The Latest from Iran (5 September): Cracking Down after the Disappointment

1905 GMT: The Story to Watch on Monday. Another rift may be opening up between the President and Parliament....

Ahmadinejad's representatives, who have asked for the withdrawal of the 5th Budget Plan because they do not like the amendments of the Majlis, did not appear in the Coordination Commission on Saturday. MP Mohammad Hassan Abutorabi-Fard was sent to the President's office --- Ahmadinejad is on a tour of Tehran Province --- to convince it to change its line.

So far there has been no movement, and the Coordination Commission has stopped its work.

Peyke Iran notes that, six months after the start of the Iranian year, the 5th Plan has not been implemented.

1900 GMT: The Regime Line. The fervently pro-Government Raja News is repeating the claim of the Revolutionary Guard's Javan that 100 reformists met to plot against Mehdi Karroubi.

1845 GMT: Execution (Sakineh) Watch. Yesterday we reported the claim of Sajad Ghaderzadeh, the son of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, that his mother had been sentenced to 99 lashes because a photograph of a woman without headscarf --- mistakenly identified as Ashtiani --- appeared in The Times of London. The punishment is added to the death sentence that Ashtiani already faces for adultery.

An unusual development today, as Ashtiani's lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaei, is claiming that Ghaderzadeh was given false information. Mostafaei, who has fled Iran and is now in Norway, says that the story of 99 lashes is untrue.

Ghaderzadeh has appealed to Mostafaei not to make any more comments either on his mother's case or on his father's death.

NEW Iran Feature: An Open Letter to Detained Activist Shiva Nazar Ahari (Vahidmanesh)
NEW Iran Breaking: Uncertainty if Lawyer Nasrine Sotoudeh Arrested
Iran Special: How Do You Analyse a Non-Event? (Lucas)
Iran Overview: “A Small Rally to Make More Enemies” (Shahryar)
Iran Propaganda Special: The Green Sedition Festival
UPDATED Iran Video: The Claimed Attack on Karroubi’s House (2/3 September)
The Latest from Iran (4 September): A Qods Day Failure?

1630 GMT: Sanctions Watch. Bankers and businessmen report that most banks in the United Arab Emirates, a key trading partner and conduit for Iran, have stopped money transfers after the latest round of sanctions.

Dubai-based Iranian businessman Morteza Masoumzadeh, vice president of the Iranian Business Council, said that the latest sanctions have halved trade with Dubai, an important re-export centre for Iranian goods.

A banker with an Emirati bank said that transfers to Iran in dollars and euros are now forbidden, and have become "very difficult, if not impossible, in dirhams," the UAE's currency.

"Transactions by Iranian clients are closely monitored," the banker said, adding that certain activities by Iranian clients, such as transfers to Asia to purchase goods, are sometimes blocked.

"We used to deal with some banks in Tehran, but now it is almost impossible," the banker said.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Sunday responded to trouble on another front, as Japan announced it is suspending new oil and gas investments in Iran and freezing the assets of 88 organizations and 24 individuals. Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said any country that imposes sanctions on Iran will create problems for their companies, waste their national interests, and pass on business opportunities to their rivals.

Better news for Tehran came with the resumption of gas export to Turkey after 12 days of disruption because of an explosion, thought to be the work of the Kurdish separatist movement PKK, that damaged a major pipeline.

1523 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. More sentences against youths: an appeals court in Mazandaran in northern Iran has confirmed the prison sentences and lashings for 10 university students.

1520 GMT: The Karroubi Siege (Wasn't Us Edition --- cont.). The head of the Basij militia, Mohammad Reza Naqdi, has blamed the US, Britain, and Zionists for the attack on Mehdi Karroubi's home.

1515 GMT: We have posted updates on the detention of defense attorney Nasrine Sotoudeh and on the regime efforts to blame "Western media" for the disappointment of the Qods Day rally.

1425 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Iran's Supreme Court has confirmed the death penalty for Kurdish activist Habibollah Golparipour.

1420 GMT: The Karroubi Siege (Wasn't Us Edition). The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps has issued a statement denying involvement in the attacks on Mehdi Karroubi's home, blaming "rogue elements" for the violence and intimidation.

1415 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. A day marked by news of detentions and trials of student activists (see 0930 and 1105 GMT). It is reported that Sanandaj Azad University student Azad Kamangar was arrested by intelligence agents two days ago. His whereabouts are unknown.

