed and traders are in big difficulties because of low prices.

1410 GMT: International Front. Back at EA headquarters to find that the foreign ministers of Turkey and Brazil, following a meeting with Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki, are saying they will press Iran and the "5+1" powers (US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, France) to meet "as soon as possible" on Tehran's uranium-enrichment programme, possibly with discussions in Kabul.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that Iran was "ready to begin negotiations", specifically citing a possible exchange with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, and that Tehran will send a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency on Monday.

Davutoglu suggests talks might begin soon after the holy month of Ramadan ends in the second week of September.

0950 GMT: Education Corner. Peyke Iran claims the Government's new effort for "Islamisation" of schools has begun.

Saadollah Nasiri, a member of Parliament's educational commission has said that "retiring" professors is discrimination, with the Government using "scientific stagnation" as a pretext to remove "secular" or anti-Government academics. (http://www.rahesabz.net/story/20110/)

Meanwhile, Minister of Science and Higher Education Kamran Daneshjoo, according to Fars News, has said that Iran needs about 22,000 academics for social sciences. Daneshjoo's statements are considered by some as a call to replace existing staff with "suitable" scholars. (http://news.gooya.com/politics/archives/2010/07/108086.php)

0945 GMT: Parliament v. Government. Reformist
MP Hojatoleslam Qodratollah Alikhani: "Instead of denying it, President Ahmadinejad should at least apologise for the incompetence and mismanagement of his Government leading to sanctions and unemployment." (http://www.parlemannews.ir/?n=12598)

The enquiry by the Majlis into the conduct of Minister of Agriculture Khalilian after summer vacation. (http://www.khabaronline.ir/news-78207.aspx)

0940 GMT: International Front. The foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey and Brazil are meeting in Istanbul to discuss developments since their declaration this spring for talks on Iran's uranium enrichment. (http://aje.me/9WcZMD)

0855 GMT: Rumour of Day. Green Voice of Freedom claims that the President's chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai is overseeing construction of a large residential complex in Belarus, implying that this is preparation for the event that regime leaders will have to flee the country.

0735 GMT: Mahmoud is Not So Mean. President Ahmadinejad today advised the "West", "We recommend them not to continue with their misconducts and observe the rights of nations if they seek to improve their position in the future. This will serve their own interests....We advocate logic and friendship. Every country that establishes friendly relations with Iran benefits this policy."

Ahmadinejad specifically addressed European countries, "Your misbehavior will bring nothing to you but discredit. It will have no impact on the Iranian nation."

0730 GMT: Now That's Just Mean. First Vice President Mohammad Reza AN's Rahimi, opening inaugurating an environmental fair, has said that "Westerners" are filthier than goats.

0700 GMT: We have posted a separate analysis by Mr Verde, "Re-Defining the Green Movement".

0650 GMT: Talking Tough. Iran's military leaders have tried to match the "war chatter" from some groups in the US with declarations across the media: Revolutionary Guards head Jafari says the US does not dare attack, and former commander Yahya Rahim-Safavi describes air and sea conflict if the Americans did.

My favourite quote, however --- representing both Iranian tough talk and the simplication of it by media in the "West" --- is in the Associated Press from former navy head Morteza Saffari, "We have set aside 100 military vessels for each (US) warship to attack at the time of necessity."

0644 GMT: Revolutionary Guards' Jafari "We Are Not United". Yesterday we noted the statement of the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, General Mohammad Ali Jafari, that leaders of sedition would be dealt with in a timely fashion.

We missed the more intriguing part of the speech:Jafari admitted for the first time in public that some IRGC commanders --- Mohsen Rashid, Moh Ozlati Moghaddam, Hemmat, Bakeri, Zeynoddin --- had supported the opposition, but added that they should not be "eliminated".

0640 GMT: Protesting the Execution. The BBC has posted an article on Saturday's rally in London for Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the Iranian woman sentenced to death for adultery.

0635 GMT: The Memorial for the Poet. Tehran Bureau has posted one of Ahmad Shamlou's poems, "In This Blind Alley", published soon after the 1979 Revolution. Yesterday security forces dispersed those gathered for the memorial for the 10th anniversary of Shamlou's death.

0630 GMT: Only the "Right" Knowledge, Please. There are reports that Wikipedia was blocked in Iran yesterday.

0540 GMT: Here today, gone tomorrow, back again the day after tomorrow....

The case of the Supreme Leader''s "I am the Rule of the Prophet" fatwa took another turn last night when, having receded in the Iranian state media, it suddenly appeared on Ayatollah Khamenei's website. (When it was put out on Tuesday, it was put out in locations to which the website linked, not the site itself.)

