The Latest from Iran (22 June): Rumbling On

2130 GMT: The University Argument. Having started with this in the morning, I guess we should conclude this evening with the Parliament v. President fight over control of Islamic Azad University.

Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani has criticised the pressure on Parliament, from demonstrations outside the Majlis to remarks in "hard-line" newspapers: "If the norms are observed in the criticism of (government) branches, it will be good and will promote the progress of that branch, but (this should) not (be done) with bad language,” Larijani told lawmakers.

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The Latest from Iran (21 June): Beyond Quiet Remembrance

Indirectly responding to stories, including an assertion by Iran's Attorney General, that the Parliament's bill on Islamic Azad could be set aside, Larijani said that what the lawmakers chose to ratify, if endorsed by the Guardian Council, would come into force and should be respected.

1915 GMT: The Energy Squeeze. Pakistan has backed  away from a deal with Iran to construct a gas pipeline because of impending US sanctions.

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani told a press conference, “If the U.S. imposes sanctions, they will have international implications and Pakistan as a member of the international community will follow them.”

Tehran had announced the deal earlier this month, but President Obama's special envoy for Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke urged Pakistan to be wary of proceeding.

1900 GMT: Khatami's Back. Returning from a break (and the General McChrystal fiasco in Afghanistan), I find that former President Mohammad Khatami has made another pointed intervention, starting with the recent attacks on clerics and moving to a renewed call for civil rights:

Unfortunately today insults, lies and false accusations even against those who were allies of Imam Khomeini even before he came to the scene and after the Islamic Revolution were major figures of the revolution has become common and they are being accused of various kinds of accusation without being able to defend themselves.

When in the national-TV constantly false and biased issues are being mentioned (even if they were right, insults and cursing are wrong) is a catastrophe.”

Let the legitimate freedoms mentioned in the constitution exist and people will be the judge and this will solve many of the problems.

Many of the good individuals who have been arrested or are wanted should be able to come to the scene, the groups and parties should be able to restart their legal activities, we never want to confront the system although are being accuse unjustly to all sorts of accusations and those who are accusing us are causing the most damage to the system.

1310 GMT: Meanwhile in Parliament. Amidst the university dispute, this news --- significant, I think --- has received little notice: the Majlis has approved a bill postponing municipal elections for two years.

1300 GMT: The University Conflict Escalates. Fars News is claiming that, following this morning's Basij/student protest in front of the Parliament, the Majlis' bill asserting control over Islamic Azad University will be nullified.

Radio Farda, via Peyke Iran, reports that Iran's Attorney General, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, has written to the head of judiciary, Sadegh Larijani. The message? The Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution has the final say on the issue, effectively overruling any Parliament decision.

1020 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Amnesty International has issued a call for "urgent action" over the detentions of Narges Mohammadi, the Deputy Head of the Center for Human Rights Defenders, and CHRD member and journalist Abdolreza Tajik.

Mohammadi, an associate of Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, was arrested late on 10 June at her home in Tehran. Up to 18 June, she had been permitted to make only one phone call to relatives.

Tajik was arrested on 12 June, after being summoned to the office of the Ministry of Intelligence in Tehran. He has been held incommunicado in his third detention since June 2009. (see UA 171/09 and updates).

1005 GMT: The University Argument. Well, well, Press TV has decided to cover an event inside Iran (see 0720 GMT). The website notes:

Hundreds of Iranian students have staged a demonstration in front of the Parliament in protest at a bill passed by lawmakers regarding the Islamic Azad University.

The bill allows the University to donate its property worth $200 billion dollars for public purposes. The government says the bill violates the articles of association of the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution.

The body, chaired by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, supervises the country's universities. The ongoing controversy between the government and the Azad University started after the government decided to take control of the university.

However, according to Khabar Online news service, Majlis members voted for the public endowment of the university's properties under the condition that the premises belong to the university's board of trustees.

0933 GMT: Remembering the Dead. Rah-e-Sabz profiles Moharram Chegini, "a worker killed for freedom and his vote" last June.

