Iran Document: Mousavi "On the Importance of Political Parties" (26 May)

From the Facebook page supporting Mir Hossein Mousavi:

Mir Hossein Mousavi, in a meeting with a group of members of the Central Council of the Youth and Academic Branch of the National Trust party (Etemade Melli --- Mehdi Karroubi’s party) emphasized the importance of political parties at this time and warned about the influence of superstitions in the general management of the country.

The courage and the unveiling of issues by Mr. Karroubi have been very effective in spreading awareness

Mousavi, at the beginning of the meeting, thanked Karroubi for his role in this national movement and said: “Karroubi’s courage and the unveiling of issues by him have very effective role in spreading awareness and the movement. I hope that this role strongly continues. Karroubi’s resistance has vital importance for the continuation of the Green Movement.”

The Latest from Iran (26 May): Panahi Out But 100s Still Imprisoned
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Mousavi then discussed the role of political parties after the revolution and said: “From the very first days of the revolution there has been a strand of thought that was against political parties and organizations. People’s bad experience with regards to political parties in the Constitutional era exacerbated this cynicism.”


One of the characteristics of Martyr Ayatollah Beheshti was his opposition against monologue and one-party system

Mousavi added: “Alongside these cynical views there were positive thoughts, led by Martyr Ayatollah Beheshti’s view [Ayatollah Beheshti was one of the leaders of the Islamic Revolution; he was assassinated in 1981]. He believed in partisan and organized activities and strived for this. There were impressive results as an outcome . One of Martyr Ayatollah Beheshti’s characteristics was his opposition against monologue and a one-party system.”

Mousavi, expressing sorrow for negative views toward political parties and organizations and even small grassroots organizations in recent years, emphasized: “ The recent actions against the two main reformist parties of the country (Islamic Iran Participation Front and Mojahedin of Islamic Revolution) has roots in the same negative view toward political parties. Of course these days following the enforced suppression, the importance of political parties and organizations is being felt more than before.”

Standing for the right of forming and maintaining political parties is more vital than ever

Mousavi said: “Standing for the right of forming and maintaining political parties is more vital than ever. When the discussion of full and comprehensive implementation of the constitution is raised one of the principles is the clear view on the freedom of political parties and organizations, for wither political parties or unions....The political parties must be advocates for freedom and right of all the people and if possible should merge together to create a more comprehensive organization.”

Today superstitions are being used for organized political and economical corruptions

Mousavi pointed to the issue of superstitions and said, “Today superstitions are being used for organized political and economic corruption. Dissolving the Management and Planning and Organization, the sensitivity to the key phrase of “Development”, and putting aside the five-year development programs are signs of the spread of superstitious thoughts.”

Charity-type economy has created immense chaos in developing rational processes

Mousavi iterated, “A true Shia is always and everyday awaiting the return of Imam Mehdi but also at the same time plans for the next thousand years. Today the charity-type economy and arbitrary actions have created immense chaos in developing rational processes.”

According to Mousavi, the elimination of a vast group of experienced managers who believed in planning and scientific management is related to this radical superstitious ideology.

Mousavi pointed out how the comments [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad made are linked to superstitions and said, “According to this view, the US has come to Iraq not because of oil or geopolitical or strategic reasons but rather has come to prevent Imam Mahdi’s return. What kind of disaster in the foreign policy, governing with this ideology can create? Won’t Turkmenchay-style treaties [an 1828 treaty in which Persia made significant concessions to Russia] be the inevitable result of such a view?”

At the end of his remarks, Mousavi spoke of the role of Imam Khomeini in ending 2500 years of monarchy and said, “In a time whre there was unprecedented pressure to prevent women from participating in elections, he (Imam Khomeini) bluntly and clearly confronted this and asked, 'How could it be possible to deprive half of the population from being involved in their own destiny?'"

The Latest from Iran (16 May): Intimidation After the Executions

2115 GMT: Nuclear Twist (cont.). According to Reuters, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is saying Iran, Turkey, and Brazil have reached agreement on procedure for a uranium swap deal. Details will follow on Monday.

