The Latest from Iran (19 June): How Does Mahmoud Respond?

2115 GMT: Cyber-Shutdown. After the filtering of a number of Wordpress-based news sites, including EA, Iran has reportedly blocked Rapidshare and Hotfile.

2055 GMT: The Oil Squeeze. Iran acknowledged on Saturday that oil swap deals with Caspian Sea producers had stopped this month, but said it was seeking talks with some oil companies on new terms.

The swaps, in which Iran imports crude into Caspian ports and supplies the equivalent barrels of oil from the Persian Gulf, were reportedly supsended after Tehran steeply raised fees on operations to avoid an oil glut following lower sales of its own oil.

The four companies affected are Select Energy Trading, Dragon Oil (Emirates), Swiss Vitol, and Irish Caspian Oil Development.

NEW Iran: Working Together? The Women’s Movement & The Greens (Kakaee)
NEW Iran Analysis: Why the 2009 Election is Not Legitimate (Ansari)
Iran Request: Nonsense about “Twitter Revolution”. Please Stop.
Iran Analysis: How Europe Can Help (Mamedov)
Iran Document: The Tajzadeh Criticism and The Reformist Way Forward (Sahimi)
The Latest from Iran (18 June): Hardliners Criticise Ahmadinejad

2040 GMT: The Battle Within. Rah-e-Sabz sees more rifts within the establishment. Member of Parliament Jalal Yahyazadeh has complained that the radical positions of hardliners have isolated moderates, so the "hard-line" camp is not as united as it should be. Reza Akarami asserts that the economic situation is not good, and Ahmadinejad has not fulfilled vows made during his first series of provincial tours.

2030 GMT: The Day in Hijab. Hojatoleslam Ebrahim Raeesi has given assurances that Iran's judiciary supports the security forces in the enforcement of proper hijab.

According to Peyke Iran, Ebrahim Kalantari, the Supreme Leader's deputy in Tehran University, has said that there will be classes for relationships between girls and boys and that a think tank for hijab will be established soon

1910 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Ali Badragheh, dean of the Eslam Shahr campus of Azad University, has reportedly been arrested.

1905 GMT: Freedom of the Press Update. The economic daily Pool has suspended publication after being warned by the supervisory press authority for publishing "false material and accusing Iranian officials".

1900 GMT: Economy Watch. More than 400 workers of the Godeleh Sazi steel plant are on the sixth day of a strike. The walkout began when only 40 of 500 employees passed hiring examinations.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad opened the plant to great fanfare in April.

1855 GMT: Reformists Banned. The Iranian judiciary has upheld the ban on political activity of the two leading reformist Iranian parties, the Islamic Iran Participation Front and the Mojahedin of Islamic Revolution.

The IIPF had filed a complaint against the decision of the Political Parties Commission in March to withdraw its permit. Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi said that the Commission's request to dissolve the two parties has been sent to the Revolutionary Court.

1845 GMT: The Flight of the Journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that at least 29 Iranian editors, reporters, and photographers have fled the country in the past year, “the highest annual tally from a single country in a decade”.

At least half of those who fled Iran are currently in Turkey living in “precarious situations". They are reportedly threatened by individuals, believed to be working for the Iranian regime, saying that family in Iran will suffer if the journalists speak publicly about political issues.

As dire as this report is, the situation may be even worse. EA sources have reported that
the number of journalists who have left Iran is far greater than 29.

1700 GMT: Remembering. Daneshjoo News reports "thousands", watched by security forces and plainclothes agents, attended the memorial in Mashhad for protester Mostafa Ghanian. The service was held at Imam Reza's shrine.

Ghanian, 26, was killed by snipers on 17 June 2009 while he was calling Allahu Akbar (God is Great) from the roof of an eight-story building in the Saadat-Abad section of Tehran.

1630 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Reports come in that journalist and human rights activist Emaduddin Baghi will stand trial on Tuesday.

