The Latest from Iran (2 February): A Quiet Start to An Unquiet Day

2150 GMT: A Final Note. We'll know more tomorrow, after Iranian state media kicks into high gear, but the Ahmadinejad statement on the nuclear talks --- which had effectively gone into the freezer --- could be big. All of a sudden, the move of Iran's uranium stock outside the country is A-OK: "If we allow them to take it, there is no problem. We sign a contract to give 3.5 percent enriched uranium and receive 20 percent enriched one after four or five months."

But --- and watch this, because it will probably be missed by Western media more concerned with the West-Iran dynamic --- Ahmadinejad may have re-opened a fight with Iran's "conservatives" over his nuclear strategy. As the Associated Press notes, "He dismissed concerns by what he called 'colleagues' that the West would not return the uranium."

More tomorrow.....

NEW Iran Document: The Rallying Call of Mousavi’s 14 Points (2 February)
NEW Iran Letter: Journalist Emadeddin Baghi in Prison
NEW Iran Document: Khatami Statement on Rights and Protests (1 February)
Latest Iran Video: Sunday Boxing – French Police v. Iranian Ambassador (31 January)
Iran Football Special: Green Movement Shoots! It Scores!
NEW Latest Iran Video: Foreign Minister Mottaki on Elections & Protests (31 January)
The Latest from Iran (1 February): The Anniversary Begins

2135 GMT: Hamlet and 22 Bahman. Let's close tonight on a high literary note.

Rah-e-Sabz, unsurprisingly, is jabbing away at the Government. For example, it is claiming that the Revolutionary Court has stepped back in its latest bulletin by not connecting the two executions last week to the post-election demonstrations. However, its cheekiest story is a summary of Seyed Hassan Khomeini's supposed comments as he cold-shouldered President Ahmadinejad yesterday: "To be or not to be a protester, that is the question."

2130 GMT: Another release. Journalist Mostafa Izadi, arrested on Ashura, has been freed after 34 days in solitary confinement.

2105 GMT: Missing the Point. Almost all Western media have picked up on one of today's big events, the statement of Mir Hossein Mousavi. Unfortunately, not all have realised the significance of Mousavi's resolute call to arms against the Government of "dictatorship and tyranny" for the rallies on 22 Bahman. The Associated Press mis-reads, and The Washington Post prints the mis-reading without question:

Iran's opposition leader appealed to his supporters and other anti-government activists Tuesday not to overstep the law in pressing for political and social changes....His comments also expose the range of separate and sometimes conflicting aims within the opposition camp.

2100 GMT: Protests and Releases. For the fourth night in a row, hundreds have gathered in front of Evin Prison, and for the fourth night, detainees have been freed. About 20 joined the crowd this evening.

2050 GMT: Correction. Big Correction. That's not just an Ahmadinejad posture (2020 GMT) over the nuclear talks. It appears to be a concession: according to Reuters, the President said, "We have no problem sending our enriched uranium abroad."

2040 GMT: More Invites to the Rally. The reformist Association of Combatant Clergy, calling for an acceptance of people's rule, has asked Iranians to take to the streets on 22 Bahman.

2020 GMT: Where's Mahmoud? Well, it appears that, while Iran heats up, President Ahmadinejad is still playing the international field. First, he used a meeting with the Qatari Crown Prince to strike a pose, “The Westerners cannot bear the thought of security and solidarity among regional countries. They have survived largely by sowing discord and inciting instability in the region.”

Then, perhaps more significantly, Ahmadinejad used an interview on national television tonight to keep open the prospect of a deal on Iran's nuclear programme, offering assurances that a "swap" of 20% uranium for Iran's 3.5% stock inside the country "would be properly and fully implemented".

Ahmadinejad also said that there were discussions for a swap of jailed Iranians for three US citizens detained in August after crossing into Iran from northern Iraq.

2010 GMT: Clerical Challenge. Grand Ayatollah Bayat-Zanjani, meeting members of the Islamic Association of Students at Tehran University, has criticised those who “introduce their false interpretation as the religion while seeking a specific political goal”, pointedly turning the regime's charges of "mohareb" against it: “The enemy of God (mohareb) is the one who kills and butchers people, not the protester with empty hands.”