The fatwa asserting that the Supreme Leader acts for the Imams and the Prophet Mohammad and must be obeyed is part of a longer treatise in response to a follower's question about the obligations to velayat-e-faqih (clerical supremacy).

Meanwhile....

Trouble for the Guards in the Oilfield

Revolutionary Guards commander Sardar Ghasemi has admitted the construction firm Khatam-ol Anbia, associated with the Guards, is hindered by old technology and "rusty oil wells". The firm had been awarded a major contract to develop the South Pars gas and oil field, after the withdrawal of foreign companies, but has since pulled back from the project.

The Latest from Iran (24 July): Reviewing the Situation

2210 GMT: The Re-Appearing Fatwa? But for eyebrow-raising, this wins the prize....

Rah-e-Sabz claims that the Supreme Leader's "I am the Rule of the Prophet" fatwa, which appeared on Tuesday but then receded from Iranian state media, is now back --- unfortunately, the website doesn't link to the supposed location.

NEW Iran Analysis: Rafsanjani Bowing Out? (Abedin)
UPDATED Iran Media Follow-Up: War, War, War. Blah, Blah, Blah. No Facts. More War. Blah.
Iran Interview: Detained US Hiker’s Mother “I Wish I Could Hear Her Voice”
Iran Analysis: The Supreme Leader & the Disappearing Fatwa (Verde)
The Latest from Iran (23 July): Receding Authority

2200 GMT: Bazaar Developments. We close this evening with some eyebrow-raising news.

It looks like there has been an attempted reconcilation between the President and officials of the conservative Motalefeh Party, who have been a traditional power behind the Bazaar. On Thursday Ahmadinejad met Habibollah Asgharowladi, Asadollah Badamchian, and Mohammad Nabi Habibi.

Friction between the President and Motalefeh had been stoked by the dispute over control of Islamic Azad University, with members of the party criticised by Ahmadinejad supporters for their defence of Parliament's position.

Meanwhile, Rah-e-Sabz posts photos of a large fire in Kerman Bazaar. The cause is unclear.

2145 GMT: Today's All-is-Well Alert. Ali Vakili, the managing director of Pars Oil and Gas Company, says that investment in Iran's South Pars gas field has increased by 120 percent in the current Iranian year. Vakili said the rise was the result of the issuance of 3 billion Euros in foreign currency bonds and $3.014 billion in national participation bonds.

There was no reported comment from Vakili on how bonds could assure completion of projects when foreign companies were withdrawing from South Pars.

1830 GMT: The Interrupted Memorial. Footage of the memorial for poet Ahmad Shamlou, disrupted by security forces (see 1640 GMT), has been posted.

1810 GMT: Labour Front. Operators at the Kermanshah Telecommunication Company staged a protest in front of the Kermanshah Governor’s mansion on Thursday.

1750 GMT: Picture of Day. One of a set of photographs of former Deputy Speaker of Parliament Mohsen Armin after his release from detention on $200,000 bail:



1745 GMT: Video of Day. Footage has been posted of poet Shams Langroudi reciting his work at the memorial for Amir Javadifar, killed in post-election conflict last year.

1730 GMT: A Demotion for the Supreme Leader? Reporting on a meeting of the Supreme Leader with his office staff, Rah-e-Sabz refers to "Mr Khamenei".

1653 GMT: Refugees in Germany. The first of 50 post-election Iranian refugees have arrived in Germany after they were granted asylum. The refugees, most of whom are reported to be dissident journalists, had been in Turkey.

1645 GMT: Karroubi Goes After the Guardians. Mehdi Karroubi, in a letter to Guardian Council member Ayatollah Mohammad Momen, has criticised the  Council for "institutionalizing fraud" and offering a "double-standard interpretation" of the constitution.

Karrubi alleged that the Council has become an "instrument for securing and maintaining power for a particular political faction".

1640 GMT: Blocking the Poet's Memorial. Parleman News reports that security forces have forced the cancellation of a memorial at the grave of Ahmad Shamlou, one of Iran's great contemporary poets, on the 10th anniversary of his death.

1405 GMT: Talking Tough. For Revolutionary Guard Commander Mohammad Ali Jafari, all this Government in-fighting is irrelevant: leaders of the "uproar" will be dealt with in a timely fashion.

1400 GMT: More Larijani v. Ahmadinejad. The Speaker of Parliament is in fighting mood: he has accused the Government of violating the Constitution over subsidy cuts.