The father of student activist Salman Sima has confirmed that his son has gone on hunger strike in Evin Prison.

Sima was arrested on the anniversary of the election, 12 June, his third post-election detention. His father said that Sima was asked to pick up items at the Ministry of Information Followup Office and was stopped and taken away by a plainclothes agent on his motorcycle on the way.

1625 GMT: Threatening Khomeini. Back from a break to find that some hardliners have not given up on the assault on Seyed Hassan Khomeini, grandson of the late Ayatollah Khomeini. Member of Parliament Hossein Fadaee has accused the younger Khomeini of plotting to become the next Supreme Leader, supported by former Presidents Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami.

1150 GMT: Counter-Attack. Minister of Defense Ahmad Vahidi has accused the United States of "deception" and insisted Tehran's missiles are only for self-defence after US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates charged that the Islamic republic could rain missiles down on Europe.

"The Islamic Republic's missile capability has been designed and implemented to defend against any military aggression and it does not threaten any nation," Vahidi said in a statement carried by state media.

1145 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. University professor Rahmatullah Bastani has been acquitted.

0816 GMT: Admissions? We noted yesterday that Iran's police chief, Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam, may have been a bit too open as he tried to minimise the opposition and justify the actions of his forces.

Keep in mind that Rooz Online is an opposition outlet, but its summary of Ahmadi-Moghaddam's remarks, if close to accurate, is telling:

Speaking to the monthly Soroush, Iran’s police chief confirmed the validity of a video clip showing Basij forces and special guards attacking the Tehran university student dormitory in early morning hours of June 15, 2009. At the same time, he asked reporters not to focus excessively on the crimes committed at Kahrizak and the Tehran University dormitory. In his descriptions and presentation, he implied that it was the volunteer paramilitary Basij forces and not the police who were responsible for the attack on Tehran University’s dormitory. The request to enter Tehran University according to him was made by its president, Farhad Rahbar.

And despite the large number of casualties and arrests that have taken place in Iran since June 12, 2010, Ahmadi-Moghaddam gave his forces a mere “unsatisfactory” grade in handling the protests.

But, in perhaps his most significant remarks, the head of the Islamic republic’s law enforcement forces said that none of the ballot boxes were opened and counted until 11 pm on Friday, June 12.

However, the first reports of Ahmadinejad’s victory with claims of 24 million votes were released between 10:30 and 11pm on Friday, June 12 by website and news agencies such as Fars, IRNA (the Islamic Republic’s official news agency), and Raja News.

Similarly, the Islamic republic television announced its first results based on 11 million counted votes at 11:30pm the same night. In light of Ahmadi-Moghaddam’s remarks, it is not clear how the interior ministry officials were able to count 11 million votes in less than half an hour.

In another segment of his remarks, Ahmadi-Moghaddam said, “One week before the election, I gathered the provincial governors here and told them that you will face crises until at least the first week of summer. I said the election would end in either Mr. Mousavi’s favor, in which case we would have one kind of crisis under the name of a victory celebration and there would be attempts to capture the next targets; or Mr. Ahmadinejad would win, in which case his opponents would claim fraud. Of course, we couldn’t accurately predict the extent of the problem, but we thought that we would certainly have problems and you must definitely be prepared.”

0815 GMT: We've posted an analysis by Parisa Kakaee of the relationship between the women's movement and the Green Movement.

0655 GMT: We start this morning with a stroll down Memory Lane, as Ali Ansari reminds us why the 2009 Presidential election is still not legitimate.

0645 GMT: No doubt about it. On Friday, the big story from Iran came courtesy not of the opposition but of the "establishment", with the escalating fight between hardliners and the President.

Always buffeted by those in Parliament who don't like his economic plans, his advisors, or him, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad now faced the wrath of clerics and officials unhappy with his criticism last week of the "morality police". You know it's serious when Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, the head of the Guardian Council, used Tehran Friday Prayers to give the President a loud spanking.