1930 GMT: Nuclear Twist. Reuters is following Turkish television in reporting that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who on Friday had cancelled his trip to Tehran, has reversed his decision and is now in Iran.

The move is a signal that the Iranian talks with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva have put a deal on the table which involves Turkish mediation. Could there also be a role for Turkey as a broker in a uranium swap outside Iran?

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The Latest from Iran (15 May): Executions, Detentions and a Cancellation

1835 GMT: Intimidation (cont.). In a letter to Sadegh Larijani, the head of Iran's judiciary, 175 members of Parliament have called for immediate action against opposition figures as "heads of sedition”.


In the letter, read out by conservative MP Hassan Ghafouri Fard in the Majlis, the legislators called for “accelerating” the investigation of complaints against Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi.

The MPs also state that the “heads of the sedition” have no regard for the judicial system in Iran and have attacked Karroubi and Mousavi for their recent remarks against the sudden and unjust execution of five political activists on charges of terrorism.

1630 GMT: The Brazil Dimension (cont.). The Associated Press has a different take on the Lula-Ahmadinejad talks from other reports (see `1600 GMT). While there was no reference to any discussions on uranium enrichment, there was a defense of Iran's nuclear programme:

Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva met with Iranian leaders on Sunday, and called the relationship between the two countries “strategic.”

Speaking in defense of Iran’s right to “independently navigate its course” to seek development and improvement, Silva stressed that a peaceful nuclear research program was within Iran’s sovereign rights.

1600 GMT: The Brazil Dimension. Iranian state media's presentation of today's meetings between President Ahmadinejad and Brazi's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has featured the two leaders' talk of economic co-operation but said nothing about the nuclear issue. mbitions, an initial joint statement from the two leaders was silent on the subject.A joint statement focused on an increase of two-way trade.

Lula also said Brazil will finance 1 billion Euros of food exports to Iran over the next five years to make trade between the two countries less dependent on foreign banks.

1540 GMT: Sentencing Human Rights Activists (In Absentia). Iran has sentenced award-winning women's rights activist Shadi Sadr and fellow activist Mahbubeh Abbas-Gholizadeh to jail and lashes over a protest in 2007.

The lawyer for the two women, Mohammad Mostafai, said Sadr was sentenced to six years in jail and 74 lashes for acting against national security and harming public order. Abbas-Gholizadeh received two-and-a-half years in jail and 30 lashes on similar charges.

(Read Sadr's article, "Getting to the Point on Detentions and Human Rights", her speech at the UN on abuse, justice, and human rights, or her acceptance of the 2009 Human Rights Defenders Tulip award.)

Both women, who are now abroad, were arrested with 30 other protestors at a rally in March 2007 outside a Revolutionary Court where four fellow feminists were on trial.

1325 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. More on the arrest of Mohsen Armin, spokesman and senior member of the Mojahedin of Islamic Revolution party....

Armin's daughter said security officers, with a search warrant and arrest warrant, took away her father and confiscated his laptop, some documents, and identification cards. Iranian authorities tried to arrest Armin justafter the election and after the Ashura demonstration (27 December), but he was away from home on both occasions.

1200 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Hashemi Rafsanjani, former President and current head of the Expediency Council, has condemned censorship and fabrication of facts, describing policies behind these actions as "futile."

Rafsanjani said that, in today’s world, “[We must] coordinate actions with human principles....We must create an open space and fall into step with the rest of the world.”

1110 GMT: Spin of the Week? A reader kindly alerts us to a reference in the Iranian media to the claimed strike in Kurdistan.

Tabnak insists that any news and pictures of empty streets in Kurdistan's cities were just foreign propaganda and claims that thousands of Kurds marched in support of the "Kurdish Leadership Conference".

