2040 GMT: We now have an English translation of the Mousavi meeting with the reformists, posted in a separate entry.
1910 GMT: Parleman News has updated and extended its summary of the Mousavi meeting with reformist faction Imam Khomeini Line. The story reiterates the significant shift in Mousavi’s approach that we have noted (1240 GMT, 1615 GMT, 1800 GMT).
1900 GMT: Overseas Mystery of Night. Why is Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in Washington? I presume it’s to visit the Smithsonian Institution and maybe the National Art Gallery, since the State Department denies he is seeing US officials.
2115 GMT: Meanwhile, Rafsanjani Plays It Cool. Amidst the Government chaos, the former President is playing down talk of a serious rift within the regime. According to Mehr News Agency, Rafsanjani praised the Supreme Leader, “He is a progressive and forward-looking thinker in different subjects. The propaganda by the foreign media who try to suggest that there is a power struggle in the top level of the regime is unfair injustice to the Islamic revolution.”
The statement appears to be a continuation of Rafsanjani’s strategy to show allegiance to Ayatollah Khamenei while manoeuvring against a weakened President: “I have hope in the supreme leader to solve the current problems based on his knowledge and experience and I still stick to the solutions I offered in the Friday prayer.”
With these comments, Rafsanjani is also maintaining his position against the “hard-line” members of the Assembly of Experts, who attempted to undermine him in a statement earlier this week.
2100 GMT: Well, This is a Fine Mess. Conflicting reports all night over the state of the Ahmadinejad Cabinet. Some accounts now say that the President fired only Minister of Intelligence Ejeie and has not dismissed the other three (Culture, Health, and Labour); Ahmadinejad apparently realised he would face a vote of confidence in Parliament if all four ministers were removed from office.
2035 GMT: The Guardian reports that 36 Iranian army officers were arrested after planning to attend Hashemi Rafsanjani’s sermon in uniform in uniform, “as an act of political defiance.” (via IranWire)
Kadkhodai claimed that “the Guardian Council applied all possible legal means to ensure maximum trust in the election process”. He also said that when we were investigating the election Larijani suggested “…. that a committee compromised of heads of the national auditory office, national prosecution office and a member of the Guardian Council be formed to investigate the complaints of the opposition candidates”. Kadkhodai continued by claiming “… although this suggestion [of Larijani's] was problematic we accepted it … but Mousavi and Karroubi rejected the proposal”.
Kadkhodai claimed that contrary to the statement of Rafsanjani, “that in the given five days the Guardian Council used all opportinities to ensure trust [in the election process].” Commenting upon the fact that the Guardian council has been at the receiving end of critical statements, Kadkhodai said “unfortunately some prominent men made no effort to solve these problems. If they had done so, maybe the worries of Mr. Rafsanjani would have been addressed. Kadkhodai closed his interview by stating that “the Guardian Council has not shirked in performing its legal duties in the presidential election process and has left a good performance record”.
2015 GMT:Another twist in the tale of Ahmadinejad’s VP- Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai has just updated his personal website with a statement that says: “rumours of my resignation have been propagated by ill-intentioned people who intend to force my resignation and thereby cause the collapse of the government. These rumours are absolute falsehoods.” The confusion over his current status within the Ahmadinejad government could indicate infighting amongst Iranian conservatives.
2000 GMT: A few hours ago (see 1700 GMT) we linked to a post by Juan Cole, which suggested that Iranian hard liners weren’t happy. A reader informs us that Cole has confused Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi, an ultra-hardline cleric. with Ayatollah Yazdi, also a hardline cleric.
1930 GMT: Iranian press are reporting that former President Khatami has called for a referendum on the legitimacy of the Government.
1700 GMT: Abbas Palizdar, who exposed the corruption of many officials including Ayatollah Yazdi, has been freed. (via IranRiggedElect)
1630 GMT: The Government buckles. Esfandiar Rahim Mashai- whose daughter is married to Ahmadinejad’s son- has declined appointment as 1st Vice President after pressure from Members of Parliament.
Rumour of the Day: In a meeting last Tuesday, the Supreme Leader asked Hashemi Rafsanjani to attend Ahmadinejad’s inauguration. Rafsanjani angrily refused.
1500 GMT: A significant development? Conservative site Jahan News is reporting that Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai has resigned his post as Ahmadinejad’s VP pick.
2040 GMT: We now have an English translation of the Mousavi meeting with the reformists, posted in a separate entry.
2115 GMT: Meanwhile, Rafsanjani Plays It Cool. Amidst the Government chaos, 
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