We'll be watching for the fallout today. So far no response from Ahmadinejad. And Iranian state media? Well, it's trying to pretend the dispute does not exist: Press TV's summary of the Jannati speech closes its eyes under the headline, "New Sanctions Gave West Away", and the Tehran Friday Prayer does not show up on the front page of the Islamic Republic News Agency.

Latest from Iran (17 June): Clearing Away the Smoke

1850 GMT: The Sanctions List. The US Treasury has published the names of four individuals (head of Revolutionary Guard Mohammad Ali Jafari, Minister of Defense Ahmad Vahidi, Basij commander Mohammad Reza Naqdi, and Javad Karimi Sabet of Iran's nuclear programme) and 27 companies whose financial transactions are blocked.

1845 GMT: Remembering the Slain. Payvand has published a summary and photos of Tuesday's memorial for Kianoush Asa, a student at Elm-o-Sanat University who was killed during the 15 June 2009 demonstrations.

1840 GMT: The Attack on the Clerics. The reformist Assembly of Combatant Clergy has condemned Sunday's assault on the offices of Grand Ayatollah Sane'i.

NEW Iran Snapshot: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Master of Irony
NEW Iran Overview: Striking Poses from Sanctions to Cyber-War to “Terrorism”
Iran Document: Mousavi’s “Green Charter” (15 June)
Iran Analysis: The Supreme Leader and the Attacks on the Clerics (Verde)
The Latest from Iran (16 June): Simmering

1620 GMT: Not Forgetting. The German TV station 3sat reports on Iranian post-election refugees in Turkey, at least 100 of whom it is claimed have been tortured.

1615 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Rah-e-Sabz reports that journalist Masood Lavasani has had a heart attack in Evin Prison and is in critical condition. The website also says the condition of Hengameh Shahidi has deteriorated.

1610 GMT: Responding to the Attacks. Saideh Montazeri, the daughter of the late Grand Ayatollah Montazeri, has written of "the world upside down".

The reformist Islamic Iran Participation Front has said the attack on the offices of clerics is a sign of weakness of "putschists" towards the Green Movement.

1600 GMT: This Isn't Over. Member of Parliament Elyas Naderan, a vocal critic of the Government, has said that he may publish documents relating to the Majlis' unseen report on the June 2009 attacks on the dormitories of Tehran University.

1555 GMT: Victory is Ours! Hojatoleslam Hossein Taeb, the head of the intelligence bureau of the Revolutionary Guard, has declared, "The people have isolated the leaders of fitna [sedition] and denied them the chance to appear in public."

1445 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. It is reported that Dr Hessam Firouzi, physician and human rights activist, has been released.

1420 GMT: The Attack on the Clerics. Another reminder of the significance of Mr Verde's analysis, "The Supreme Leader and the Attacks on the Clerics": Zahra Rahnavard has written, "By targeting religious and scientific figures, who have always been aligned with the people, whether it be the elderly, the youth, children, men or women of all kind, who have benefited from their words, the ruling powers have once again demonstrated the extent of their malice."

1405 GMT: On a day when we have had to concede defeat to political posturing, President Ahmadinejad has, as the English would put it (I am told), "taken the biscuit" with a classic comment about the need for people to be fully informed so they can hold their leaders to account.

Really. Have a read.

1355 GMT: And Human Rights? Any More Poses on Human Rights? Why, yes....

Iran's Foreign Ministry has rejected the statement by 56 members of the UN Human Rights Commission (see 0715 GMT) condemning Tehran's suppression of post-election dissent. The statement, according to Iranian officials, was "unreal and with political intentions".

1345 GMT: Sanctions Front (Again). The European Union has now approved the new sanctions regime against Tehran, going beyond the UN resolution for restrictions on finance and shipping to authorise prohibition on "new investment, technical assistance and transfers of technologies, equipment and services related to these areas, in particular related to refining, liquefaction and Liquefied Natural Gas technology."