Kamangar's uncle, Farzad Kamangar, was one of five Iranians executed on 9 May for alleged ties to the Kurdish separatist group PJAK.

1410 GMT: Execution (Sakineh) Watch Update. As the son of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani asks Pope Benedict XVI (see 1220 GMT) to intervene on behalf of his mother, sentenced to death for adultery, the Vatican has issued a statement condemning stoning.

The Vatican's spokesman, the Reverend Federico Lombardi, said the Vatican had not received a formal appeal but was "following the case with attention and interest". He added, "When the Holy See is asked, in an appropriate way, to intervene in humanitarian issues with the authorities of other countries, as it has happened many times in the past, it does so not in a public way, but through its own diplomatic channels."

1220 GMT: Execution (Sakineh) Watch. Peyke Iran reports that Sajad Ghaderzadeh, the son of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, has appealed to Pope Benedict XVI and the Italian Government to seek clemency for his mother, who is sentenced to death for adultery.

Coincidentally, Keyhan newspaper --- which last week called French First Lady Carla Bruni a "prostitute" and said she should die after she joined the calls for leniency in Ashtiani's case --- has declared that Italian President Silvio Berlusconi, who publicly supported Ashtiani, is a "Mafia leader" and "a symbol of decadence, moral corruption, and sexual addiction".

1120 GMT: Academic Corner. Writing in Haaretz, Zvi Bar'el reports on tensions within Iran's universities. Included in the piece....

*An Iranian academic who writes Bar'el, "We will no longer be able to correspond using the previous e-mail address. I have begun work at Amirkabir University and I am afraid that the supervision of e-mails will be far more stringent," and notes difficulties with resources: "We try to glean whatever we can from the Internet, but the problem starts much earlier, with high-school students. They don't learn anything --- and I'm talking about top students who passed the exams with very high marks."

*The Supreme Leader's plan for the construction of another 1,000 mosques in schools at all levels and the addition of new religious subjects

*The difficulties for graduates in finding suitable employment, with some waiting more than three years to find suitable work.

1105 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Reformist politician Mohsen Safaei Farahani, who suffered a heart attack last week in Evin Prison, has been transferred to the Cardiac Clinic in Tehran.

The final court hearing has been held for two student activists, Bahareh Hedayat and Milad Asadi. We await word on further sentencing: in May, Hedayat received a 9 1/2-year prison term and Asadi was given six years.

1100 GMT: Stopping the Lawyers. As we await word on the fate of defense attorney Nasrine Sotoudeh, summoned to court yesterday, and note the general crackdown by the regime, we flash back to a November 2007 article in the Los Angeles Times, "In Iran, A Cadre of Lawyers Takes the Case of Justice".

0930 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Tehran’s court of appeals has confirmed the sentencing of Mohammadreza Rashad, a student activist at Azad University, to two years of suspended imprisonment. Rashad was arrested a few days after the demonstrations last December at his home and was held in detention for 3 months.

An appeals court has upheld the two-year sentence of Mohsen Abdi, a student activist at Hamadan’s Bou Ali Sina University. Abdi was also detained just after the Ashura demonstration.

0745 GMT: We have posted an open letter to journalist and activist Shiva Nazar Ahari, facing trial and a possible death penalty, from her colleague Parvaneh Vahidmanesh.

0715 GMT: Parliament and Government. Lost this week, amidst Qods Day and the Karroubi siege, is the news that 13 of 21 ministers in the Ahmadinejad Cabinet have been summoned to the Majlis. The ministers --- in science, education, social welfare, labour, foreign policy, oil, health care, interior, communications, industry, energy, and justice --- will be answering queries in several commissions. A list of 78 questions has already been posted.

0710 GMT: Film Corner. Director Jafar Panahi, detained for three months earlier this year and barred from leaving Iran, tells the US film newspaper Variety by phone, "I have learned something, and that is that I never lose hope. I hope that things will change even tomorrow, or in the next year so that I can start working again."

0645 GMT: Regrouping. A series of items on attempts by some conservatives and principlists to re-establish a common front....

Habibollah Asgarouladi used tough talk, denouncing those who "try to increase tensions everyday" and declaring that "system-breaking reformists have broken all bridges behind them" and "cannot return to the Revolution, Supreme Leader, and people". He added that some had tried to divide the clergy, but the clerics were too clever to accept this.

