The Latest from Iran (24 October): The "Normal" Tensions

1855 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Journalist and activist Heshmatollah Tabarzadi, serving a nine-year sentence, has written a letter asking exiled Iranian lawyers to make his case to international courts, asking for an investigation of the Supreme Leader in light of the activities of Iran's security forces and criminal justice system.

1830 GMT: Cracking Down on the Lawyers. Prominent human rights attorney Mohammad Dadkhah has appeared in court, accused of possession of a firearm.

1505 GMT: Coming Monday --- an Iran-Afghanistan-US Special. Yes, we have noticed this high-profile article in today's New York Times, alleging that Tehran has given large payments to Umar Daudzai, Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s chief of staff:

[There is] a secret, steady stream of Iranian cash intended to buy the loyalty of Mr. Daudzai and promote Iran’s interests in the presidential palace, according to Afghan and Western officials here. Iran uses its influence to help drive a wedge between the Afghans and their American and NATO benefactors, they say.

The payments, which officials say total millions of dollars, form an off-the-books fund that Mr. Daudzai and Mr. Karzai have used to pay Afghan lawmakers, tribal elders and even Taliban commanders to secure their loyalty, the officials said.

“It’s basically a presidential slush fund,” a Western official in Kabul said of the Iranian-supplied money. “Daudzai’s mission is to advance Iranian interests.”

It's a curious article, to say the least. The sources are anonymous "Western and Afghan officials", with no further evidence.

And it's curious that the reporters did not notice the timing around the information that came their way. Some US officials have moved towards acceptance of peace talks between the Karzai Government and Afghan insurgents. And, in that context, there have been calls for US-Iran co-operation, especially given Tehran's influence in western Afghanistan.

So is someone --- even at the risk of upsetting Karzai --- trying to put the skids under any possibility of Washington consultation with Tehran over the Afghan future?

1500 GMT: Parliament v. Government. Soleiman Jafarzadeh, the head of the Majlis Social Commission, has that if Minister of Welfare Sadegh Mahsouli's answers do not persuade MPs, he will be dismissed. Jafarzadeh said no impeachment is necessary, as Mahsouli has already appeared twice in the Parliament and given unsatisfactory answers.

1445 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Kurdish detainee Yusef Rahmanpour has been charged with mohareb (war against God).

1410 GMT: Academic Corner. The 12 branches of humanities to be revised and "nationalised" in Iran's universities (see 0515 GMT): judiciary, women's studies, human rights, management, cultural management, social sciences, philosophy, psychology, education, politics.

(The silver living, in the hope that I can again take up an Adjunct Professor post at Tehran University: American Studies is not on the list.)

1400 GMT: Reassurance of Day. Sohrab Solyemani, the Director General of Prisons in Tehran, says prison officials are a source of hope for detainees: "The services rendered at the prisons in Iran are at such a level that the prison atmosphere has changed from unacceptable to an environment similar to a hotel. This clearly demonstrates that mercy has been institutionalized into our prison system."

Solyemani dismissed the inconvenience of allegations that prisoners have been abused: "The discussion of violence and violation of prisoner rights has no relevance in our country. Pressuring prisoners and causing them physical harm is not practiced within the prisons in Iran."

Meanwhile, journalist Mahsa Amrabadi has been sentenced to one year in a prison hotel.

1340 GMT: Irony Alert. Zohreh Elahian, the chair of Parliament's Human Rights Subcommittee, has written a letter of complaint to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the UN Human Rights Commission.

Elahian wrote, "Some countries are currently taking advantage of this humane and moral phenomenon [of human rights] to put a cover on discrimination and injustice in their own countries. This valuable human achievement has been turned into a pretext to exert pressure on countries which seek to maintain their independence."

Elahian specifically asked Ban to pursue repeated cases of human rights violations in France, despatching representatives to the country.

1330 GMT: The Khamenei Roadshow. An easy task for the Supreme Leader today, as he spoke to the Basij militia of Qom Province.