Bayat Zanjani continued, “In the Islamic Republic we say one with a question is free to ask his/her question, he/she should not be called an Enemy of God over a question, criticism, or even protest.” However, “those who use the public podiums for terrorising, threatening, and unfortunately a platform for giving untrue and self-established definitions of the Shia’s teachings, are far from the religion of Mohammad (the Prophet) and Ali (the first Imam of Shi'a) and all they do is to feed their false interpretations to the public.”

1830 GMT: Arrests (cont.). It is reported that Ali Mohammad Eslampour, journalist and chief editor of Navay-e Vaght in Kermanshah, has been arrested.

1720 GMT: Arrests. Rah-e-Sabz reports that four members of Tehran University's Islamic Students Association have been arrested. We published three of the names earlier today (1320 GMT).

1715 GMT: Thanks to an EA correspondent, we're posting the 14 headline points of today's statement by Mir Hossein Mousavi.

1645 GMT: As an EA reader has noted in comments, the website Radio Zameneh is back on-line after a recent cyber-attack.

1637 GMT: You Know the EA All Is Well Trophy Video, Right? Well, today's winner is the Supreme Leader, who tells a group of Tehran University professors: "I'm optimistic. Recent bitter events were the result of ignorance."

1633 GMT: On the Plus Side. We're still waiting for the English translation of the Mousavi statement, but it is now getting attention in newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal and the BBC.

1630 GMT: Journalistic Idiocy Awards (US Section). It is one of the wonders of American political culture that anyone gives a moment of attention to Daniel Pipes. (I could explain why, but this would take me beyond professional decency.)

So here's a moment of attention to Pipes' latest wisdom before running away: "How to Save the Obama Presidency: Bomb Iran".

1620 GMT: Journalistic Idiocy Awards (Iran Section). Javan, the newspaper linked to the Revolutionary Guard, claims that the opposition is paying $100 to people to protest on 11 February.

1340 GMT: Worst Prediction for 22 Bahman. Retired US Navy Captain and "Fox News military analyst" Chuck Nash says, with a straight face, that President Ahmadinejad may test a nuclear device on 11 February.

1335 GMT: Interesting Clues in the "West". Lindsay Hilsum, of Britain's Channel 4, offers some interesting teasers on US and European policy from a gathering at Chatham House in London:

Last night, I went to a discussion on Iran. “Chatham House rules” mean I can’t quote anyone who was there, but the highlights are worth noting.

Someone who is well in with the Obama administration told us that when the president started his “hand outstretched” policy towards Iran it was “100 per cent about the nuclear and external policy and zero per cent about Iran’s internal issues.”

After 12 June, and the turbulent post-election crisis, there’s been some recalibration – he’d now put it at 70/30....

Another [source] (close to a European government) said: “We must ensure we do no harm. This is not our moment, and not our movement. But we must ensure the opposition is not subjugated to the nuclear issue or business interests.”

1330 GMT: Slowing Down the Net. I'll leave others to speculate on significance of this report: Internet traffic for some servers in Iran has ceased; for others it is reduced.

1320 GMT: Arrests and Sentences. Reports --- student activists Vahid Abedini, Navid Abedini, and Esmail Izadi have been detained after their houses were raided. Journalist Niloofar Laripour has been arrested after being summoned to the Ministry of Intelligence.

Journalist Keyvan Samimi has been sentenced to six years in prison, with a lifetime ban on political activity.

1315 GMT: We're Going to Get You, Hashemi. That threat against Hashemi Rafsanjani, sending the files of his children to court (see 0945 GMT)? It came from the same man who declared today We Will Kill the Detainees (1025 GMT), deputy head of Iran's judiciary, Ebrahim Raeesi.

1310 GMT: It is reported that the second court session for the 16 Ashura protesters, whose trial began on Saturday, will be held Wednesday. Five of the defendants, including two women, are charged with "mohareb" (war against God).

1025 GMT: Battling over Executions. Hours after the head of Iran's judiciary, Sadegh Larijani, said he would not be pushed by "hard-liners" into quicker executions and would follow the legal process, his deputy has reportedly assured, We're Going to Kill Them.