Asgarouladi capped out his move by saying that the "fitna" (sedition) movement was passing its last days, and the leaders were related to Al Qa'eda.

Other principlists are publicly discussing whether to make approaches to reformists or to focus on the reconstruction of their movement. Emad Afrough summarised that the solution to actual problems is that "the Revolution gets back in the hands of well-founded persons", declaring also that "there is unity in diversity".

0635 GMT: The Battle Within. Khabar Online reveals what occured during a meeting between the President and Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of the Expediency Council and 2009 Presidential candidate, two months ago.

Khabar asserts that  Ahmadinejad was given nine points of advice. These included strengthening legal institutions, support for private sector, creating a uniform management structure and opposing sanctions, supporting the domestic economy, and supporting relations with neighbouring countries.

If the report is true, this meeting took place around the time that --- according to our sources --- Rezaei was meeting Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani and key MP Ahmad Tavakoli to discuss the limiting of Ahmadinejad's authority and possibly his replacement.

Rumours of three other meetings with the President have been denied by the Rezaei camp.

0630 GMT: Speaking of Legitimacy. Prominent commentator Babak Dad has praised the letter of Fatemeh Karroubi, Mehdi Karroubi's wife, to the Supreme Leader during the siege of the Karroubi home. He notes that the mere fact that a woman would dare to write to Khamenei is an insult to the regime.

In the letter, Fatemeh Karroubi challenged the Supreme Leader by asking if he condoned the "unethical acts" of the pro-regime crowd around the Karroubi residence.

0625 GMT: The Regime Line. Javan, the newspaper linked to the Revolutionary Guard, has tried another line of attack, claiming that a group of about 100 members of the reformist Islamic Iran Participation Front members staged a rally against Mehdi Karroubi.

0620 GMT: Speaking of Legitimacy. The Palestinian Authority has struck back at Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's denunciation, in his Qods Day address on Friday, of the Israel-Palestinian direct talks.

It did so by going to the heart of Ahmadinejad's claim of authority. A spokesman said, "He who does not represent the Iranian people, who forged elections and who suppresses the Iranian people and stole the authority, is not entitled to talk about Palestine, or the President of Palestine."

0615 GMT: The Karroubi Siege and the Supreme Leader. This extract from an interview of Mehdi Karroubi's son Hossein, conducted by the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, is striking: “My father believes the attackers were organized by the security forces and government. There is no point in filing a lawsuit against these actions, as we know it’s not going to go anywhere. The attackers have complete impunity.”

0610 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. An Iranian activist, drawing from RAHANA, has updated the list of known political prisoners, posting 591 names.

0600 GMT: A busier than expected Saturday, with lots of follow-up on the apparent disappointment for the regime of its Qods Day show and some signs of quiet satisfaction amongst the opposition. One activist asserted, "The regime was heavily duped by the Greens.They "jaa khaali daadand" (sidestepped) and left Ahmadinejad alone with his misery."

The twist on Saturday, however, is that the Government was not ready to be left alone with misery. Instead, the evidence was of a follow-up --- as has happened on other occasions --- of intimidation. While more information came in of last week's attacks on Mehdi Karroubi's home and the Qoba Mosque in Shiraz, there was more propaganda against "enemies" and detentions.

Perhaps the most significant development was the widening of the campaign against defence lawyers with the summoning of Nasrine Sotoudeh to court. She was held overnight, and we'll be looking today to see if she has been arrested.

We're also keeping an eye out for the outcome of the trial of prominent journalist and activist Shiva Nazar Ahari, which was supposed to take place yesterday.

One correction: last night we reported a demonstration of several hundred people in Sari in Mazandaran province in northern Iran was over discrimination in university admissions. It was actually over discrimination in alllocation of jobs.

Iran Feature: An Open Letter to Detained Activist Shiva Nazar Ahari (Vahidmanesh)

As we wait for news on the trial of journalist and activist Shiva Nazar Ahari, detained since July 2009 and possibly facing the death penalty, we note this open letter from her colleague Parvaneh Vahidmanesh. Translation by Persian2English:

It has not been long since the first time I saw you. It is as though in these short few years great events have taken place.

