The Latest from Iran (13 July): Back to Politics?

2030 GMT: Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down. Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami has denounced President Ahmadinejad for saying that no religious leader has banned the wearing of a tie: "I say to him that many religious dignitaries believe ties should not be worn. The Supreme Guide [Leader] himself has said in a that the wearing of ties or bowties is not permitted."

1955 GMT:Electricity Squeeze. Mohammad Behzad, the Deputy Minister of Energy, has said industrial electricity will be rationed with alterations of working hours and rotating closures of companies.

1945 GMT: Iran Aircraft on Empty? BP and Iran Air have both confirmed that the British company has stopped supplying jet fuel at Germany's Hamburg airport.

Iran Analysis: Grand Ayatollah Golpayegani Criticises Supreme Leader? (and What Could It Mean?)
Iran’s Haircuts Special: The Revenge of the Mullets
The Latest from Iran (12 July): Holidays?

1915 GMT: Where is Mahmoud (Not Going)? Hmm, not sure what to make of this. From Mehr News:

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has postponed his visit to Lebanon till after the holy month of Ramadan [which ends on 9 September], the Beirut-based Al-Akhbar newspaper said in a report published on Tuesday.

The decision was made after a consultation between Tehran and Beirut, Al-Akhbar quoted Lebanese diplomatic sources as saying....

Ahmadinejad, who has been invited by his Lebanese counterpart Michel Suleiman, was supposed to visit Beirut before 11 August at the head of a 70-member delegation.

1900 GMT: Today's All-is-Well Alert. From Press TV:

Iran's Interior Minister says Tehran has successfully foiled all foreign plots aimed at destabilizing the country over the past three decades. "Over the past 30 years, our enemies faced defeat in every instance and their latest ploy was [inciting] the seditionists who wanted to break our ranks," Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar told reporters on Tuesday....

The Interior Minister said peace was restored to the country's eastern region after the execution of Abdolmalek Rigi, the ringleader of the Pakistan-based Jundallah terrorist group.

"With the execution of this villain, who was backed by several Western spy agencies and the Israelis, complete peace has returned to the region."

1850 GMT: The Prison Scandal. Writing in Rooz Online, Fereshteh Ghazi offers a lengthy critique of the Kahrizak abuse case. She sets out the case that, while two security personnel have been condemned to death and nine have been given prison sentences, those responsible --- notably former Tehran Prosecutor General Saeed Mortazavi --- have escaped justice.

1825 GMT: Politics and the Bazaar Strike. An EA correspondent pulls together the latest from the Tehran Bazaar and a statement by the head of the "conservative" Motalefeh Party, Mohammad Nabi Habibi, on growing conflict with President Ahmadinejad and his allies, "The Velayat Party [declared by Ahmadinejad this weekend] does not exist."

Our correspondent, drawing on Motalefeh's traditional power in the Bazaar, interprets Habibi's statement: "If you hit my party, I hit your economy."

1815 GMT: More on the Khatami Statement (see 1510 GMT). Khabar Online's main takeaway from Mohammad Khatami's meeting with youth groups and reformist journalists is his declaration that "many people, professors, students, experts, and journalists are leaving the country".

Parleman News focuses on Khatami's assertion that the "Green Movement belongs to the people" and his reading of the political situation: "Some think they are above the law," deviating from religious principles. Khatami added,  "We have reached a point that even the Majlis cannot stop injustice". In a pointed reference to President Ahmadinejad's statement that Iran needs no other than the "Velayat Party", Khatami noted, "The Shah said as well that we have only one party."

1630 GMT: The Bazaar Strikes. Tehran Bureau sends the following from a correspondent: ""I visited the bazaar today and was quite surprised to see most stores closed there. There were NO security personnel in uniform to be found anywhere. I did see a Basiji directing traffic half a mile away. There was also a flier on the wall (inside the main bazaar) which said the '15% deal is off'."