1100 GMT: No Connection. Move Along. Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast has denied any link between Iran's released of French graduate student Clotilde Reiss, arrested last July, and a French court's acquittal of Iranian businessman Majid Kakavand on charges that he exported US military technology to Iran: "The two cases have absolutely no relation with each other."

1010 GMT:  Political Prisoner Watch. Mohsen Armin, spokesman and senior member of the Mojahedin of Islamic Revolution party, has been arrested.

0930 GMT: In the Universities. Rah-e-Sabz carries a report claiming that professors are now being appointed for their willingness to support the Government line rather than for their academic qualifications.

0900 GMT: Conservatives Defend the System (Against Hardliners). The interesting conflict between "Green Movement v. Government" continues with two statements within the establishment warning of "hardliner" challenges.

Mohammad Nabi Habibi, head of the Motalefeh Party has said, "Our discord is like a red carpet for reformists." Majid Ansari of the Combatant Clergy Association argues that the cooperation of "moderate hardliners" and reformists is not a current outside acceptable Iranian politics.

0855 GMT: Beating the Oil Squeeze? Whatever the outcome of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's visit to Tehran on the nuclear front, it looks like Iran can claim a success over oil.

The head of Brazil's energy regulator, Haroldo Lima, has said that Lula and Iranian leaders are likely to sign a memorandum opening the way for Brazilian companies to participate in the modernization of Iran's oil sector: "We have equipment, the engineering and the parts for the oil sector that can help in their modernization."

Lima said that, in exchange, Iran could provide Brazil with drills to help in the exploration of deep-water oil: "In Brazil we have a great shortage of companies that have the capacity to do this exploration. They are making drills available."

0845 GMT: Intimidation (cont.). The Resalat newspaper has continued the threat against Mousavi, fed by regime officials like Gholam-Hossein-Elham of the Guardian Council and Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi: the leaders of "fitna" (sedition) need to feel the iron fist of the law.

0800 GMT: Challenge. Mohammad Hashemi, a member of the Expediency Council and brother of Hashemi Rafsanjani, has declared that if the people do not want it, the Iranian system cannot exist.

0740 GMT: Film Corner. As director Jafar Panahi continues to sit in Evin Prison, we've posted a feature on the latest warning by Iranian authorities to actors and filmmakers: don't cooperate with foreigners without permission.

0730 GMT: Economy Watch. Minister of Welfare and Social Security Sadegh Mahsouli has said that the subsidy reduction plan will start this week in three Iranian provinces.

0715 GMT: That Dangerous Foreign Education. Mohammad Shahryari, a member of Parliament's National Security Committee, has confirmed that the committee is reviewing the situation of 400 Iranian students at British universities.

The 400 are the children of Iranian officials. Karim Abedi, another committee member, had said on Friday, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has informed Iranian ambassadors abroad to take the actions necessary to prevent the children of Iranian officials from studying at foreign universities."

Shahryari said, "Though no final decision has been made on the return of these children to the country so far, it deems advisable for these people not to study at British universities."

0710 GMT: Speaking of Intimidation.... Member of Parliament Moussa Ghorbani, speaking with Fars News, claims that Sadegh Larijani, the head of Iran's judiciary, has said authorities will pursue those who create “anxiety” in society through text messages.

Ghorbani, who met Larijani on Saturday, said he was told that the judiciary will track down “destructive” text messages which lead to the “anxiety of public opinion”.

0640 GMT: And the Future? Dowlatabadi also gave a lengthy statement about the supposed resolution of 217 post-election cases, and there was further news from his office. Amongst the decisions were the confirmation of six death sentences and the commutation of four to jail terms (see yesterday's updates).

Defenders of the Iranian regime will argue that this establishes the due process and fairness of the judicial system. Those who are more critical may see a carrot-and-stick approach. While giving way on some of the "mohareb" (warriors against God) sentenced to hang, in part because of the reaction to last week's executions and claims that they are linked to political intimidation before 12 June, Tehran is also showing its determination that some protestors will sit on Death Row and could on short notice face the noose.