Dear Shiva, that day in Siah o Sepid café, when we sat across from one another for the first time, and you were, in your words, interviewing me for a job in the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, no reformist had yet heard your name, nor were they ready to work with you. I remember those days when I suggested we enter talks with members of Tahkim Vahdat (one of the major student unions in Iran), and explore the possibility of cooperation with them, you said that they will not let us into their circle, and that we are strangers in their eyes.

The simple blog of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters with the same address in Blogfa was a place where you practiced human rights. When the number of blog viewers would go up, or when the news first published by the blog was cited elsewhere, you would be overcome with joy. There was you, the blog, and the meetings where the absence of each of us would make you angry. You used to say, “The cause is serious, don’t take it as a joke.”

The page turned after the death of Akbar Mohammadi [sentenced for his role in the 1999 student protests, died in detention in 2006]. It was you who recounted the minute-to-minute story of his hunger strike. It was you who did not let his name die in the midst of the month of Mordad (July-August) and its ruckus. When we headed to his hometown to attend his funeral, we were in one bus, and the activists of Tahkim Vahdat were in another. This was where the first steps of cooperation were taken.

Later, and because of the new people who joined the Committee, this tie became stronger, and bore a lot of fruit. You were a women’s rights activist, and Zahra Rahnavard, then president of al-Zahra, an all-women university, had never heard of your name. She never knew that you were sent to solitary confinement for lighting a few candles. Karroubi, the speaker of the parliament with whom you were trying to meet for saving the lives of the prisoners, didn’t know your name.

Akbar Ganji had not heard your name; he who sees you now in the stature of his own daughter, Rezvaneh. He had not heard that there are women who transcend ideology and creed to spend their days defending the rights of prisoners whom they may never greet after release, because they fear of being accused of ties with hostile opposition groups.

Now, Rahnavard cries out your name, she who built the sculpture of “Mother” that sits in the centre of Mohseni Square in Tehran. Many times when you were around the statue, you talked of the mothers who were breastfeeding their children in the prison and were crying blood and cleansing the wounds of the torture they had born. I do not know whether Zahra Rahnavard was thinking of the mothers of those executed in the summer of 1988 when she was making this sculpture, but I do know that every time you saw this statue, you had a lump in your throat. Now, the creator of that sculpture sees herself as a Shiva Nazar Ahari and is ready to be tried in your place. Can you believe it, Shiva?

Can you believe that the very same people who had a position within the ruling establishment and were ignoring you and your ideals are now crying your name? Do you see it Shiva? This change has not come easily. You should be proud of yourself, girl!

Fakhrolsadat Mohtashamipour, whose “Turquoise Girls” was her creative approach to non-violent and reformist resistance, did not know you. Ms. Mohtashamipour now writes for you. Her Turquoise girls carve your name. Shiva is not a strange name to them anymore. Now, the students at Iranian universities call your name.

Remain strong, Shiva! Many have new-found strength through observing your resistance, girl….

Shiva, can you believe that your name is now everywhere: From Senator McCain who was beating on the drums of war with Iran to myriads of private organizations devoted to defending the rights of women and children. When I read McCain’s letter, I thought to myself of the stir you caused by lighting candles and by walking along the highways of southern Tehran where you were coming back from the classes for the children in labour. When I see an American woman who has a hard time pronouncing your name and cannot believe that you are spending days and nights behind bars for defending and supporting women and children, when I see a man on this corner of the world who never knew you [but still] hung your picture on his wall after reading your biography, I realize how much work can be done…how great one can be, how one can become eternal without making common commotions…how one can become the voice of the voiceless and take the hand of the one in need…how one can ridicule interrogators such as Alavi and Mortazavi, and how can one guard and protect the humane virtues and purities in the face of their obscene and nasty looks and stares.

I do not intend to sanctify you, to throne on the highest. I just want to set a reminder for many, for those imprisoned yesterday and today, for the exiled of the past and the present, for the 30-year long memory of this land, for your mother who gave you to the world as a gift on a morning in June, that I will not leave you, that we shall not forget that you are called the mother of human rights in Iran.

Long live, girl. Keep it up. A world is looking up to you!

The Latest from Iran (4 September): A Qods Day Failure?

2045 GMT: Academic Corner. The Deputy Treasurer of Tehran University, Mohammad Hossein Moqimi, has announced that about 40 faculty members have "retired" since March.

Moqimi that all the academics had retired according to regulations and legal provisions and that this must not be seen as a political issue.