More claimed footage from today:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN26VggCKqE[/youtube]

1525 GMT: Culture Corner (Revolutionary Guard Edition). The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps has announced that it is establishing an "Association of Cultural Elites" near Tehran University.

1510 GMT: Khatami on "Double-Edged" Religion. Speaking to youth parties and reformist journalists, former President Mohammad Khatami has declared that religion can be "a double-edged sword" insofar as it can pursue rights and justice but it also be a tool to justify exclusion and failure.

1455 GMT: Fighting the Oil Squeeze. Iranian Students News Agency reports that Iran cut its imports of gasoline by almost 50% in March-June 2010, compared to figures of the previous year.

1445 GMT: Keeping the Pressure On. Interesting, given our current attention to possible manoeuvres against President Ahmadinejad, to find Jahan News citing Abdolhossein Ruholamini, the campaign manager for Mohsen Rezaei in the 2009 Presidential campaign and the father of Mohsen Rouholamini, killed in Kahrizak Prison last summer.

Ruholamini asks, given that the criminal verdicts over Kahrizak have been announced, why has Saeed Mortazavi, the former Tehran Prosecutor General and now aide to the President, not been dismissed?

1435 GMT: Statements Present. Mir Hossein Mousavi has said, in a meeting with a group of faculty of Tarbiat Modarres University, that everyone who defends rights is a member of the Green Movement.

Mousavi declared, "Soon Green Hope will win because people are looking for the realization of rights. The seeking of human freedom is the defence of rationality and logic against oppression and lies."

1425 GMT: Statements Past. Khordaad 88 has posted the English translation of the Mousavi-Karroubi press conference on 8 June, held four days before the anniversary of the 2009 Presidential election.

Rooz Online has published the English translation of its interview this weekend with Zahra Rahnavard on the diversity of the Green Movement and its welcoming of criticism.

1420 GMT: Broadcast News. The head of SWR, part of the German broadcaster ARD, has defended the recent visit of the head of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, Ezzatollah Zarghami, and an IRIB delegation by saying that there were no cooperation agreements during an "informational visit". The clear implication in the letter is that the reception of IRIB ensures that ARD can maintain a journalistic presence in Iran.

1410 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Four detainees in Rejai Shahr Prison have written the Tehran Prosecutor General, Abbas Jafari Doulatabadi, asking, "Where is the human dignity you have claimed?"

A letter from 160 activists demands the release of Azam Veysameh, a journalist arrrested on 10 June.

1400 GMT: Political Changes. Hossein Saberi, the Governor of Lorestan Province in western Iran, was suddenly replaced. So sudden, in fact, that he learned of his dismissal from an announcement on Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.

1355 GMT: And now claimed footage of the strike at the Tehran Bazaar today:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk4CqIK-ZIg[/youtube]

1345 GMT: The Bazaar Strikes. Rah-e-Sabz claims, with supporting photos, that "strikes continued today and were even more extensive than last week".

Khabar Online is also carrying the news, which has been picked up by Agence France Presse. The Government has been declaring that a compromise deal of a 15% tax increase --- down from the original 70% --- has been agreed.



1340 GMT: Parliament v. President. MP Omidvar Rezaei has said that Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani "reminded" President Ahmadinejad, at the meeting of the heads of the executive, legislative, and judicial brances, of violating Article 138 over the implementation of laws.

MP Emad Afrough has declared that the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution, at the centre of the dispute over Islamic Azad University, is far from acceptable because of members' inability, too many jobs, and low expertise.

1325 GMT: Execution Watch. The international furour over the sentencing to death by stoning, now temporarily suspended, of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani has been matched by questions within Iran. Ayatollah Bayat Zanjani has pronounced that stoning is not in the Qu'ran while reformist Masoumeh Ebtekar, a former Vice President, has asserted that Ayatollah Khomeini said many times that stoning should not be carried out.

1020 GMT: The Battle Within. Ali Larijani has used the economic front to take another jab at the Government. He has underlined the importance of a "relationship between hardliners and clergy" (a call for a front to challenge Ahmadinejad?) and added that the meaning of Iran's Article 44 regulating state and private economic spheres was not for the latest sell-off of four companies.