Fars quotes Ebrahim Raeesi in a meeting in Qom, "The two people executed (Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani and Arash Rahmanipour) and another nine who will soon be executed were definitely arrested in recent riots and each was linked with counter-revolutionary movements. They had participated in riots with the aim of creating disunity and toppling the system."

1020 GMT: Mohammad Ali Rafi'i, a member of political department of the Islamic Students Organization, has reportedly been abducted when leaving Tehran University. Peyke Iran also claims pressure on detained students to confess on television.

0945 GMT: Pressuring Rafsanjani. It appears the regime just does not trust Hashemi Rafsanjani enough to let him be: files on the investigation of his children, including Mehdi Hashemi, have been presented to a Tehran court.

(There is a hot Internet rumour that at least one of Rafsanjani's children will be marching on 22 Bahman. Rafsanjani's daughter, Faezeh Hashemi, has been involved in demonstrations since June.)

0940 GMT: Kayhan London (not to be confused with the "hard-line" Kayhan in Tehran) has now come out behind the leadership of the Green movement, while stressing it contains other political currents, and defended Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi against the attacks of those who condemn them of loyalty to the Islamic Republic.

0935 GMT: Ruining the Revolution. Agence France Presse and Reuters have both picked up on Mir Hossein Mousavi's declaration (see 0710 GMT), and it loses none of its force in translation. Mousavi claims the goals of the 1979 Revolution have not been fulfilled because the "roots of tyranny and dictatorship" still exist; Mousavi no longer believes "that the revolution had removed all those structures which could lead to totalitarianism and dictatorship":

Today, one can identify both elements and foundations which produce dictatorship as well as resistance against returning to this dictatorship Stifling the media, filling the prisons and brutally killing people who peacefully demand their rights in the streets indicate the roots of tyranny and dictatorship remain from the monarchist era... I don't believe that the revolution achieved its goals.

0825 GMT: Yahoo Keeps Mowj-e-Sabz Off-Line? In December, Mowj-e-Sabz, the key Green movement website, was knocked off-line by a cyber-attack. Those behind the site said at the time that they were suspending operations but intended to resume their journalism.

This now in from blogger Ethan Zuckerman:

I’ve been in regular contact with the administrators of Mowjcamp as they’ve tried to regain control of their site. For six weeks, they’ve been getting the runaround from Yahoo! (where they’d originally registered the domain names) and Moniker (where the hackers moved control of the domain name). Yahoo has been informed that the site was illegally moved by hackers who managed to access a Yahoo Mail account and authorize a transfer to Moniker – they’ve told the site administrators that there’s nothing they can do, and the problem’s in Moniker’s hands. Moniker, in turn, tells the administrators that they’ve responded to Yahoo, which will resolve their problem. In the meantime, the site continues to be inaccessible from the URLs by which it is most widely known.

0805 GMT: With the help of EA readers, we have posted an English translation of a letter we have received from Tehran, "Journalist Emadeddin Baghi in Prison".

0745 GMT: "A New Kind of Revolution". Setareh Sabety in Iranian.com:

[This] is the first revolution that does not need leadership nor ideology because it is fueled by a basic, unrelenting need for freedom and justice that is so strong it is self-correcting and self-propelling! This is not just a civil rights movement; this is not merely a reform movement. This is a new kind of Revolution.

0710 GMT: Quiet No Longer. Today's first big move has come from Mir Hossein Mousavi, answering 10 questions on his website Kalemeh. Among his forthright declarations: "We have lost complete hope in the judiciary system"; "Resistance to dictatorship is the precious heritage of the Islamic Revolution"; "People have always wanted justice; the demand for freedom is born of human thought".

0705 GMT: On the Economic Front. Iran's oil and gas revenue fell more than 45 percent in the first half of the current Iranian year (March-September 2009) compared to the same period in 2008.

0700 GMT: Looking for the Positive. About 1000 family members of detainees and supporters gathered again in front of Evin Prison last night. Almost 30 prisoners were reportedly released.

Amongst those freed was Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Khalaji, released on bail after his detention last month.