In recent months, Iranian authorities have replaced the heads of more than 20 universities and education centres.

NEW Iran Breaking: Uncertainty if Lawyer Nasrine Sotoudeh Arrested
NEW Iran Special: How Do You Analyse a Non-Event? (Lucas)
NEW Iran Overview: “A Small Rally to Make More Enemies” (Shahryar)
NEW Iran Propaganda Special: The Green Sedition Festival
UPDATED Iran Video: The Claimed Attack on Karroubi’s House (2/3 September)
Iran Video and English Summary: Mehdi Karroubi after 5th Night of Pro-Regime Siege (3 September)
Iran Urgent: Breaking News with Video on Day 5 of Karroubi “Siege”
The Latest from Iran (3 September): Qods Day and the Karroubi Siege

2010 GMT: The Karroubi Siege. The reformist Islamic Iran Participation Front has written to Mehdi Karroubi, regretting the poor performance of the police in protecting the Karroubi home from pro-regime attackers.

2005 GMT: Economy Watch. Several hundred people have protested at Sari in Mazandaran province in northern Iran over alleged discrimination in allocation of jobs.

The demonstrators claimed that, rather than employing based on ability, authorities show favouritism towards under-qualified candidates. Some protesters claimed that those who were supporters of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were given preference.

1935 GMT: We have posted a separate feature on emerging news about the possibility that lawyer and women's right activist Nasrine Sotoudeh, summoned to court today, has been arrested.

1925 GMT: The Attack on the Clerics. Radio Zamaneh reports that Grand Ayatollah Dastgheib returned to Qoba Mosque in Shiraz, a day after it was attacked and closed by a pro-regime crowd.

After iron fences set up after the assault were taken down, Ayatollah Dastgheib gave a speech condemning the assault, insisting that even the Supreme Leader could not have supported the attack.

The website adds more details about Friday's events. They followed announcement signed by “the pious followers of the Supreme Leader in Fars Province and the holy city of Shiraz”, distributed in mosques on Thursday night, calling for the prosecution of Ayatollah Dastgheib. The statement accused the cleric of being the “perpetrator of satanic plans” and “speaking the language of the enemy” as well as “threatening the religious beliefs of the people” by sitting at the head of Qoba Mosque.

The statement demanded that Ayatollah Dastgheib be removed and warned the provincial and city authorities that if they do not comply with their demands, they would have to take matters into their own hands.

The Governor of Shiraz, Hossein Ghasemi, reportedly appeared at Qoba Mosque on Friday, but he was forced to leave when the crowd hurled rocks at his car.

1915 GMT: The Karroubi Siege. A group from the Association of Combatant Clerics visited Mehdi Karroubi at his house today.

1910 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Kalameh claims that officials at Evin Prison have told the political detainees of Ward 350 that they have to write letters of repentance if they want phone lines restored. The telephone privileges were reportedly revoked more than seven weeks ago.

1825 GMT: The Karroubi Siege. Mehdi Karroubi's son Hossein has talked to Deutsche Welle about the attacks on his family's house and messages of support from politicians, clerics, and activists.

Hossein Karroubi said some of the attackers were from a local detention centre, indicating regime complicity in the siege.

An Iranian activist adds to our report yesterday that a man and woman were beaten, with the woman's headscarf removed, by the pro-regime crowd. They were Karroubi supporters Hadi Shirpour and his wife, who were watching the attack. The activist claims that police, rather than stopping the assault, joined in.

Shirpour and his wife were then put into a police van and taken away.

1815 GMT: Execution (Ashtiani) Watch. Sajad Ghaderzadeh, the son of condemned detainee Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, says his mother has been sentenced to 99 lashes for a photograph published of a woman --- falsely claimed to be Ashtiani --- without a headscarf.

Ghaderzadeh said he learned of the punishment from released inmates. Ashtiani has been given the death penalty for adultery.

On 28 August, The Times of London published a photograph that it said was Ashtiani without hijab. Six days later, it said the attribution of the photo was incorrect.

The Guardian of London adds more details about the episode, including the confusion over the mistaken photograph.

1655 GMT: All the President's Men. Omid Memarian writes about the ruthless rise and possible fall of former Tehran Prosecutor General and Presidential aide Saeed Mortazavi, who was recently suspended by the judiciary from his post because of complicity in the post-election abuses and killings at Kahrizak Prison.