1335 GMT: And How About Those Foreigners and "Terrorism"? Britain has rejected the charge by the Iranian Government that it supported plans by the People's Mojahedin of Iran to bomb Tehran squares on 12 June: "We made clear we condemn all terrorism everywhere. The Government firmly rejects any allegation of British involvement in any such activity," said the Foreign Office.

1320 GMT: On the Sanctions Front. Almost impossible to keep the smoke clear with political volleys coming in from all directions. According to Interfax, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has complicated today's US and European Union game of public pressure on Tehran with escalated sanctions, outside the United Nations framework. "We are extremely disappointed by the fact that the U.S. and the EU are not heeding our calls to refrain from such steps," Ryabkov told reporters.

However, as Moscow continues to balance its position, Ryabkov said that Russia will stop shipments of anti-aircraft missile systems S-300 to Iran: "We understand it as the resolution enacted a ban on shipment of these systems to Iran."

1010 GMT: What Next for the Green Movement? Amidst a flurry of Iran news --- and some misinformed conclusions about the state of the Government and the "opposition" --- I missed what appears to be a worthwhile collection of six articles, written before the 12 June anniversary of the election but translated into English afterwards, from Gozaar: "Will the Greens Last?"

0715 GMT: Just Another Posture? In a statement on Wednesday, 56 members of the UN Human Rights Council rebuked Iran for its human rights record in the past year, citing “the violent suppression of dissent, detention and executions without due process of law, severe discrimination against women and minorities including people of Baha'i faith, and restrictions of expression and religion”.

China, Cuba, and Pakistan protested against the announcement, prepared by Norway and the US, but 16 members of UN Human Rights Council and all the 37 members of the European Union signed the statement.

0625 GMT: A lot of smoke on Wednesday, with the US and Europe threatening the Iranian Government and the Iranian Government threatening dissidents: we've summarised in a separate entry.

How to clear that smoke and get to the significant developments? Here's a start....

Khatami's Intervention

Former Iranian President, Mohammad Khatami has condemned last Sunday's attacks by regimes supporters on the home of Grand Ayatollah Sane'i: "They are trying to pass a kind of fascistic behaviour as the way of Islam and Revolution in society.”

Meeting the youth branch of the Etemade Melli party, Khatami said: “When they treat the residence of Ayatollah Sanei in this manner, we should be concerned. We cannot say these are arbitrary acts when in complete freedom and security they feel free to commit any insult and injury and they are equipped with such equipment that is not easily acquired by ordinary people.”

Attack on the Clerics (continued)

Arash Aramesh notes an editorial in Keyhan maintaining the public pressure on senior clerics to mend their ways:

Why is it that the great Sources of Emulation considered the people’s objection to Mr. Seyyed Hassan Khomeini [the heckling at the 4 June ceremony for Ayatollah Khomeini] an insult to Imam and his family and condemned it while they [Sources of Emulation] remained silent and sensed no threat when leaders of sedition and their supporters insulted Imam Hussein…and formed a coalition with hypocrites, Baha’is, monarchists, and Marxists against Islam and the revolution?

Political Prisoner Watch

Seven prominent post-election detainees, including Mohsen Aminzadeh, Mostafa Tajzadeh, Abdullah Ramezanzadeh, Mohsen Safaei Farahani, Behzad Nabavi, and Mohsen Mirdamadi have asked Parliament for an investigation of arrests, interrogations and illegal trials.

Follow-Up to 22 Khordaad

We conferred with some of the best Iran-watchers yesterday in London: best estimate --- and it has to be a rough estimate at this point --- is that on 12 June, the anniversary of the election, there were several thousand people out in Tehran and demonstrations in some other cities.

Meanwhile, RAHANA adds the information that the protest at Shiraz University was blocked by an "unprecedented" presence of security units, Intelligence agents, and plainclothes forces, scattering the students.