Meanwhile, the website worries that, as the trial of 1 civilian and 11 security forces over the Kahrizak Prison abuses concludes, the former Tehran Prosecutor General (and current Ahmadinejad advisor) Saeed Mortazavi will get away without punishment. It features the plea from the father of Mohammad Kamrani, one of those killed in the prison, that a film of the court proceedings be made public.

0930 GMT: The Warning Within. Mohsen Rezaei, former Presidential candidate and current Secretary of the Expediency Council, has warned that defaming revolutionary figures [a challenge to the opposition or a challenge to those who verbally attacked Seyed Hassan Khomeni?] brings grave consequences for the next 10 years.

0920 GMT: The Wider Parliament-President Conflict. What does this latest row mean? Here are a couple of clues. Ali Larijani, countering attacks on Parliament from outlets like Keyhan, has said that Government supporters are ruthless and "insurgent" (ghougha-salar).

From the reformist side, MP Mostafa Kavakebian asks, "Don't we have a Guardian Council in this country to cope with these people, accusing the Majlis?"

0915 GMT: But the Next Move on Universities Begins. Peyke Iran is reporting that Basij students, protesting the rejection of the President's proposal to take control of Islamic Azad University, have gathered in front of Parliament.

Rooz Online follows up on Ahmadinejad's immediate protest, cancelling a meeting with Ali Larijani, the head of Parliament, and Sadegh Larijani, the head of judiciary.

0850 GMT: Blocking Ahmadinejad's University Move. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has more on the battle between the President and the Parliament over control of Iran's Islamic Azad University.

Ahmadinejad was seeking to remove the current head of the university, which is closely linked to Hashemi Rafsanjani, and to change the members of the governing board. Mir Hussein Mousavi but was removed from the board this spring.

In a vote on Sunday, the legislators rejected the President's proposal.

0720 GMT: The Issues Within. Let's see: has Press TV, international flagship outlet of the Iranian state, noticed the political, economic, social, and religious discussions in the country? The current top 7 "Iran" stories from the Press website:

1. Iran Warns against Cargo Inspections
2. Bahrain Calls for Expanded Iran Ties
3. Larijani: Deep Mistrust in US-Iran Ties
4. "West Must Compensate for Rigi Crimes"
5. Iran "Keeps Watchful Eye on PG [Persian Gulf] Skies"
6. Iran Wants UNSC [United Nations Security Council] Held Accountable
7. IRGC Offers to Contain BP Oil Spill (see separate entry)

Answer: No.

0635 GMT: We've published two features to start the day.

There is a look at the cartoons reflecting and reflecting upon the relationship between Mir Hossein Mousavi and the Green Movement. And we've got a surprise --- it looks like oil has brought Revolutionary Guard friendship for the US.

0515 GMT: No dramatic developments on Monday but a far from quiet day, with manoeuvres and criticisms, especially within the "establishment". There was scrapping over the economy, corruption, control of the universities, the enforcement of hijab, budget discrepancies....

So what does today bring?

The Latest from Iran (21 June): Beyond Quiet Remembrance

2025 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Zahra Farajzadeh, the wife of imprisoned Azeri activist Ayat-Mehr-Ali Bigloo, has been detained. She was reportedly held by authorities when she asked the Revolutionary Court for a telephone conversation with her husband.

Farajzadeh's sister, Hamideh Farajzadeh, is also in prison.

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1845 GMT: The Oil Squeeze. Reuters reports that China's imports of Iranian oil dropped 74 percent in May, compared to a year earlier.

Iran is now #8 oil supplier to China, down from #3 in April. Industry analysts said the main cause of the decline was the uncompetitive pricing of Iranian crude oil, with China boosting purchases from Saudi Arabia, Brazil, and Angola.

1745 GMT: The Fall-Out from 4 June. A representative of Grand Ayatollah Sistani, who is based in Iraq, has met Seyed Hassan Khomeini in Qom and expressed regret for the "insult" to him at the ceremony for Ayatollah Khomeini early this month.