In 2004, as one of 20 journalists, bloggers, and website managers detained in a regime crackdown, Memarian had first-hand experience of Mortazavi:

In my case, he warned me what would happen if I ever talked about what had gone on in the prison. “Anyone can be in a car accident, from members of parliament to taxi drivers to plumbers. You journalists are no exception,” he said.

1645 GMT: Sanctions Claim of the Day. This has to be one of the most creative economic analyses I have ever encountered....

First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi has declared that sanctions will bring 200,000 new jobs to Iran. His reasoning is that "the West" will lose 150,000 to 200,000 employees because of the downturn in trade with Tehran and Iran will naturally fill that gap.

1625 GMT: The Karroubi Siege. Former President Mohammad Khatami has called Mehdi Karroubi to condemn the attacks on the Karroubi home.

We have posted new claimed video of Thursday night's attack.

1620 GMT: Secure Regime? Tehran Police Chief Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam has criticised counterparts in Iran's security agencies for ordering the mobilisation of forces on Thursday, the day before Qods Day.

1229 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. An Iranian activist reports that, as expected (see 0855 GMT), journalist and activist Shiva Nazar Ahari has been brought to court to face charges including "mohareb" (war against God). She was brought to the courtroom in handcuffs.

It is also reported that Saeed Haeri, a member of Committee of Human Rights Reporters, went on trial today.

Leading reformist politician Mohsen Safaei Farahani, who suffered a heart attack this week in detention, has called home. He says he is better but he is not allowed to say in which hospital he is being treated.

1224 GMT: It's All in the Terminology. Today's post-Qods Day hot topic on the Iranian news portal Balatarin? Using the model of "occupied Palestine" to present an "occupied Iran".

1220 GMT: The US and the Battle Within. Writing in OpenDemocracy, Omid Memarian offers a useful overview of Iran's internal situation and this challenging conclusion:

By removing the threat of a military attack, Washington would make the job of Tehran’s hardliners more difficult, and encourage fragmentation among the top layers of the political elite. In the present circumstances, the end of the military option would create space for those in Iran seeking to hold the hardliners in check, and offer an opening to Iranian democracy and the Iranian people.

1215 GMT: Worried Regime? Daneshjoo News reviews the heavy security presence in Babol and Mashhad as well as Tehran on Qods Day.

0855 GMT: Kamran Asa, brother of the slain protester Kianoush Asa, and Bijan Rezaie are scheduled to appear in court tomorrow.

And if earlier reports are correct, activist Shiva Nazar Ahari, detained since last July and facing a charge of "mohareb" (war against God), will be in court today.

0655 GMT: We have three specials this morning: Scott Lucas tries to figure out the significance of the "non-event" of Qods Day, Josh Shahryar looks at a "small rally that made more enemies", and Pedestrian notes the regime's exhibition of the "Green Sedition Festival".

0600 GMT: The Karroubi Siege. Mir Hossein Mousavi has put out a message condemning the attacks on the home of Mehdi Karroubi: "These black and odious measures will not block the freedom of the people."

0530 GMT: Here's the curious thing: for some in the Iranian system, Qods (Palestine) Day is already gone. Hours after the President's speech, the Friday Prayer sermon by Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, the wall-to-wall declarations on Iranian media of Tehran's leadership of the movement against Israeli oppression, and the Government's rally, the occasion is nowhere to be found on Press TV's website this morning.

It has almost disappeared from the homepage of the Islamic Republic News Agency, which has moved to a rather dry statement by key Presidential advisor Mojtaba Hashemi Samareh on Iran as the "guiding harbinger of monotheism...and resistance against the oppressors and the hegemonic powers in the world".

Fars News does have the event as its Number 3 item on its pages, but the story seems a bit desperate to prove significance: "A United Arab Emirates newspaper...announced that a big march in Tehran and other Iranian cities, along with some other countries such as Turkey and India, and Indonesia was held."

And Khabar Online, leading site of the challenge within the establishment to the President, has already --- in its top feature --- returned to the issue of how to achieve "conservative unity", including reaching out to "reformers".

There's more, but I think you know where I'm going with this. Full analysis later today....