1330 GMT: Parliament v. President (and It's in State Media). Press TV and the Islamic Republic News Agency breaks their usual silence on the Parliament's growing conflict with Mahoud Ahmadinejad, highlighting the issue of $2 billion for the Tehran Metro.

Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani is quoted, "Executive bodies are obliged to enforce this law after its communication. They cannot refrain from enforcing it. According to the Constitution, the president must communicate any law within a specific period of time. If a legislation is not communicated in due time the Majlis speaker will communicate it."

The Government has refused to sanction the $2 billion, possibly because of a political battle with Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf. (Former Vice President Massoumeh Ebtekar has just made this point in Rah-e-Sabz.)

1245 GMT: Academic Corner. Peyke Iran claims 13 professors at Al-Zahra University have been dismissed and students have advised to study China and Russia.

1240 GMT: Offside. The sports daily Goal has been banned for three months.

1200 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Mohsen Armin has been freed on bail of about $200,000.

An appellate court has upheld the 9 1/2-year sentence imposed on human rights activist Bahareh. Hedayat. The 7-year term of Milad Asadi has also been upheld.

1105 GMT: Parliament v. President. Another MP, Mus al-Reza Servati, has declared that the Ahmadinejad budget lacks ministerial signatures and is therefore illegal.

1045 GMT: Culture Corner. The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance has reiterated that censorship of books and films is necessary.

1005 GMT: We have posted a separate analysis, "Rafsanjani Bowing Out?"

1000 GMT: Economy Watch. Peyke Iran claims that up to 85% of workers now have temporary employment contracts.

0925 GMT: The Universities Conflict. Raha Tahimi, writing for the Institute of War and Peace Reporting, posts a useful overview of the dispute over control of Islamic Azad University and the "temporary ceasefire" between former President Hashemi Rafsanjani and President Ahmadinejad.

0915 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. On Wednesday Mehdi Karroubi visited Narges Mohammadi, the women's rights activist who was recently released from detention.

Mohammadi continues to suffer from poor health and the lack of treatment provided when she was in prison.

0735 GMT: Cyber-Watch. Ali Aghazadeh of Parliament's National Security Commission has reportedly declared that "countless new sites need more control" by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.

0730 GMT: Conspiracy Theory. It wasn't all cheer and sending a man into space in the President's speech on Friday (see 0649 GMT).

Ahmadinejad "revealed plans by the United States and Israel", announcing, "They [Washington] have decided to attack two of the regional Arab states, which are our allies, with the help of the Zionist regime to create fear of decision-making in Iran."

The President teased the audience by not revealing which two Arab states are under the gun. Instead, he turned to another concern, chastising Russian President Dmitry Medvedev over remarks on Tehran's nuclear programme. Ahmadinejad regretted that Medvedev had "become the mouthpiece for the plot by the enemies of Iran."

The President did say that he maintained hope for relations with Moscow.

0700 GMT: Road to Nowhere. Iranian Students News Agency claims that the Ministry of Transport owes billions of dollars to construction companies, with 500 road and rail projects unfinished. Parliament has asked the Minister of Transport not to accept plans for construction proposed after the President's recent tour of the provinces.

0655 GMT: The Supreme Leader's Back-Room Politics. Amidst the intrigues this week over Ayatollah Khamenei's "I am the Rule of the Prophet Fatwa", Rah-e-Sabz offers an analysis of the Supreme Leader's advisors, including chief of staff Asghar Hejazi, the mysterious "Mr Vahid", and Khamenei's son Mojtaba.

0649 GMT: Mahmoud Looks to the Stars. Speaking at the National Festival of Iranian Youth on Friday, President  Ahmadinejad said Iran plans to launch its first manned shuttle into space by 2019.

Ahmadinejad added that the project was scheduled for 2035 but that the launch date was reviewed in a Cabinet meeting this week. He did not offer the reason for the sudden 16-year advance in his Ministers' calculations.

0645 GMT: Energy Posture. Iranian 1st Vice President  Mohammad Reza Rahimi has said that Iran is considering the removal of the dollar and the euro from its oil trade transactions: "In our oil transactions, we will use any currency that is to our benefit.”

Reports indicate that Iran and China may start using the yuan, the Chinese currency, to settle their oil transactions. An Iranian official has also suggested the dirham, the currency of the United Arab Emirates, for business.

Following the latest UN and US  sanctions, Iran has been experiencing difficulties in carrying out its international trade deals in dollars and euros.

The Latest from Iran (18 July): Bazaar Resolutions?

2030 GMT: Bazaar Shutdowns. A different type of bazaar closing today, as the stalls of Sunni vendors in Zahedan --- site of last Thursday's suicide bombings --- were attacked by plainclothes assailants.