1450 GMT: Iran and Palestine. Remember those Iranian aid ships which were making headlines with their planned trip to Gaza (indeed, at one point, it was said one was en route)?

The Iranian Red Crescent said today that  due to lack of international coordination, the ships were delayed and no date had been fixed for their journey.

1445 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Journalist Nasour Naghipour has been released on bail, after 110 days' detention, while he awaits trial.

1435 GMT: A Health Care Crisis? Dr. Rahbar Mozhdehi Azar, the head of Iran's pharmacists, has reportedly claimed that several pharmacies closed because they have not been paid by insurers for six months. Aftab News reports that 19 hospitals are waiting for 350 millions tomans ($35 million) in payments.

Khabar Online wonders if  pharmacies can cancel their agreements with with insurers, leaving people with debts unable to get medication.

1425 GMT: The Economic Battle, Chapter 437. More sniping by members of Parliament against the Ahmadinejad budget. Reformist Darius Ghanbari says that reports from the Majlis point to budget deviations by the Government, and Ali Akbar Oulia adds criticism of "deviations" are in economic growth, revenues, and employment in the 4th development plan.

1420 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Just for the record --- because I'm too tired to evaluate yet another inscrutable comment by Hashemi Rafsanjani --- the former President has said in his most recent interivew that he expected the Supreme Leader to speak out against the “accusations” made against “certain officials of the regime.”

Rafsanjani said in an interview that Mahmoud Ahmadienjad’s statements in his presidential debate with Mir Hossein Mousavi were “highly inappropriate.” He also talks at length about his letter to Ayatollah Khamenei, sent three days before the election, over Ahmadinejad's accusations of financial corruption against Rafsanjani and his family.

Now is Rafsanjani trying to give a signal of support for Mousavi or is he merely fighting his personal corner in his running battle against the Government and its pressure against him, his allies, and his children?

1410 GMT: Corruption Watch. Member of Parliament Elyas Naderan has kept the corruption issue alive, saying that his complaint against 1st Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi --- made over an insurance fraud scandal --- is still valid and he is still pursuing it.

1405 GMT: The Fall-Out from 4 June. Another sign of support for Seyed Hassan Khomeini after he was shouted down at the ceremony for his grandfather earlier this month: Ayatollah Amini, the Friday Prayer leader of Qom, has met Khomeini and declared his regret over the incident.

1354 GMT: Yesterday's "Fear of the Gravestones". Fereshteh Ghazi writes of the security buildup on 25 Khordad, with all roads to Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery covered by security forces. About 1000 people were at the cemetery, and Ghazi reports that victims' families were menaced.

Peyke Iran reports on security forces at Vanak Square (we have video of this in yesterday's updates) and Enghelab Square.

1348 GMT: A New Battlefront Within. Looks like another conflict between President Ahmadinejad and Parliament deserves attention. This one is Ahmadinejad's attempt to get more say about free universities: the Parliament voted 134-72 to maintain the current system of oversight. The President reportedly then cancelled a conference between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches over the issue.

1345 GMT: Bad Hijab. Looks like President Ahmadinejad's criticism of the zealousness of the "morality police" has not made a bit of difference in Qom. Tehran Today, quoting Colonel Khorasani, Head of Public Security in Qom Province, says 62,000 women have been warned about inappropriate attire.

1340 GMT: Thanks to all readers for helping out. Now let's see what has been happening.

0730 GMT: We're on the road at the University of Leicester today. Updates will be limited until mid-afternoon.

As always, news and comments from our readers are most welcome to keep everything up to speed until we return.

0725 GMT: Nuclear Posturing. Iran has barred two UN nuclear inspectors from entering the country. The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, Ali Akbar Salehi, said the two were declared persona non-grata for authoring an "untruthful" report by the International Atomic Energy Agency about Iran's nuclear work.

0650 GMT: Culture Corner. Hat-tip to an EA reader for pointing us to a BBC Persian programme reviewing art, politics, and protest before and after the 2009 Presidential election.