0620 GMT: A week ago, we were just getting the news of the sudden early-morning executions of 5 Iranians --- Farzad Kamangar, Mehdi Eslamian, Ali Heydarian, Farhad Vakili, and Shirin Alamhouli --- at Evin Prison. Today we begin with the latest attempt to defend the executions, the statement of Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi as reported by Press TV:

[Dowlatabadi] said that three of the five people were arrested in 2006 for carrying five kilograms of explosives, adding that other weapons including 57 rockets and 600 shells were later confiscated from the terrorists.

He revealed that the five began their terrorist activities shortly after the formation of the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK) and bombed the governor's office and a state building in the western province of Kermanshah.

“Fortunately they were arrested before carrying out a planned bombing in Tehran.”

Dolatabadi said that the five had been indicted in 2007 and were tried and found guilty in 2008. “They appealed the verdict but the Supreme Court upheld their convictions.”

The prosecutor said that four of the five terrorists were PJAK members and had been directly involved in the terrorist attacks carried out by the group. He added that the four had been convicted of moharebe (waging war on God) and acting against national security.

According to Dolatabadi, the only woman among the four terrorists was arrested in 2008 for an attempted bombing in an IRGC base. “She was tried and found guilty in 2008 and her conviction was upheld in 2010.”

The last of the five was a member of the counterrevolutionary Tondar group and was convicted for complicity in a deadly bombing in the city of Shiraz in 2008, the prosecutor added.

None of Dowlatabadi's assertions above, or in a longer version of the interview in Fars News, are backed up by evidence, thus leaving open the queries that remain over the case (see Thursday's updates).

Just as interesting, however, as Press TV still refuses to name the five executed is the timing of Dowlatabadi's high-profile interview. If the Iranian regime is so secure that these executions were acceptable, in law or in public opinion, why is it continuing to plead the case several days later?

The Latest from Iran (5 May): "Protest is Not Provocation"

2025 GMT: Locked in Iran. Activists are reporting that Mohammad Sadeghi, a member of the central branch of the alumni association Advar-e Tahkim Vahdat, has been banned from leaving the country.

2015 GMT: Labour Watch. Iran Labor Report offers a full summary of the recent pressure upon the Free Assembly of Iranian Workers with threat, arrests, and interrogations by Iranian security forces.

2010 GMT: Humour Failure. Update on the Bin Laden In Tehran, No, He's in Washington, DC story: looks like the US State Department doesn't realise that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was having a bit of a joke with his American interviewer.

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The Latest from Iran (4 May): Beyond the “Main Event”

1930 GMT: Maryam Abbasinejad, the former secretary of the reformist Islamic Association at Tehran University, was arrested by security forces on 1 May. The detention followed protests by students against President Ahmadinejad’s speech on campus.


One week after their arrests, there is still no information on the condition of Alireza Hashemi, the secretary general of the Iranian Teachers Organization, Ali Akbar Baghbani, the secretary general of the Teachers Trade Union, and Mohamoud Beheshti Langarudi, the spokesman of the Teachers Trade Union.

1400 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Vahid Talai, a member of Mir Hossein Mousavi’s legal team, has been arrested.

Ali Tajernia, a former member of Parliament and leading member of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, has been imprisoned again. Tajernia was arrested shortly after the June 2009 election and subsequently sentenced to six years in prison plus 70 lashes . The sentence was reduced to a year after appeal.

1225 GMT: Media Moment of the Day. Did you think that news couldn't get more absurd after Fox News's pseudo-story "Bin Laden in Tehran", which we took apart yesterday?

Well, you hadn't counted on a prominent American anchorman taking the story so seriously that he would try and spring it on President Ahmadinejad. We've got the lurid tale, complete with Ahmadinejad's response, in a separate entry.

0825 GMT: Oil and the Revolutionary Guard. Thomas Erdbrink writes in The Washington Post:

Taking advantage of the very sanctions directed against it, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is assuming a leading role in developing the country's lucrative petroleum sector, Western oil executives and Iranian analysts say.