1015 GMT: Sideshow of the Day. A bit off the key terrain of Iranian politics, this curious case continues:

An Iranian nuclear scientist who Tehran claims was kidnapped by the United States has sought refuge at the Pakistani embassy's Iranian interests section in Washington and is seeking to return home to Iran, Pakistani authorities said Tuesday.

Shahram Amiri, a onetime researcher at Iran's Atomic Energy Organization who disappeared during a trip to Saudi Arabia last year, appeared at the Iranian interests section office at 6:30 p.m. Monday, said Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit.

0828 GMT: Break Time. Off to teach at the Clinton Institute Summer School so updates will resume briefly in about 90 minutes and then again this afternoon.

0825 GMT: The Battle Within. Secretary of Expediency Council (and 2009 Presidential candidate) Mohsen Rezaei has given a long interview to Khabar Online. Lots to be worked through, but an EA correspondent notes his claim
that Hashemi Rafsanjani's manoeuvre is "to bring back reformers and divert (enheraf) hardliners".

That would seem to be a swipe at Rafsanjani, which is at odds with my weekend analysis of planners against Ahmadinejad, including Rezaei, reaching out to the former President.

0810 GMT: Electoral Change. The Guardian Council has approved a Parliament bill to hold Presidential and city council elections at the same time, effectively the next municipal ballot by two years to 2013.

0807 GMT: We Want Our Money. According to Peyke Iran, President Ahmadinejad has claimed that banks owe the Government 10 trillion toman (about $10 billion).

0805 GMT: Economic Salvation? Borzou Daragahi of the Los Angeles Times investigates continued and growing links between Germany and Tehran:

Chancellor Angela Merkel can warn companies all she wants to stop doing business with Iran. Yet commerce between German firms and the Islamic Republic keeps expanding, as businesses here continue longstanding relationships with Tehran.

In the first four months of 2010, trade between Iran and Germany totaled nearly $1.8 billion, up 20% from the same period last year, according to the German-Iranian Chamber of Commerce in Hamburg.

0800 GMT: Trouble in Qom? Alongside our special look this morning at a claimed rebuke of the Supreme Leader by Grand Ayatollah Safi Golpayegani, Rah-e-Sabz claims concern amongst clerics about a change in identity of the seminaries (howzeh).

0755 GMT: Watching the Bazaar. Iran should be back to work today after an extended holiday since last Thursday. We're watching for news out of the Tehran Bazaar, amidst chatter both about continued strikes and about a settlement between the Government and the vendors, reducing the business tax increase from 70% to 15%.

0725 GMT: We begin this morning with an analysis of a reported message from Grand Ayatollah Safi Golpayegani to the Supreme Leader: has Ayatollah Khamenei been told that his earthly life has been wasted and his heavenly one is in doubt?

And it looks like there is a new player in Iranian broadcasting: welcome to Mir Hossein Mousavi TV.

The Latest from Iran (12 July): Holidays?

1010 GMT: Trouble in Lebanon. Green Voice of Freedom claims that followers in Lebanon of the late Grand Ayatollah Fadlallahttp://www.irangreenvoice.org/article/2010/jul/12/5221, the head of the Guardian Council, from holding the prayer of the dead (namaz-e mayyet) in South Beirut, interrupting the ceremony and causing the body to be transported to another place. Fadlallah's faithful shouted at Jannati: "Let him rest in peace, he was innocent" and "You did wrong to him, let him sleep in peace."

NEW Iran’s Haircuts Special: The Revenge of the Mullets
Iran Special: A Response to “The Plot Against Ahmadinejad” (Verde)
The Latest from Iran (11 July): Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot

1900 GMT. And There's Larijani. Well, well, looks like Ali Larijani is making public allusions again: Speaking in Karaj, he said, "Whenever there is a revolution, some opportunists claim the heritage."

Now who could he mean?

1830 GMT: Parliament v. President. It may be a Government-declared holiday but that does not mean a cessation of criticism of President Ahmadinejad.