UPDATED Iran Video: The Claimed Attack on Karroubi's House (2/3 September)

UPDATE 4 September: Claimed footage of the assailants approaching the Karroubi's apartment complex and defacing the entrance. The men appear to be carrying guns:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQVbfPmeov0[/youtube]

Iran Video and English Summary: Mehdi Karroubi after 5th Night of Pro-Regime Siege (3 September)
Iran Urgent: Breaking News with Video on Day 5 of Karroubi “Siege”

We noted this video when it first appeared several hours ago. We were careful about posting because of difficulty of verification. However, as it is now circulating widely, we are putting this up as an alleged recording of Thursday night/Friday morning's attack on the home of Mehdi Karroubi.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz0gGyBztxA&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Iran Overview: "A Small Rally to Make More Enemies" (Shahryar)

Josh Shahryar considers the significance of the Qods Day events yesterday:

Iran managed to hold its annual anti-Israel Quds Day rallies this year in relative peace, as the opposition stayed away from the streets. Thousands of hard-line supporters of the Iranian government flocked to the streets of the capital Tehran and elsewhere in the country to denounce Israel, and to demand that Jews leave the Middle East. The numbers were a far cry from the rallies in past years that attracted millions, a good indicator of the government’s waning popularity.

Even though opposition activists had quietly indicated that they would hold rallies against the government, no one showed up after the government filled the streets with thousands of security forces. Their decision to not show up was also affected by the government’s brazen attacks on the house of opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi for the past two days.

The main government rallies in Tehran were marked by supporters marching through the streets in different parts of the city, carrying anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian placards and chanting anti-Israel slogans. By far the largest crowd gathered in Tehran University, which was under tight security, where President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave another of his anti-Israel speeches. This time, he managed both to denounce Israel and to call the current round of peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians in Washington “a failure from the start”. He also accused the West of blatant pro-Zionist policies.

Quds Day is held on the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in Iran. Initiated by Iran’s revolutionary leader Imam Khomeini, the protest was meant to show solidarity with Palestinians. It has now largely turned into a platform for Iran’s regime to promote its own version of anti-Semitism, anti-Americanism, and anti-everything the mullahs in power seek to denounce — including their domestic opposition.

The opposition spent the day tending to the attack on their leader, and according to some activists, enjoyed the degree to which the government has become frightened of their activities. One activist opined:

The government had to put thousands of security forces on Tehran’s streets under scorching heat for most of the day. Logistically speaking, this is a great blow, since not only did they spend a lot of money to contain a ghost, but also fatigued their thugs.

Another lamented that if the government hadn’t put too many security forces on the ground, they might have held a rally.

What the day proved, however, was that the government is indeed troubled by the opposition, and is ready to go to any lengths to control their activities. This is a hard blow to a regime that has recently boasted that it has crushed the opposition, and that the Green Movement — a coalition of anti-government opposition groups — is not a threat. The streets of Tehran today were a witness to how much of a threat they expected.

Two of the city’s main squares, Enghelab and Hafte Tir, were covered by security forces. Roads leading to many other squares were also completely sealed by baton-wielding Basijis — a militant organization under the direct control of the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. Basijis also patrolled the metro stations in the city and routinely questioned people there. Elsewhere, security forces set up checkpoints and searched ordinary Tehranis. Eyewitnesses have so far confirmed the arrests of at least a dozen people — indicating the real number to be much higher.

The situation in Tehran was much better compared to Shiraz, however.

Clashes broke out in this southern city when security forces attacked Ghoba Mosque, the main seat of Ayatollah Dastegheyb, a respected cleric and supporter of the opposition movement. Hundreds of Basijis entered the mosque and beat up the cleric’s students who’d gathered there. Mosque officials were told not to hold any gatherings, and the establishment was already surrounded by security forces before the attack.

Back in the capital, Basijis continued their attacks on Mehdi Karroubi’s house for the fifth day. They shot paintball guns, threw rocks, and shot at the house. They also beat up several people outside the house who were either passing by or attempting to enter the house. Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi called Karroubi to express his support, as did Grand Ayatollah Bayat Zanjani, another renegade cleric who supports the opposition. Sayed Yasser Khomeini — the grandson of the leader of Iran’s revolution, Imam Khomeini — visited Karroubi and decried the government’s actions.

Later in the day, videos from inside of Karroubi’s house were released, showing broken windows and bullet holes in walls.

As the day ended, most opposition supporters may have been disheartened, but one dissident summed up the situation with these words:

They held a small rally to make more enemies. We didn’t show up, but we’re making more friends every day.