0625 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Mehdi Karroubi has visited with the family of the detained politician Ali Tajernia, an executive member of the Islamic Iran Participation Front.



0530 GMT: Sunday's commemoration of 25 Khordad, the anniversary of mass demonstrations and the deaths of protesters, appeared to pass quietly in Iran. There was a heavy security presence in areas of Tehran, noted by Rah-e-Sabz in addition to its headlining of the "scathing silence" of the Mothers of Mourning.

Politics was far from silent, however. During the afternoon, news emerged of Mehdi Karroubi's latest statement, and it became clear that he had not just restated his personal determination, criticism of the Government, and the determination of the opposition. He had also issued a pointed query about the powers of the Supreme Leader. We have posted the English translation in a separate entry.

And Kalemeh clarifies our news yesterday that Hashemi Rafsanjani, Mohammad Khatami, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Karroubi, and Hassan Khomeini had all called Grand Ayatollah Sane'i in the aftermath of the attack on his house by regime supporters. This was not just a case of individual phone calls; this was a "dialogue" involving the former Presidents, clerics, and opposition figures.

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.

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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.

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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.

Iran's Green Communications: Beyond Twitter to "Small Media" (Enayat)

Regular readers know how disconcerted I have been by shallow commentary dismissing the role of new communications --- often framed superficially as a dismissal of "Twitter Revolution" --- in information and dialogue during Iran's post-election conflict.

So it is refreshing to see an analysis which tries to get beyond the simplicities to assess not only what has happened but what might happen with this information, dialogue, and activism, despite the increasing efforts of the Iranian regime to shut down communication. I would take up some of the points put forward in this article --- I think it underestimates what channels have been opened and what links have been maintained through "not-so-small media" and networks via and beyond the Internet --- but I think it opens up a productive discussion.

Mahmood Enayat writes for Index on Censorship:

The 12th of June was the anniversary of the disputed Iranian presidential election. The ensuing events of last summer challenged assumptions about the political impact of the media, especially the internet, on Iranian society.

Prior to the protests a lot was said about the importance of the internet as a “free space”, where opposition discourse was thriving, especially in the context of its limited manifestation in the offline world. The Persian blogosphere was hailed as one of the most vibrant non-English speaking communities where youth, women, homosexuals, and religious and ethnic minorities were expressing and to some extent mobilising themselves. Occasionally, the internet also played a “fourth estate” role — that is, the ability to create an independent institution making the authorities accountable for their actions. There were a number of secretly recorded amateur videos documenting the wrongdoing of some Iranian officials — the subsequent wide coverage of those videos made it very hard for the Iranian officials to deny the incidents.

These two political functions of the internet — a “free space” and a “fourth estate”, also played important roles in the aftermath of the election. The internet became the backbone of the green movement, as severe restrictions were imposed on the movement’s offline activities. Citizens used their mobile phones and became the eyes and ears of the international media whose correspondents had been expelled from Iran. The videos documented the participation of Iranians in street protests and the brutality of force used against them by the authorities, resulting in the widespread practice of adding the postfix “revolution” to social media platforms like Twitter and YouTube.

However, the Green Movement was not simply allowed to use the internet for its own end. The Iranian authorities tried to stop the “Twitter revolution” by waging an active war against internet freedom. The authorities went beyond simple internet content filtering by tampering with internet connections and mobile phone services, by jamming satellite broadcasting, and by hacking and attacking opposition websites. They also monitored online dissenters and used the information obtained to intimidate and arrest them. They threatened service providers in Iran to remove ‘offensive’ posts or blogs and more significantly, they tried to fill the information void created by these measures with misinformation.

There has been a sense of disappointment amongst the supporters of the Twitter revolution. We should try to make sense of its shortcomings.