The Guard's engineering companies, replacing European oil firms that have largely abandoned Iran, have been rewarded with huge no-bid contracts.

0805 GMT: A Deal on Uranium? We wrote on Monday about President Ahmadinejad's New York adventure:

There is a chance that, behind the scenes, there may be some meaningful manoeuvring over the “third-party enrichment” proposal for Iran’s uranium stock, given the presence at an international gathering of brokers (Turkey, Brazil), the “5+1″ powers taking up the issue (Britain, France, China, Russia, Germany, and, most significantly, the US), and Iranian officials.

Well, well. Fars News is now reporting that, in a meeting with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has announced "agreement in principle" to Brazil mediating a deal on uranium enrichment.

But, and we ask the question for the 484th time, can the exchange of Tehran's current uranium stock for 20%-enriched fuel take place outside Iran?

0755 GMT: Curbing the Lawyers? Iranian lawyers have warned that new regulations threaten the independence of the Bar Association.

0745 GMT: Economy Watch. Rah-e-Sabz claims a "worker's crisis" in the cities of Tehran, Kerman, and Eslamshahr with the closure of plants, including a major tyre manufacturer and a ceramics factory. The site claims that some workers have not been paid for six or seven months.

0710 GMT: Corruption Watch. The head of Iran's armed forces, General Hossein Firouzabadi, has given this "reassurance": there are less than 1000 corrupt people in the Government and Iranian administration.

0700 GMT: Surprise of the Day --- Conservative Turns Reformist? Leading conservative member of Parliament Ali Motahari was speaking at Tehran University yesterday and, if Rah-e-Sabz is to be believed, was sounding distinctly un-conservative.

Motahari allegedly said that one has to distinguish the behaviour of the Government and even clerics from "Islam", and he asserted that the velayat-e-faqih (Supreme Leader) has to be elected and only be an observer of politics. ,

And more: Motahari supposedly argued that the regime should have given the people the right to protest last summer and state media should have broadcast the demonstrations, that dissident professors should be allowed to teach at universities, and that the judiciary is not independent.

Motahari did apparently tip his hat to the party line with the claim that, while Ahmadinejad played a role in the election uproar, Mousavi carries an even greater responsibility.

0630 GMT: The Female Detainee's Story. We have posted in a separate entry the account of an Iranian woman detained on 11 February, "Stripped by the Basiji".

0515 GMT: The Ahmadinejad sideshow in New York trundles on. Having "run circles around" around Charlie Rose of the US Public Broadcasting Service, as an EA reader aptly put it (note to Mr Rose: you might want to hire a researcher on Iran's internal situation before Mahmoud drops by on his next promotional tour), Ahmadinejad offers a shorter interview to Al Jazeera English.

Hopefully, the immediate media temperature over the media will drop, so we'll venture back to Tehran's internal matters and related issues. As Farnaz Sanei of Human Rights Watch dared to note during the furour over Ahmadinejad at the United Nations: "The focus on that potential danger [of Tehran's nuclear programme] should not obscure the fact that thousands of people are currently experiencing not just a threat of violence from the Iranian government, but the everyday dispensing of it."

UK Deportation Postponed

Britain's deportation of Bita Ghaedi, the Iranian woman who fled because of alleged domestic abuse and claimed she would be persecuted on return to Tehran, has been delayed by judicial action. Both the UK High Court and the European Court of Human Rights ordered a halt to the process.

Ghaedi had been put on a flight for Iran from London today. Now she will face an oral hearing on 21 July; her attorney is petitioning for bail.

Khatami: "The Plaintiffs and Defendants Should Change Place"

More on Mohammad Khatami's comments to former members of Parliament yesterday: the former President insisted that "protest is not provocation" and said, ""We should not raise any charges against the protesters. I am sure, if the judicial system correctly performs its functions, then the plaintiffs and defendants will change place."