Hassan Sobhani alleged that the Government has ignored the approved laws by Parliament for two months and has trampled upon the Constitution. The educational commission of Parliament has sent two letters to Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani and has complained about the breaking of law by Minister of Education Hamid-Reza Haji Babai and Minster of Science Kamran Daneshjoo.

MP Mostafa Kavakebian has criticised the President for his statement (see 0955 GMT) that the country should only have one political party, the Velayat Party. Kavakebian said, "I am ready for debate with Ahmadinejad any time and anywhere, to prove to him to improve democracy in Iran is the expansion of parties."

Parliament's Research Department has released a report criticising the Government's handling of the economy,  noting in particular the increase in  the unemployment rate.

The Department is run by Ahmad Tavakoli, a Larijani ally and alleged central figure in talks to limit Ahmadinejad's authority or even remove him from power.

1810 GMT: The Bazaar Strikes. Activists are claiming, from BBC Persian, that the Government has resolved the dispute with Bazaar vendors by reducing the tax hike from 70% to 15%.

1750 GMT: Rahnavard's Statement. The Facebook page supporting Zahra Rahnavard has posted her interview with Rooz (see 0715 GMT) and an English extract:

Lack of criticism leads to stagnation. Everyone needs to be criticized. We welcome all criticism that stems as a result of friendship and interest in the Green movement....All those who believe in change towards freedom, free elections and non interference by the government in people's personal lives are Green.

1745 GMT: The Bazaar Strikes. Back from long break for teaching in Dublin to find the reminder that, while it is quiet today, all is far from peaceful. Reuters catches up with the story that Iran's bazaars may be entering a second week of strikes.

0955 GMT: Political Move of Day. President Ahmadinejad has declared that "Iran needs only one party, the Velayat Party", and has spoken again of taking over Islamic Azad University.

0835 GMT: The Bazaar Strikes. The chatter is over  "Statement #3 of Bazaari Guilds", announcing a continuation of the Tehran Bazaar strike for Tuesday. Other bazaars from Tabriz, Mashhad, Qazvin, and Kermanshah have reportedly announced they will join the strike.

0715 GMT: Rooz Online has posted an interview with Zahra Rahnavard, activist, academic, and wife of Mir Hossein Mousavi.

0630 GMT: The Bazaar Strikes. Rah-e-Sabz is claiming that Haj Kashani, a famous fabric merchant, was killed last week by Basij militiamen who tried to disrupt the Tehran Bazaar strike.

0435 GMT: Nuclear Talk. The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, is putting out the message that Tehran now has 20 kilogrammes of 20% enriched uranium.

0430 GMT: The Labour Front. Tehran Bureau features the translation of an interview with Sohrab Behdad, carried out by Deutsche Welle, on "The Green Movement and the Working Class".

0425 GMT: We may have a lighter day on the news front, partly because EA staff are on the road, partly because Iran is in its extra two-day holiday, supposedly because of the high temperatures across the country.

So we open the morning with an easy-going chuckle, we hope, looking at the continuing story of Iran's guidance on men's hairstyles and an apparent counter-attack: The Revenge of the Mullets.

The Latest from Iran (10 July): The Plot Against the President

1915 GMT: Thanks to readers for keeping the news and analysis coming in. We're taking a personal break today (between you and me, it's the daughter's birthday party) and will be back with a full service from Sunday morning.

1910 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Behzad Arab Gol, a member of Mir Hossein Mousavi’s election campaign team, has been released from prison on a bail of more than $100,000 after more than six months in detention.

NEW Iran Exclusive: The Plot to Remove Ahmadinejad, Act II
Iran Document: Detained Student Leader Tavakoli on 18 Tir & Protest (6 July)
Iran Analysis: Assessing the Bazaar Strikes & a Political Twist (Verde)
The Latest from Iran (9 July): Remembering 18 Tir?

1320 GMT: Heat? What Heat? The Government's holidays on Sunday and Monday for "excessive heat" seems to have disappeared for factory workers.