0650 GMT: And Those Who Have Been "Disappeared". Photographer Mehraneh Atashi and her husband Madjid Ghaffari were arrested on 12 January and detained, apparently in solitary confinement in ward 209 of Evin Prison. Authorities have released no information about charges against them. They have had no access to a lawyer, no visits from their family, and no contact apart from a brief telephone call to say they had been arrested.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has raised the situation of Atashi and Ghaffari as a case typical of "hundreds" of Iranians in the post-election conflict.

0640 GMT: The Detentions. Fereshteh Ghazi complements our morning analysis of "threats and arrests" with a summary of the current situation of political prisoners, focusing on the attempt to break advisors to Mir Hossein Mousavi.

0630 GMT: Three prominent Iranian authors have been arrested: Reza Khandan, Omid Montazeri, and Alireza Saqafi.

0620 GMT: So the big news from the 1st day of the commemorations of the 1979 Islamic Revolution? There was no big news.

Perhaps the most notable development was former President Mohammad Khatami joining the calls, albeit implicitly, for people to rally on 22 Bahman on 11 February (see separate entry). On the regime side, however, there were no big declarations, no mass gatherings, merely a rather muted ceremony at Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery and President Ahmadinejad's strained appearance at the Khomeini memorial.

Government actions were more of the "negative" kind, with scattered threats and arrests. The strategy of trying to wipe out public protests continues, but even that appears to be filled with tension as the big day approaches.

22 Bahman is a week on Thursday.

Iran Letter: Journalist Emadeddin Baghi in Prison

EA has received this letter from Tehran:

More than a month has passed since the detainment of Emadeddin Baghi, writer and researcher on human rights issues, but he is still being kept in solitary confinement in department 240 of Evin Prison without a visitor’s permit. He has no access even to the Holy Qu'ran.

Baghi was detained at home on the day after Ashura on behalf of a general precautionary warrant for alleged abuse of Ayatollah Montazeri’s death; and his crime was declared as “making an interview with Ayatollah Montazeri”, which was released by the BBC [Persian]. This interview had been made two years earlier, even before BBC [Persian] started, and was published by this media only after Montazeri’s death.

The Latest from Iran (2 February): A Quiet Start

So far Emadeddin Baghi has spent four years in prison on several occasions, three years of which under the former government and one year under the government of the current President. In his first imprisonment, the accusations were related to media matters, and in the second imprisonment to his civil society activities in the “Society (Anjoman) To Defend Prisoner’s Rights”, which he founded.

In the second imprisonment from 2007, Baghi suffered from a malady due to adverse prison conditions, being finally transferred to hospital, and he spent the rest of his detention in the prison’s general ward. Doctors trusted by the Iranian Intelligence service had already noticed that keeping him in a closed and stressful room would be dangerous to him.

Today, however, he serves his penalty in solitary confinement without any possibilities [of a change in conditions]. He is also suffering from chronic disc damage. Baghi’s relatives have said that Tehran’s prosecutor met him last week in Evin prison, but even though they asked the prosecutor for information about him, this authority has not replied yet, pointing only to the fact that Baghi will have no visitor’s permit before a further message.

His relatives are convinced of the fact that even if Baghi is accused of making this interview, more than 35 days of interrogations in solitary confinement are not required, especially with regard to the condition of his health. Baghi, who has been summoned to court several times within the past years and always appeared in due time, could have better answered these questions in freedom and under more lawful conditions.

Baghi’s family is concerned about his health and demand a minimum of legal rights like contact by phone, visitor’s permit, leaving solitary confinement and access to books. They say that they informed Tehran’s prosecutor about these demands, but did not receive any answer.

Iran Document: Khatami Statement on Rights and Protests (1 February)

Adapted from the Facebook page supporting Mir Hossein Mousavi:

At the time the Islamic Republic was proposed and accepted and approved by the people, it was not an Islamic state and this is a very important point....

The other main outcome of the Islamic Revolution was the Constitution, and the fact that today it is being said that the constitution is the base, does not mean that the Constitution is something above all humans. Rather it was written, edited, and approved by the people to become the principal law for the society.”