Khatami noted, "The parties and groups are not allowed to operate and their activities are limited. They face the threat of closure and the newspapers are just closed. Which of these steps corresponds to the constitution?"

Top Reformist Arabsorkhi Released

Feizollah Arabsorkhi, a leading member of the reformist Mojahedin of Islamic Revolution, has been released on bail. Arabsorkhi, arrested in June, had been freed briefly for Iranian New Year but then returned to Evin Prison.

Cracking Down on the Students

Deutsche Welle posts a feature article on Iranian student protest and the attempt by authorities to suppress it through detentions and lengthy prison sentences.

The Latest from Iran (2 May): Persistence

2115 GMT: Show of Support. Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard have visited reformist leader Mostafa Tajzadeh as he continues to undergo medical treatment on his back.

Tajzadeh was supposed to return to prison last week to serve his six-year sentence, but this has been delayed because of his medical situation.

2010 GMT: MediaWatch. Last night we closed by noting how The New York Times mangled the story of Iran's May Day, drawing from one "analyst" rather than any apparent recognition of events to claim --- erroneously --- that the Iranian people had not responded to opposition calls for public demonstrations.

It is only fair, therefore, that we give a tip of the hat to the Los Angeles Times, which does notice the video clips that, despite regime efforts, got through to show "opposition vitality".

NEW Iran Analysis: The Scattering of Protest is Still Protest
NEW Iran Eyewitness: “The Movement Is Still Strong and Vibrant”
UPDATED Iran Video and Translation: The Mousavi Statement for May Day/Teachers Day (29 April)
Latest Iran Video: Deterring Protests, “Greeting” Ahmadinejad (1 May)
Iran: US Filmmakers Demand “Free Jafar Panahi”
Iran Document: Mehdi Karroubi “The Green Movement is Growing in Society”
UPDATED Iran: Tehran, Defender of Rights (Don’t Mention Boobquake), Joins UN Commission on Status of Women

1520 GMT: Karroubi Watch. BBC Persian posts a series of photographs, dated yesterday, that it says are from the memorial service for the father of the Minister of Culture, Mohammad Hosseini. They show Karroubi meeting Ali Larijani, 1st Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, and Hossieni. Karroubi is being treated warmly, far from a leader of sedition, as he has been labelled by the "hardline" press.


1510 GMT: The UK Deportation Case. Actvists report that the deportation to Tehran of Bita Ghaedi, originally scheduled for 20 April but delayed because of the Icelandic volcanic ash, has now been rescheduled for 5 May. Ghaedi, who fled Iran because of alleged domestic abuse, claims she will be under threat from Tehran authorities if she is forcibly returned.

1445 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Make of these comments what you will. In a meeting with members of the academic section of Parliament for National Teachers Day, former President Hashemi Rafsanjani said:

When it comes to making laws and passing bills, the Parliament is in charge and the interference and meddling of other organizations can seriously damage the position and dignity of the Parliament....Actions that are either above the law or are against the law by any individual, any group or organization seriously damages the unity, solidarity and trust of the people.

1430 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Ali Akbar Soroush, university lecturer and member of the Islamic Iran Participation Front central council in Mazandaran province, has been released on bail after 47 days of solitary confinement.

1200 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Lawyer Mohammad Oliyaifard, who has been prominent in his defence of those facing the death penalty, has been arrested for propaganda against the regime.

1000 GMT: Teachers Day News. Rah-e-Sabz, writing of students commemorating Teachers' Day while many of those teachers are behind bars, reviews dismissals, detentions, and death sentences.

On a happier note, the website features Green students of Zahedan University thanking and congratulating staff with flowers and cookies on May Day.

0940 GMT: The Effect of the Election. An interesting radio roundtable with MPs Mohammad Reza Bahonar, Mohammad Reza Tabesh, and Mehdi Kuchakzadeh. As one might expect, the reformist Tabesh said "there is no balance" in Iranian politics and society when all protesters are imprisoned and all media are in the hand of a particular group. However, Bahonar --- far from a reformist --- asserted that the mistakes of the Guardian Council had a "negative effect" and spread doubt over the 2009 Presidential election.