The Iranian Labor News Agency quotes the head of the Tehran Work and Social Affairs Organization, who says factories will be open even though government offices will be closed

An EA correspondent asks, "If the new holidays were due to hot weather, why would you close down offices but not factories whose workers would be affected more by the heat?"

1315 GMT: Remembering. Human Rights Activists News Agency reports that 2000 people were at Beheshte Zahra cemetery yesterday to remember loved ones, including those killed in post-election conflict.

1305 GMT: Supreme Leader "Justice and Peace --- Unless You're America". Meeting Iranian officials and ambassadors to commemorate Eid-al-Mab'ath, the day when Muhammad was appointed to prophethood, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei offered greetings of "justice, peace, and security for all humans".

That is, with one exception. The Supreme Leader said Islam was opposed to "corrupt" Washington, with its huge budget to wage wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and to help Israel maintain instability in the Middle East.

1105 GMT: Holidays Because of Weather Heat or Political Heat? Peyke Iran claims The head of Iran's national weather service has said his unit did not advise holidays on Sunday and Monday because of high temperatures: the "weather is no hotter than normal".

Hmm.... maybe it's the Government that is especially sensitive to the heat these days.

1100 GMT: The Right Civil Disobedience. Iranian political scientist Ramin Jahanbegloo, now living abroad, talks to Rah-e-Sabz about protest and "ending the culture of violence". Assessing opposition strategy, he declares, "Using violence as an excuse does not justify it."

0920 GMT: The Battle Within. Conservative politician Morteza Nabavi has said that President Ahmadinejad's supporters "promote an Islam without clergy".

MP Younes Assadi has warned that, if Minister of Welfare Sadegh Mahsouli "does not change his actions", he will be called to account before the Majlis during next three months.

0900 GMT: International Development. Islamic Republic News Agency highlights the signing of six agreements in New Delhi between Iranian and Indian delegations. The pacts cover cooperation in new and renewable energy, small industry, science and technology, and pulp and paper production.

0855 GMT: Labour Front. Rah-e-Sabz claims that 200 drivers at the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkate Vahed) are on the verge of dismissal.

0715 GMT: Oil Squeeze. Reihaneh Mazaheri, writing in Mianeh, reports from traders that Iran is discounting oil between $3 and $7 per barrel to prop up sales amidst sanctions and reduction in demand.

0710 GMT: Power Cut. Rah-e-Sabz claims that some parts of Tehran have gone 12 hours without electricity.

0700 GMT: Larijani v. Ahmadinejad. Back to our special analysis of the rising challenge to the President --- Agence France Presse has noticed something is up, quoting from a speech by Ali Larijani on Friday in Karaj:

If we want to stand up to our enemies, we need to improve the economy. Iran has big oil and gas reserves -- the way to use that wealth is not by handing out money to people but by using it to develop the nation's productive capacity. Social justice... means providing universal employment not giving monthly handouts to stop people starving....

How can you ask an ordinary villager to respect the law, if politicians don't?...We in Parliament will not allow anybody...to disregard the law because that's an act of rebellion and a shameful violation.

0610 GMT: We begin this morning with an exclusive report and analysis, based on information from a range of sources, "The Plot to Remove Ahmadinejad, Act II".

Meanwhile, after an 18 Tir which passed relatively quietly, even though it was the anniversary of the 1999 university demonstrations....

The Bazaar Strikes

The bazaars will now effectively be closed from this past Thursday to Monday --- the Government, because of "extreme heat", has added Sunday and Monday as public holidays to today's religious holiday of Mab'as.

Robert Tait offers an overview and analysis of the situation in an article for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Mousavi's Moves

In what has been a most active week for Mir Hossein Mousavi --- even if the effect of his moves is unknown at this point --- the opposition figure has added a statement on "The Diversity of the Green Movement", rejecting the need for a leader. He has met with reformist students to suggest, that if those who caused the catastrophe of 18 Tir (the suppression of the 1999 demonstrations) were punished, the post-election attacks on the universities dormitories would not have occurred.