If there are any objections, it is because the Constitution is not being fully honoured. If these shortcomings are by the parties and groups it is bad, but it is even worse if these shortcomings are by the government. If there are any objections it is dues to the odd and biased interpretation of the Constitution. If there are any criticisms, it is to clarify whether the Constitution is truly being guarded or not....


The Islam that was introduced in the Revolution promoted the republic, as well and the Islamic Republic itself is the result of a great human movement throughout our history.

Our people have suffered a lot from tyranny throughout the history, and this is why they have been against tyranny and dictatorial governments, the governments that have no representatives among the people. Today the governments that have no roots among their own people have become dependent on the foreigners.

“The Islam that is in the Islamic Republic is not the Islam that does not recognise the right of the people, does not recognise the freedoms of the people, and does not want justice. Such Islam is in no way in accordance with the Islam that is in the Islamic Republic. The Islam and Islamic Republic that we wanted was not this one that the government is not under people’s watch.

Today we defend the Revolution, and if we have any objections or anything to say, we say let us speak our minds; the response to the civil protests is not pressure, repression, imprisonment, and possibly execution. These will only make the crisis deeper and make the tendencies to exit from the boundaries [of the Republic?] stronger.

How could it be possible that people have the power but the Government is not based on the will of the majority of the people? Therefore elections are very vital and important for us, and if we show sensitivity toward this issue it is because having free, competitive and healthy elections is a practice based on the Republic part of the Islamic Republic. The fact that truly all the organisations of the government should be based on the free will of the people is not some minor issue.

The freedom that we are talking about is the freedom of speech, freedom of opinion, freedom of expressing that opinion, and freedom of employing that opinion and people being asked to give their inputs about that opinion.

The requirement for freedom in its true meaning, which in short is the power of the people over their own destiny, is the freedom of speech and assembly. How could it be possible that there are parties but they don’t have any platform to express their views and cannot hold gatherings?

In a calm and civil environment, people should get a chance to come and then it would be clear what poeple’s tendencies are. And more important than this is the elections that should be free, healthy, and trustworthy.

See what kind of atmosphere has been created these days. There is not only oppression and brutal confrontations and arrests but also there is the atmosphere of accusation and allegations. The fact is that there are extreme limitations on one side for its speeches and communicating with people and on the other side there are some in complete freedom whom I believe by fabricating lies and allegations are pushing the society toward violence (a blind violence that only God knows what would be its outcome).

How wonderful it would be if all the loved ones who are in [political] prisons were among us and we could all participate in the 22 Bahman (11 February) rally together.

Some have the authority to lie and say such person has written a letter and in the letter has said such things [referring to the coup government’s attempts to fabricate a story that Khatami has written a letter to the Supreme Leader] while no one knows what is in this [so-called] letter and there was no such a thing at all. Then the same people try to create tension and portray differences among those who have the honour of being accepted by the people and then say that they have differences among themselves while it is not like that at all. These are wrong and evil methods being used in order to disappoint people and to say that those who were accepted by the people have forgotten about the people and betrayed them but it is not like that at all.

People have the right to protest. They have the right to know that their votes are effective. People have the right to have proper freedom and good economy.

We never affirm defiance and violence and we pray to God that people also don’t be treated with violence.

The Latest from Iran (1 February): The Anniversary Begins

2120 GMT: The Most Important Story of the Day --- There Wasn't A Story. We'll probably lead with this in the morning analysis but let's be clear, especially with regime defenders continuing to hold onto the turnout of 30 December as proof of the Government's legitimacy:

Where were the events today on the first day of the Anniversary of the Revolution celebrations? Normally, Hashemi Rafsanjani would give a speech in a grand event in Imam Khomeini’s shrine, surrounded by people. This year there was a small gathering, mainly officials, in Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery; member of Parliament Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel gave the speech. Seyed Hassan Khomeini, the Imam's grandson, did not participate after his muted reception of President Ahmadinejad (see 1345 and 1430 GMT).

2105 GMT: Brother, Where Art Thou? For the second time in recent days, Davoud Ahmadinejad has indulged in a bit of criticism of his brother's Government. He has declared that it must answer the denunciations of prominent member of Parliament Ali Mottahari, as "freedom has not been defined".