0830 GMT: Parliament v. President. Key conservative MP Ahmad Tavakoli has launched another assault on the Ahmadinejad economic development plan. Elyas Naderan, another conservative critic, has repeated his allegation --- alluding to 1st Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi --- that "corrupt economic organisations linked to the government have been installed".

On the "outside", Rah-e-Sabz has a long analysis alleging that the oil ministry in is the hands of an official, Ahmad Ghalebani, linked to Ahmadinejad Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai. Ghalebani has allegedly excluded former Ministers (and Ahmadinejad opponents) like Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejeie and Mohammad-Hossein Saffar-Harandi and appointed personnel with dubious financial records. The report, which is echoed in Khabar Online, adds that both Ejeie and Naderan have complained about Ghalebani's corruption.

0755 GMT: Get Political, Revolutionary Guards. The Supreme Leader's liaison with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, Hojatoleslam Ali Saidi, has denied that Imam Khomeini said the IRGC should not enter politics.

0750 GMT: A May Day Declaration. The reformist Mojahedin of Islamic Revolution's May Day statement has demanded the unconditional release of all labour activists and unionists from prison.

0745 GMT: An Interesting Denial (and Un-Denial). Secretary of the Expediency Council and 2009 Presidential candidate Mohsen Rezaei has used Khabar Online to deny a report in Der Spiegel, "He knows that even his six bodyguards will be no protection if he sticks his neck out too far in Ahmadinejad's republic." Rezaei said, "Perhaps through making such allegations, some are trying to disrupt the peaceful climate and endanger cooperation, brotherhood of Iranian people."

Rezaei, however, said nothing about this portion of the article: "Like [Mehdi] Karroubi, Rezaei refers to 'Dr. Ahmadinejad' and avoids using the word president. And like Karroubi the reformer, Rezai the conservative says: "It can't go on like this."

0740 GMT: The Oil Squeeze. Tehran Times offers an optimistic counter to recent stories of countries limiting their imports of Iranian oil: exports from Tehran to Japan rose 21 percent in March.

0720 GMT: Iran and Women's Rights. A twist in the tale of Iran's successful attempt at membership on the UN Commission on the Status of Women, as the Canadian Government issued a sharp criticism:

“It is the Government of Canada’s understanding that Iran was acclaimed as a member of the UN Commission on the Status of Women as part of an uncontested slate endorsed by the Asian regional group, of which Canada is not a member,” [Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon] said. “We deplore this development but will use Iran’s membership on this body to take the Iranian authorities to task for their systemic human rights violations. We have done so in the United Nations General Assembly. We have done so in the United Nations Human Rights Council, and at every opportunity will continue to do so publicly.”

It will be interesting to see if the US, one of the countries who voted Iran on to the Commission by acclamation, takes any notice.

0710 GMT: Look Over There! Yesterday we noted that Fars News was so busy covering international May Day protests that it forgot to notice them at home.

Step up, Press TV. Its feature story is "May Day Turns Violent in Berlin", but it does have a bit of domestic coverage:

“We have documents that prove [Washington] is the root of world terrorism. It has been aiding and abetting extremist groups over the past years,” said President Ahmadinejad in a Saturday ceremony marking World Labor Day.

Curiously, however, the Press TV correspondent who noticed this ceremony missed the students who "greeted" the President. Indeed, the correspondent seems, in his/her haste to note the US and world terrorism on "World Labor DaY", all of Iran's workers.

0700 GMT: We begin today with two features: Scott Lucas offers an analysis of the events of May Day, "The Scattering of Protest is Still Protest", and we have an eyewitness account from an Iranian who recently returned to the country for a month, "The Movement is Still Strong and Vibrant".

On to National Teachers Day today to see if it brings further signs of protest despite the regime's dedicated attempt to put dissent beyond vision, if not to crush it altogether.