Ayatollah Khamenei claimed that, during Western-incited unrest after the election, many in the country erred in their judgment and others eventually corrected their mistakes; however, it was the Basij who insightfully remained on the just path.

Khamenei, claiming that Iran's foes were pursuing "soft war", urged the Basij to maintain their revolutionary spirit while observing and analysing the enemy's plots and agenda.

1325 GMT: Classroom News. Teachers have again protested in front of the Parliament, complained about the selection process and entrance examinations.

1315 GMT: An Appeal to Rafsanjani. The reformist Islamic Iran Participation Front has written to former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, as chair of the Assembly of Experts and of the Expediency Count, to set up a truth-finding commitee on eight issues related to the 2009 election and its aftermath.

1240 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Confirmation arrives that Maryam Najafi and Elnaz Zeinali, the daughters of two members of the Mothers of Mourning, have been released after 12 days in detention. However, their mothers, Jila Mahdavian and Akram Neghabi, are still imprisoned.

The four women were arrested in a raid on their homes on 5 October. They were alleged to have links, working with Mir Hossein Mousavi's wife Zahra Rahnavard, with the "terrorist" People’s Mujahidin Organisation of Iran.

1235 GMT: Clerical Split? Amidst the Supreme Leader's trip to Qom, Abolhassan Navab of the Society of Combatant Clergy has reportedly expressed concern about pro-government radical and "super-revolutionary" clerical students who attack critical maraje (senior clerics).

However, Hossein Ebrahimi of the Society has argued that support of President Ahmadinejad should be provided as a principle of principlists.

1225 GMT: How to Deal with Subsidy Cuts....

Hide the Information. Leading MP Mohammad Reza Bahonar, speaking to the Kargozaran Party, has supported President Ahmadinejad's line (see 0515 GMT) that the government should not be pressured to reveal data on subsidy cuts because of eventual negative effects.

Get People Not to Buy Things. MP Moussa Ghorbani has suggested that Iranians should cut down their consumption and avoid buying expensive goods.

1155 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Back from a break to find that detained attorney Nasrine Sotoudeh is still being denied visitation rights.

At Rajai Shahr Prison, Afshin Baymani, charged with "association with opposition organizations" and sentenced to life in prison, has reportedly been beaten and transferred to solitary confinement. 

Mousavi campaigner and Green Movement activist Seyed Navid Kamran’s sentence of 33 months in prison and 75 lashes has been upheld by an appeals court.

Kamran was detained during last December's Ashura demonstrations. 

Mousavi activist Rouhollah Mohammadi has been sentenced to two years in prison for anti-regime propaganda, participating in gatherings and conspiracy to disturb security, and insulting the President.

0515 GMT: After days of watching the signals of the Supreme Leader's mission to Qom, Saturday reverted to the "normal" of economic and political manoeuvres in Tehran. Bits and pieces to start today:

Khamenei Goes Sight-Seeing

No big developments in the Supreme Leader's roadshow. He visited the exhibits at the Qom Seminary and had a chat with Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, a fervent supporter of the Government and chairman of the Society of Teachers and Researchers of Qom. 

All You Need is (My) Information

President Ahmadinejad has made the kind suggestion that only a single set of data from Government agencies should be published in Iran, as some data makes the people "feel impoverished".

The Government has been criticised by Parliament and even some agencies for not producing a full set of economic figures. This weekend the head of Iran's Statistics Center gently suggested that inflation data could be published "if the Government wished".

So Who is Blocking the Websites?

A great game of pass the buck: Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammed Hosseini says it is not his staff filtering websites but a "special committee", and Minister of Communications Reza Taghipour says it is not his offices but an "internet crimes committee", not by his ministry.

The owners of filtered websites nail down the blame: they have to ask a committee, belonging to Culture and Islamic Guidance, to get a new permission to be available to users.

"Proper" University Courses

The Director General of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education has said that new licenses for 12 fields in humanities will not be issued to universities, while existing curriculum content is amended.