2050 GMT: Well, That Settles It Then. Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi has said that his ministry has found clues in the the case of "nuclear physicist" Masoud Ali Mohammadi. These establish that "a combination of Israelis and counter-revolutionaries" are involved, even though there have been no arrests.

2045 GMT: Khatami Comes Out for the Rallies. We've posted an English translation of Mohammad Khatami's statement today.

1905 GMT: Marking Out the Protests. Effectively defending the right of protesters to gather for rallies, including 22 Bahman (11 February), while staying within the system, former President Mohammad Khatami said today, "We have always invited the people to peacefulness."

NEW Iran Document: Khatami Statement on Rights and Protests (1 February)
NEW Latest Iran Video: Sunday Boxing – French Police v. Iranian Ambassador (31 January)
NEW Iran Football Special: Green Movement Shoots! It Scores!
NEW Latest Iran Video: Foreign Minister Mottaki on Elections & Protests (31 January)
Iran Analysis: Mousavi and Karroubi Answer the Regime — “Defiance”
Iran From the Outside: Helping Through “Active Neutrality”
The Latest from Iran (31 January): No Backing Down

1855 GMT: Really, They Were Very, Very Bad. The regime, trying to justify last week's executions of Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani and Arash Rahmanipour, has released details of their purported interrogations:

Rahmani-Pour, during his preliminary interrogation rounds, admitted to being a member of Tondar, an offshoot of Kingdom Assembly of Iran, as well as having plans to strike the Tehran Bazaar, the statement said.

He also confessed to making explosives to strike his targets but added that he was unable to carry out his plans due to the presence of Basij forces in the areas, it said.

Rahmani-Pour, who was executed on Thursday, told his interrogators that through his connections with the pro-monarchy group, he had been convinced that the Pahlavi regime should be reinstated in Iran. He then said that he had gathered more than 100 kilograms (220 lb) of chemicals to make explosives, the statement added.

In addition to his charges, amongst which he was blamed for the deadly bombing of a religious compound in Shiraz, he was accused of conducting an anti-revolutionary campaign.

According to the statement, the other man executed Thursday was Mohammad-Reza Ali-Zamani, who was also associated with Kingdom Assembly of Iran.

"Ali-Zamani had illegally entered Iraq's Kurdistan, where he applied for asylum. There, he met with Forood Fouladvand [the leader of the Kingdom Assembly of Iran]," read the statement.

It added that Ali-Zamani had received trainings regarding "nuclear terrorism" as well as making dirty bombs.

1655 GMT: In the midst of a long academic stint, so back with an evening update about 1930 GMT.

1520 GMT: Blaming the Professors. Today's academic news comes from Allameh Tabatabei University, where the President, Sadredin Shariati, has blamed faculty for stirring up unrest on Ashura (27 December). Shariati has singled out professors such as Mohammad Satarifar, a member of the Mousavi campaign team, as instigators.

Last month several staff of the University were effectively purged by Shariati, who obtained his position on the basis of his service as Friday Prayers leader at the University.

1430 GMT: More Khomeini News. Let's see the Government try to claim this legacy....

An EA source reported that, after snubbing President Ahmadinejad (see 1345 GMT), Seyed Hassah Khomeini went to the house of Alireza Beheshti, the detained chief advisor to Mir Hossein Mousavi and son of the late Ayatollah Beheshti, a hero of the 1979 Revolution.

1350 GMT: Where is Zeidiabadi (see 1025 GMT)? An Iranian activist claims that Ahmad Zeidiabadi, journalist and academic, has been moved to Rejaie Shahr Prison, which usually holds "hard core" criminals. Last week journalist Masoud Bastani was moved to the same facility.

1345 GMT: The Legacy of the Revolution? Kalemeh reports that Seyed Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini, has snubbed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during the President's speech at the Khomeini shrine.

1325 GMT: So Was The Cleric Arrested? Hojatoleslam Hadi Ghaffari has denied reports (see 0910 GMT) that he was detained. The "hardline" newspaper Kayhan had reported that Ghaffari was arrested because authorities had discovered a cache of weapons in the storage area of his Tehran mosque in Tehran. Ghaffari claims that the area was rented out to a respected businessman who stored rice and that any weapons belonged to a Basij unit which disbanded years ago.