2013 GMT: "Nobody Watches Our TV" Shocker. Ayatollah Haeri Shirazi, a member of the Assembly of Experts, has noted the difficulty in preventing access to programmes through satellites and then complained, “The current situation is not so much in our favour. Our [TV] productions do not have any viewers. They are not attractive enough. It is just like our soccer. Our soccer team is ranked 70th in the world just like our cultural, TV, and film productions.”

NEW Iran’s New Guidance: Good, Good Lovin’ (But Only at Night)
Change for Iran: Why Twitter Has Made a Difference
Iran Analysis: When “War Chatter” Poses as Journalism (Step Up, Time Magazine)
The Latest from Iran (17 July): Back to “Normal”?

2010 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Students and lawyers Zoubin Nasiri, Kazem Taghdiri, and Ali Tahami have been detained for three weeks.

2000 GMT: A Message to the Clergy. Gholam Reza Mesbahi Moghaddam, of the Association of Combatant Clergy, has said that those establishing "jame'eye voaz velayi" (clergy supporting the Supreme Leader) should stop creating division. Mesbahi Moghaddam said he did not accept the new organisation and warned that clergy should not act as a political party.

1940 GMT: The Bazaar Strikes. Observers are trying to get to grips with the significance of the last 12 days of closings and conflicts in Iran's bazaars. Even the Los Angeles Times attempts an interpretation, but the most interesting reading comes from Rah-e-Sabz, which assesses whether the bazaaris or the "conservative" Motalefeh Party --- historically a key force in the bazaars --- has been the driving force behind the revolt against the Government's proposed 70% business tax increase.

1910 GMT: Parliament v. President. Members of Parliament told Minister of Trade Mehdi Ghazanfari that "he is lying in their faces" when he said that agricultural exports are higher than imports. Ghazanfari received a negative vote and is one step closer to impeachment.

MPs claimed that a "mafia" of 3 or 4 people are responsible for fruit imports and noted that even Iran's prayer cloths come from China.

1855 GMT: Ali Asghari, the Parliamentary advisor from Iran's Strategic Center, has warned that the country cannot be governed by one faction behaving like a clan. Asghari says cooperation of hardliners and reformists is necessary to overcome the crisis.

1850 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Labour activist Mansur Osanloo, whose family was visited by Mehdi Karroubi this weekend (see 1535 GMT), has again been charged with propaganda against the system.

1844 GMT: Guardian Council Manoeuvres. We reported earlier this week that the appointment of three of the six "legal" representatives on the 12-member Guardian Council was going to be a setback for "hardliners" and President Ahmadinejad, with their favourites --- including current member Gholam-Hossein Elham not on the shortlist.

The three appointments have now been made, with Mohammad Reza Alizadeh, Mohammad Salimi, and Siamak Rahpeyk taking their seats. Still, there are rumblings: MP and Government foe Ahmad Tavakoli complaining that the process was too hasty.

1840 GMT: Musical Shutdown. Reports indicate that all concerts of the National Orchestra have been cancelled for a year.

1800 GMT: Mahmoud Stays on Script. Asked about Thursday's suicide bombings in Zahedan, President Ahmadinejad pulled out all the phrases for the Islamic Republic News Agency:

"No grouping other than US-backed terrorist groups which are devoid of human feelings can commit such acts....We are friends with the Pakistani nation,…but the Pakistani government should be held accountable....The puppeteers pulling the strings in this show will get nothing....Such aggressive policies will only fuel public hatred."

The only interesting twist in that script is Ahmadinejad's reference to Pakistan: is he really threatening a strain in relations --- note the remarks of a leading MP earlier today that Iran might send troops into Pakistan to chase terrorists (see 1520 GMT) --- or is this a bit of posturing?

1550 GMT: After the Bombing. A third member of Parliament, Hossein Ali Shahriari, has resigned over security issues following last Thursday's suicide bombings in Sistan and Baluchistan Province.

1540 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Peyke Iran claims that Layla Tavassoli has been sentenced to two years in prison for participation in demonstrations and for an interview with Radio Farda and BBC Persian.

RAHANA claims that detained women's rights activist Mahboubeh Karami has been denied surgery on her nose.

1535 GMT: Karroubi Watch. Visiting the family of detained labour activist Mansur Osanloo, Mehdi Karroubi recalled:

At the time when we started our resistance and Imam [Khomeini] started his campaign, the foundations of the revolution was based on this principle that no one would suffer from oppression. The barbaric practices that now are being committed against individuals and their families is an oppression against the people that even the Shah’s regime, with all its corruption, would not have committed. I, as a member of this system, am ashamed, but I don’t see these treatments as part of Imam [Khomeini]’s path and Islam.

