2100 GMT: The Assault on Zahra Rahnavard. More on the alleged attack on Mir Hossein Mousavi’s wife this afternoon at Tehran University: Persian2English has an English summary.
2055 GMT: Britain Leads, Will US Follow? British Foreign Minister David Miliband has taken notice of today’s events in a statement:
I share the concern of many people about the use of force to stifle demonstrations on Students’ Day. This follows the large scale abuses of human rights that have taken place since the presidential elections on 12 June.
Freedom of speech and freedom of political expression are fundamental values which all governments should respect. We look to the Iranian authorities to up-hold the freedoms of their own citizens, not stifle them.
Will Britain’s allies in Washington also issue a declaration of concern over “human rights”? Read the rest of this entry »
The second story is potentially bigger. Press TV’s website reports that former President Mohammad Khatami met former members of Parliament and said, “We are the real protectors of the Islamic Republic not those who showed in recent months that they are uprooting the republic and Islamic nature of the establishment.” Khatami expressed concern about the “illegal” attitude adopted towards the Iranian nation after the election: “Certain ongoing moves run counter to legal principles.”
What Press TV fails to note is that those former members of Parliament issued a statement a few days ago raising the issue of the authority of the Supreme Leader. So this meeting may be part of the move to invoke Law 111 over the prudence and justice of Khamenei.
2005 GMT: Agence France Presse reports, “Iran released 24-year-old French academic Clotilde Reiss on bail Sunday six weeks after she was arrested on suspicion of spying, the French presidency said, adding that she is in good health.”
2000 GMT: Revolutionary Road has posted a summary in English, including the names of the defendants, in today’s third trial of post-election political detainees.
1905 GMT: And it’s not just Press TV that is giving airtime to the opposition and “enemies” of the regime. An EA correspondent reports that Iranian state television, including IRIB Channel 1, is also carrying the denial of charges by an attorney for one of the defendants in today’s trial in Tehran (see 1625 GMT).
1855 GMT: Press TV’s website is now summarising, in fact almost reprinting in full, the latest statement from Mir Hossein Mousavi: “Our election campaign was conducted under the Constitution and the principles which the Iranian nation holds dear. We still remain committed to the same slogans.”
The article prints, without any critical commentary, Mousavi’s memories of Election Night:
[At first] we thought that mismanagement was the cause of chaos. I, myself, made contacts with authorities of the country. On the election day, I called the Judiciary Chief [Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi] twice, the Prosecutor General [Qorban-Ali Dorri-Najafabadi] two times, the Majlis Speaker [Ali Larijani] twice, and the Office of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution [Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei] four times to raise issues about the pre-planned scenarios.
Mousavi, the former prime minister who worked under the founder of the Islamic Revolution, added that he had dispatched a team to see Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli, “but, surprisingly, he refused to meet” with them.
Mousavi’s challenge to the regime is also featured: “We are confident that an atmosphere of mistrust would not have been created in the country if a fair attitude had been adopted [after the election], to the demands of the Iranian people, and if the media had been prevented from attributing the nation’s will to foreigners and diverting facts.”
2115 GMT: Good Night. For us at EA, a thank you to all those who have joined today and a symbolic reminder: pictured at left is Neda Agha Soltan’s mother, who was not able to attend the ceremony at her daughter’s grave but who lit a candle in a nearby park as her memorial.
2110 GMT: Coming to the close of an eventful day, let’s drop in on Press TV’s coverage: “Iran’s opposition supporters, gathered at a cemetery in Tehran for a memorial service for the victims of the recent post-election unrest, have been met by Iranian police.”
The image of a casual “meeting”, perhaps for cake and a cup of tea, is dispelled in the next sentence, however, “Police forces on Thursday used tear gas to break up supporters of defeated presidential candidates Mehdi Karroubi and Mir-Hossein Mousavi.” And the overall report is neutral, even (whisper it) somewhat favourable towards the Green Movement.
That is, except for an obligatory last sentence: “Iranian authorities say foreign agents have fueled the post-vote violence which led to the deaths.”
The blog Revolutionary Road, a useful source of information throughout the post-election crisis, has posted a list of names of more than 60 people killed or missing and more than 300 detained since 12 June:
2110 GMT: According to his son, pro-reform journalist Isa Saharkhiz has been seized and taken to an undisclosed location.
2015 GMT:Reports that women’s rights activist Zeynab Peyghambarzadeh was arrested today in the “Mothers of Martyrs” rally in Laleh Park.
2000 GMT: Now This is Interesting. According to Iran Labor News Agency, Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, in a meeting with the families of detainees, has said post-election events had caused “bitterness” while denying there was a power struggle in the Islamic state: “I don’t think that (anybody with a) vigilant conscience is satisfied with the current situation.”
Rafsanjani’s manoeuvre should be seen as an attempt to get as much political leverage as possible while distancing himself from any call for massive change: “I hope with good management and wisdom the issues would be settled in the next days and the situation could improve … We should think about protecting the system’s long-term interests.”
So Iran’s ultimate politician is not going to make any challenge to the Supreme Leader. But here is the unknown from the interview: what does he propose as the fate of President Ahmadinejad? Read the rest of this entry »
2150 GMT: To end the day, we’ve posted a review by Josh Shahryar of the day’s events.
2115 GMT: Good Night. For us at EA, a thank you to all those who have joined today and a symbolic reminder: pictured at left is Neda Agha Soltan’s mother, who was not able to attend the ceremony at her daughter’s grave but who lit a candle in a nearby park as her memorial.
The blog Revolutionary Road, a useful source of information throughout the post-election crisis, 
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