In Rah-e-Sabz, Mehdi Jalali asks, "Do we want a secular Mousavi?" Jalali asserts that Mousavi could never be secular but points to his three promises of freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and organisation, and free elections as a basis for mutual trust.

Political Prisoner Watch

Video has been posted of a telephone interview with recently-released human rights activist Narges Mohammadi, who claims she was abused and put in solitary confinement. She had a pulmonary embolism in prison and is still very weak.

The Latest from Iran (8 July): Criticisms

1633 GMT: We have posted the English translation of Mir Hossein Mousavi's statement on Wednesday about UN sanctions, foreign policy, and the weaknesses and abuses of the Ahmadinejad Government.

1630 GMT: A Message from Evin Prison. A Green website has posted what it claims is a message from student leader Majid Tavakoli for 18 Tir (9 July), the 11th anniversary of university demonstrations.

NEW Iran Document: Mousavi on UN Sanctions & Ahmadinejad Government (7 July)
NEW Iran Snap Analysis: The Wave of Economic Discontent?
NEW Iran Analysis: Crisis…What Crisis? (Verde)
NEW Iran’s New Haircut Law: First Culprit Identified!
The Latest from Iran (7 July): Mousavi's Intervention

1530 GMT: The Universities Crisis. Hamid Farokhnia at Tehran Bureau offers an extensive review of the political battle over Islamic Azad University from 2006 to the present.

1525 GMT: The Oil Squeeze. Oil traders said Iran is buying about half of its gasoline imports in July from Turkey and the rest from Chinese suppliers.

Traders estimate Iran will import around 90,000 barrels per day of gasoline in July, steady from June.

1520 GMT: Labour Front. More than 180 workers at Alborz China Manufacturing Company in Qazvin, staged a protest in front of the factory gates on Tuesday. The workers claim they are owed wages for more than six months.

1515 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran claims that Iranian authorities are victimizing political prisoners by subjecting them to dangerously unhealthy prison conditions and refusing them medical treatment when they become ill.

Spokesperson Hadi Ghaemi said, “Iran is targeting prisoners of conscience by subjecting them to overcrowding, disease, inadequate accommodations, insanitary conditions, malnutrition, and lack of access to medical care.”

1445 GMT: The Bazaar Strikes. Peyke Iran is claiming that the strike in the Tehran Bazaar has continued into a third day, despite the detention of one of the leaders (see 0755 GMT).

This is claimed footage of a strike today in the rug market in Tabriz:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5TdKg17rvU[/youtube]

And the bazaar in Mashaad:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ0F3NSDnMk[/youtube]

1435 GMT: Condemning the Stoning. Foreign intervention in the case of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, the woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery....

Britain's Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt has called on Iran to put an immediate stay to the execution. On Tuesday, Norway's State Secretary Espen Barth Eide summoned the Iranian Ambassador, Seyed Hossein Rezvani, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to denounce Mohammadi-Ashtiani's sentence and that of Mohammad Reza Haddadi, condemned to death for an crime allegedly committed when he was a minor.

1430 GMT: Back from an extended break for work with the Journal of American Studies. Many thanks to readers for keeping news and analysis flowing....

0808 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Rah-e-Sabz features the letter of Hashem Khastar, union activist and retired teacher, to Iran's judiciary on the "human catastrophe" in the prisons.

0805 GMT: The Battle Within. Conservative MP Hossein Ghafouri-Fard has said that the atmosphere is still "too agitated" for establishing a new political party.

0800 GMT: Counter-attack. The President's judicial deputy, Fatemeh Bodaghi, has asserted that Government complaints against the office of Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf are still at a "preliminary stage".

0755 GMT: The Bazaar Strike. Rah-e-Sabz, in a lengthy overview of the strike in the Tehran Bazaar, claims that protests continued yesterday with shouts such as "Death to the Dictator!". The website also asserts that one leader of the strike was taken away by security and plainclothes forces to an unknown location.