Osanloo's daughter-in-law was allegedly kidnapped and beaten in June.

Karroubi expressed the hope that all political prisoners would be freed and offered condolences to those mourning the loss of loved ones after last Thursday's bombings in Sistan and Baluchistan Province.

1520 GMT: Foreign Poses. The head of Parliament's National Security Commission, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, is putting out a lot of wisdom today. After meeting the Swiss ambassador, who represents American interests, Boroujerdi claimed that the US Congress has informed the Swiss envoy that it is ready to hold negotiations with Iran. Boroujerdi responded, "[When] the US is aiding terrorists and caused the Zahedan incident and imposed unilateral sanctions beyond [the UN Security Council] resolution, how can it expect [us] to negotiate?"

(Mr Boroujerdi, please do get in touch with us and let us know which US Congressmen have been talking to you of this hope for discussions --- because we haven't seen any sign of this back-channel being established.)

Boroujerdi also raised the possibility of sending Iranian forces into Pakistan to fight "terrorism".

1525 GMT: Fashion Police. Back from a break to find that Iran Prosecutor General Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei has called for tighter enforcement of the criminal code against dangerous fashion: "Unfortunately the law ... which considers violation of the Islamic dress code as a punishable crime, has not been implemented in the country in the past 15 years. Under the law, violators of public chastity should be punished by being sentenced to up to two months in jail or 74 lashes."

But has Mohseni-Ejei talked to the President about this? After all, it was only a few weeks ago that Ahmadinejad was warning against the excesses of the "morality police".

0930 GMT: Defiance. The Parliament has passed a  bill mandating the pursuit of 20% enrichment of uranium. The legislation now needs approval by the Guardian Council.

The bill also requires Iran to "retaliate" against the inspection of Iranian ships and any refusal of fuel to Iranian planes at international airports.

0920 GMT: Energy Watch (Revolutionary Guard Edition). Rooz Online claims that the supposed withdrawal of companies linked to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps from gas projects in the South Pars field is actually a deception. Trying to avoid Western sanctions, the IRGC has merely changed the name of the company involved in the project, retaining the head.

0750 GMT: Sunday Diversions. In the Sydney Morning Herald, Michelle Wranik writes of a two-day visit to Isfahan in which she "is charmed --- and perpetually delayed --- by the kindness of Iranians."

And we bring news from a different front with a look at Iran's latest guidance, "Good, Good Lovin' (But Only at Night)".

0650 GMT: Doing It for the Young People. Reformist MP Darius Ghanbari notes that the budget of Iran's National Youth Organisation has tripled to $39 million, but claims that the Government abuses this for propaganda festivals instead of supporting youth over problems such as unemployment, unstable marriages, and depression.

Meanwhile Minister of Science and Higher Education Kamran Daneshjoo says his ministry wants to return students to Iran by creating job opportunities.

0630 GMT: We start this morning at the Tehran Bazaar where --- after a day of conflicting reports --- it appears that business is back "as usual". Mehr News publishes a set of photographs showing open stalls and the bustle of shoppers:



Yet even this apparent settlement, with the compromise of a 15% business tax increase --- the Government had tried to impose 70% --- has its far-from-resolved aspects. There is the longer-term economic issue, with the Government now receiving only about $4.5 billion of the $20 billion it had hoped to reap from the measure, and then there's the lingering presence of what it takes to get the "normal" in Iran. Note our emphasis in the following paragraph from the Los Angeles Times:

"Every year we used to manage to convince the tax office to pay a 7% increase compared to the previous year," said one wholesaler in the fabric market, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal by security forces keeping a close tab on merchants. "Now it's 15%. It seems like the tax office is the winner."

And then there's the other fronts....

The Aftermath of the Bombing

While the regime puts out the rat-a-tat-tat of "foreign involvement" in Thursday's suicide bombings in Sistan and Baluchistan Province in southeastern Iran, one of the two members of Parliaments who resigned over the event, Abbas Ali Noura, puts a  far different question: "Does the blood of Sistan and Baluchistan people have less colour than that of people in Burkina Faso [in Africa]?"

Parliament v. President

Reformist MP Hossein Kashefi, with a bit of coding, puts in this jab --- published in the far-from-reformist Aftab News --- at the Government on behalf of the people, "One party corresponds in no way with Imam [Khomeini]'s views; we shouldn't present him as someone who didn't accept democratic bases [for the Islamic Republic]."