Social and conventional media need each other

It became clear that social media (staffed by citizen journalists) and conventional media needed each other to function. Given the government’s severe restrictions on access to the internet and its infiltration of the social media’s platforms with fake content, its audience was limited. Citizen journalists relied on conventional media to take the best of their content and reach a larger audience, while the latter needed the former to continue their news cycles in the absence of correspondents on the ground.

Twitter and Facebook: Bridging rather than mobilising

Facebook and Twitter were more influential in mobilising diaspora Iranians showing solidarity rather than mobilising street protests inside Iran. Owing to their knowledge of context and language, diaspora Iranians were also able to connect the outside (mainly the media) to the inside. Both the platforms were filtered before the election and remained inaccessible in Iran during the protests.

Do not underestimate the basics

In the days after the disputed election, the Iranian authorities shut down many of the news websites set up by supporters of [Mir Hossein] Mousavi and [Mehdi] Karroubi and other opposition groups by arresting the technical teams involved in their maintenance, initiating intense Denial of Service (DOS) attacks and hacking. The opposition clearly took having access to secure hosting and capable technical support for granted and did not expect these incidents to occur. Its lack of preparation meant that many of them struggled to get back online and to remain online in the following months.

Knowing how to operate safely online is important

There have also been a number of reports that activists were presented with copies of emails exchanged with other activists during their interrogation and were arrested for their online activities. Many of them were also asked to provide the credentials of their Facebook accounts and were questioned extensively on their relationships with friends on their list. The Iranian authorities used this fear for further power projection by claiming that the Iranian Police has access to all the emails and SMS messages exchanged in Iran and can monitor them. All of these tactics have created fear and self-censorship among the ordinary internet users and activists in Iran, a fear that is perpetuated by a lack of knowledge of the very basics of information security.

There will be more limitations on the internet

The Iranian authorities used to consider the development of the internet in Iran as an enabler for economic development. During the Rafsanjani and Khatami presidencies, the government invested heavily in expanding the internet infrastructure, resulting in a high growth rate of internet users. However, this has now changed and Ahmadinejad’s government has allocated $500 million in this year’s annual budget (2010-11) to “counter the soft war”. This effectively means imposing more restrictions on opposition movement’s use of the internet. The fifth economic plan devised by his government does not have any indicators for increasing the internet penetration rate in Iran, contrary to the past two economic development plans. This indicates that the Iranian government is not interested in increasing the number of internet users in Iran, at least not for the next five years.

The internet's reach is limited

Internet users in Iran are predominantly middle and upper middle class and internet access remains limited among the less affluent sections of Iranian society. Mousavi has stated numerous times that the Green Movement should try to reach out to the working class and bring it on board.

But the internet is the only available media option

The internet is the only media space that is available to the Green Movement as other forms of media are heavily controlled by the government and it is not possible to launch a newspaper, radio or TV station inside Iran. Satellite broadcasting of political TV stations based outside Iran will be subjected to heavy jamming. The short wave radio broadcasted from outside is also losing its audience significantly, as highlighted in a recent audience survey by the BBC World Service.

The Green Movement should think “small media”

The Green Movement and its supporters inside and outside Iran need to go beyond the common perception and prescribed use of the internet (like YouTube, Twitter and Facebook) and come up with new and innovative solutions. Mousavi himself has encouraged the Green Movement to embrace “small media”, which relies on offline social networks for further distribution of information. He is reminding the Green Movement of the lessons learned from the 1979 and Constitutional Revolutions, as both used small media to mobilise support and achieve their aims.  Small media has four main characteristics:

- It is distributed and is therefore not prone to blockage
- It produces sharable information products
- It relies on highly resourced and networked individuals to reproduce sharable information products
- It uses the social networks of highly resourced individuals to distributed sharable products to less resourceful individuals

Leaflets and cassette tapes were widely used in 1979 revolutions. These days the digital equivalents of them will be CDs, DVDs, memory sticks, email, Bluetooth on mobile phones, peer to peer file sharing etc. The green movement only has the internet but it has to change its approach towards it by going beyond its widely prescribed uses. It is time to replace the Twitter revolution with small media discourse.