1320 GMT: Walking the Tightrope. A day after issuing his defense of the trials and possible death penalties for those accused of "mohareb" (war against God), the head of Iran's judiciary, Sadegh Larijani, has reportedly tacked back and declared he would not give in to political pressure from "hardliners" to carry out more executions: "These demands (by hardliners) are political in nature and are against the law and Sharia."

Not sure this is much of a shift from Larijani, who also said on the judiciary's official website, "In reviewing detainees' cases, we will only consider the law and Islamic Sharia law." Feels more like an assertion of his authority of determining if and when a protester should die.

1050 GMT: Questioning the Detentions. Amnesty International have launched a new campaign, calling on the Iranian authorities to reveal the whereabouts of two music journalists, Behrang Tonekaboni and Kayvan Farzin.

Both Tonekaboni and Farzai were arrested at the offices of Farhang va Ahang, a monthly music journal, on 5 January. Tonekaboni’s mother Lili Farhadpour, 47, a journalist and a member of Mothers for Peace, was arrested at her home on 20 January.

1035 GMT: Condemning the Executions. More than 80 expatriate Iranian intellectuals have signed an open letter denouncing last Thursday's killings of Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani and Arash Rahmanipour.

1030 GMT: Today, we've had a football special; now we've got boxing. We've posted the video of the clash in Paris which ended in a fight between the Iranian Ambassador and French police.

1025 GMT: Ahmad Zeydabadi, the reformist academic, journalist, and activist, has been moved to an unknown location, probably with Evin Prison.

0915 GMT: Interpreting the Revolution. High-profile Tehran University academic Sadegh Zibakalam has said in a discussion on Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting that the 1979 Revolution was not for Islam, but for a freedom which people believed could be fulfilled through Islam.

0910 GMT: Cleric Detained? Rah-e-Sabz is reporting that Hojatoleslam Hadi Ghaffari has been arrested. In June, just after the Presidential election, Ghaffari rose to prominence when the audio and video of his criticism of the Government and Supreme Leader circulated on the Internet.

0840 GMT: We've posted one of our regular Iran Football specials, "The Green Movement Shoots! It Scores!", as supporters and a former Iran football manager "hijack" a programme on Iranian state television.

0720 GMT: Sunday's Modest Declaration "We Freed the Human Race". So said President Ahmadinejad in a Cabinet meeting:

The Islamic Revolution opened a window to liberty for the human race, which was trapped in the dead ends of materialism....If the Islamic Revolution had not occurred, liberalism and Marxism would have crushed all human dignity in their power-seeking and money-grubbing claws. Nothing would have remained of human and spiritual principles.

0715 GMT: Video Shows: Threat and Defiance. Footage has been posted of Saturday's trial of Ashura detainees.

0700 GMT: About an hour ago, Iranians marked the triumphant return of Ayatollah Khomeini from exile in Paris, as schools, trains, and boats were to rang their bells at 9:33 a.m., the local time when his plane touched down in 1979. Press TV gives the straightforward line of Iranian state media.

This is the first of 11 days of commemoration, celebration, and protest, culminating in the events of 22 Bahman (11 February). No mass events are planned by the Green movement today, but the regime continues to put out its threats against any show of resistance. Sunday it was the turn of Sadegh Larijani, the head of Iran's judiciary, to declare that trials and executions were within the "rule of law".

We have posted the video of Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, speaking on CNN, putting out the same Government message.

Latest Iran Video: Sunday Boxing - French Police v. Iranian Ambassador (31 January)

Persian2English has an English-language summary of this incident which started when protesters gathered outside the house in Neuphle-le- Chateau where Ayatollah Khomeini stayed during 1978-9 and where Iranian officials were holding a banquet commemorating Khomeini's departure from France for Iran in 1979. It ended with the Iranian Ambassador punching a policeman and only escaping handcuffing and arrest when Embassy staff interceded.

(Hat-tip to Setareh Sabety)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4csBwWO-MkM[/youtube]