0745 GMT: Protest Then, Protest Now. More than 30 Iranian students' organisations based overseas have issued a statement for the 11th anniversary of student demonstrations on 18 Tir (9 July) and holding up the university as "a pillar of civil society".

0725 GMT: Mousavi's Statement. Green Voice of Freedom has an extended English summary of the comments by Mir Hossein Mousavi on sanctions, the economy, and the mismanagement of the Government.

0700 GMT: We begin this morning with a snap analysis moving between the latest statement of Mir Hossein Mousavi and the strike in the Tehran Bazaar, "The Wave of Economic Discontent".

That, however, is only a snapshot of the latest tensions. Consider....

Parliament v. President

Alef summarises the latest criticisms by principlist member of Parliament, Ahmad Tavakoli, in a Tuesday speech in the Majlis. Tavakoli attacked the "inefficiency" and "weakness" of the Ahmadinejad Government and, getting specific about the post-election crisis, wondered when someone would be held accountable for the Kahrizak prison abuses.

An EA correspondent adds that, in an online poll by Khabar Online asking about Tavakoli's attack on the "lawlessness" of Ahmadinejad, "only" 89% agreed with the member of Parliament. (The somewhat tongue-in-cheek assessment of our correspondent should also be accompanied by the reminder that Khabar Online is linked to Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, the cousin of Tavakoli.)

Calling the Government to Account

Member of Parliament Assadollah Badamchian has insisted that the Article 90 Commission of the Majlis has the right to question the President about his management and handling of laws.

Hojatoleslam Hossein Sobhani-nia has asserted that the Minister of Interior minister could be summoned to the Majlis over the recent Basiji/student protests against Parliament's legislation on Islamic Azad University.

In contrast, MP Bijan Nobaveh has declared that accusing the Government of "rowdyism" is "treacherous" behaviour.

The Latest from Iran (5 July): Talks and Conflicts

1800 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. An EA correspondent brings the news that Amir Aboutalebi, an advisor to Mir Hossein Mousavi, was released today. Aboutalebi was detained on 28 December in the post-Ashura wave of arrests.

1400 GMT: And now the approved set of male haircuts, courtesy of the Ministry of Islamic Guidance and Culture:

NEW Iran & Sanctions: Could Tehran’s Flights Be Grounded?
NEW Iran Analyses: A Rafsanjani-Khamenei Deal on Universities Crisis? (Siavashi and Verde)
Iran Special: The Green Movement, the Regime, and “the West” (Nabavi)
Iran Thought: Maybe The Robot Can Be President
The Latest from Iran (4 July): Who’s in Charge?

1350 GMT: Rafsanjani "I Heart Khamenei". Rumour: Supreme Leader and former President Hashemi Rafsanjani meet, strike deal for Ayatollah Khamenei to limit the universities crisis with Rafsanjani praising the Supreme Leader.

Fact: Rafsanjani in Khabar Online --- "Not a day goes by where my regard for Ayatollah Khamenei is less than the previous day".

1345 GMT: Make the Connection. Less than 48 hours after we noted that the brothers Arash and Kamiar Alaei, two doctors prominent in the treatment of HIV/AIDS in Iran, have entered their third year of detention, we find this: "Increase of Sexual Transmission of AIDS in the Country".

1340 GMT: Grounding Iran? We have posted a separate feature with developing news that sanctions may be grounding Iran Air flights.

0935 GMT: Warnings. Peyke Iran claims that 10 daily newspapers have been warned because they published member of Parliament Ali Motahari's critique of the Government's subsidy reduction plans.

And in the academic world, Minister of Science and Higher Education Kamran Daneshjoo has allegedly said that students "opposed to the system" do not have a right to work".

0930 GMT: Revolutionary Guard Takes Power? Rah-e-Sabz has a lengthy article claiming that the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps is taking over Iran's energy sector.

0925 GMT: Parliament v. President. The Majlis Research Center has declared that 37% of the laws for Ahmadinejad's 5th Development Plan are "unclear".

0920 GMT: Where's Mahmoud? Remember, President Ahmadinejad is opening the new steel project in northwestern Iran (see 0745 GMT). Here's his dramatic annoucement:

"Sanctions won't hurt Iran."
0910 GMT: Press Un-Freedom. The Guardian of London features an interview with photojournalist Javad Moghimi, who took one of the iconic photographs of the 2009 protest, about the plight of journalists in Iran:

Since the June elections and following the demonstrations in December after the holiday of Ashura, two of his colleagues have been arrested, Moghimi says. His immediate boss, Majid Saidi, is on bail awaiting trial, charged with activities against national security and taking photographs of protesters. He says his close friend Masoud Lavasani, a political correspondent for Fars News, is in prison on hunger strike.

"He is going through hell," says Moghimi. "When I hear his news I get very upset and I get a lump in my throat, because ... I don't know what the future holds for news reporters and my friends in Iran.

"Their crime was to take photographs of the protesters and the demonstrations. If the Islamic Republic of Iran is able to arrest a photojournalist charged with activities against national security or taking photographs of the protesters, it is a joke to say we have freedom of speech, because there is no freedom as long as they arrest people for the crime of taking photos of demonstrations."

0900 GMT: Sanctions Front. Kazem Jalali,  spokesperson for Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, has warned, "Although international circles are not impartial in dealing with lawsuits filed by nations, Iran reserves the right to lodge a complaint against the US for imposing unilateral sanctions.

Jalali and other Iranian officials are specifically mentioning Washington's ban on sales of aircraft fuel to Iran.

0800 GMT: The Battle Within. A series of reports on the conflict within the establishment....

Hojatoleslam Banaei claims that the distributors of flyers against Ali Larijani after Friday Prayers in Qom have been identified: "there is a current in the country, which doesn't want calmness to be established in society".

Ali Asgari, the Parliamentary liaison of the Expediency Council, has belittled the challenge: "The radical current is a handful [of people], you can transport them with a minibus."

And the universities crisis rolls along: key member of Parliament Ali Motahari has warned the Supreme Council for Cultural Revolution against intervention, as its main duty is "policy-making, not legislation". Kazem Delkhosh has asserted that the gathering of Basiji in front of the Majlis to demonstrate against the Parliament's bill on Islamic Azad University, was "organised".

In contrast, Jomhouri Eslami notes the reports of a Khamenei intervention, via a meeting with Hashemi Rafsanjani (see our separate analyses), and says the quarrel has been settled and all is business as usual.

Rah-e-Sabz takes a look over the political terrain and declares that "rifts in the hardliner camp are no longer hidden".
0755 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Advar News reports that journalist Masoud Lavasani, detained for more than nine months, has been granted a temporary release.

0745 GMT: Economy Watch. Press TV headlines the opening of a "key steel project" in Bonab in northwestern Iran, presided over by President Ahmadinejad. The website claims more than $170 million of finance with "800 job opportunities".

The ceremony comes a week after the opening of another steel complex in Natanz.

0715 GMT: We begin this morning with two contrasting analyses of yesterday's story of a meeting between the Supreme Leader and former President Hashemi Rafsanjani to resolve the dispute between Parliament and President over control of Islamic Azad University.

Meanwhile....

Iran and Sanctions

Looks like a disruption in the normal Ahmadinejed Government line that sanctions will have no effect on Iran's economy: Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, the new speaker of the National Security Council, has said that if sanctions are implemented, the country will enter a period of severe difficulties.

Parliament to Dismiss Minister?

Member of Parliament Mehrdad Lahouti says that the Majlis is preparing steps for the dismissal of Sadegh Khalilian, the Minister of Agriculture

Political Prisoner Watch

Aftab News reports that Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Doulatabadi has met for "several hours" with high-profile detainees, includig Isa Saharkhiz, Ahmad Zeidabadi, Mansour Osanloo, Masoud Moradi, Mehdi Mahmoudian, and Davoud Soleimani.