The Latest from Iran (10 December): After the Drone Show

See also Iran Analysis: Will the European Union Ban Imports of Tehran's Oil? (Probably.)
The Latest from Iran (9 December): The Return of the Hidden Drone

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2110 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Filmmaker Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, detained in September, has been released from prison.

Mirtahmasb was one of six directors seized on charges that they worked for BBC Persian.

1630 GMT: Surveillance Watch. Huawei Technologies, a leading Chinese manufacturer of telecommunications equipment, has said on its website that it will voluntarily restrict business in Iran because of the “increasingly complex situation” there.

Huawei declared it will not seek new customers will limit business activities with existing clients.

The company did not give a reason for the the pull-back but it has come under pressure on the Internet for the potential use of its technology for repression.

1500 GMT: Drone Watch. The Iranian Foreign Ministry has summoned the Afghan Ambassador to protest the violation of Iran's airspace by the crashed US RQ-170 drone that flew from a base in Afghanistan.

Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, a member of Parliament's National Security Committee, provides the tough talk: "The Islamic Republic of Iran will 'decode' the American drone's documents and data with the 'ultra-advanced technology' that it has."

1450 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Student activist Saeed Aghabarai, who went missing 14 November, is reportedly in Evin Prison and banned from visits.

1040 GMT: The Missing American. Iranian State media has responded to the re-appearance on video and photographs of American Robert Levinson, who went missing in Kish Island in March 2007, with a denial that the matter has anything to do with Tehran.

Press TV offers a one-line assertion, without any evidence, "The released footage of the missing ex-FBI agent, Robert Levinson, indicates he may be held hostage in Pakistan or Afghanistan despite previous US claims that he was arrested by Tehran."

On Friday, Levinson's family released the footage of the former FBI agent as they appealed to his captors to release him (see Friday's LiveBlog).

0740 GMT: I have to say that the political tale of the crashed US drone is playing out just as we expected, at least on the Iranian side. Following the televised display of the RQ-170 Sentinel, media have been in a united chorus over the show of Tehran's strength.

MP Mehdi Sanai proclaims,  “The US has announced that war and pressure against Iran will be in the form of electronic warfare, and the capturing of the US spy aircraft, equipped with the latest existing technology, is a victory for our armed forces and a blatant defeat for the US.” A more prominent legislator, Esmail Kowsari  warns that, if another drone tries an overflight, Iran “will target every US military base anywhere in the world.” The deputy chief of the military, General Masoud Jayazeri, has called on Washington to apologise for the violation of Iranian airspace.

Predictable rhetoric, but note that none of it comes from the big guns in Tehran's politics. The Supreme Leader is silent, as are his closest advisors, and there is not a word from President Ahmadinejad. Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, who has not been shy when it comes to defying the British amidst the furour over the attack on the UK Embassy, has made no contribution here.

In other words, this is a campaign designed to show the Iranian people that their regime reliably protects them and smites the enemy, but it is kept a low enough level to avoid an escalation of confrontation with the US.

That is because the primary aim of both Supreme Leader and Government is to divert attention from other far-from-minor issues, say the economy and political in-fighting, in the Islamic Republic. It is the spectre of a smack at the American bogeyman, rather than a real showdown, that serves this perpetual aim.

Will it work, even in the short-term? Just a quick note: amidst the drone fuss, the Government was supposed to submit its 2012/13 budget to Parliament. You will not find a headline mention of that in State media this morning. However, Khabar Online --- which has led the criticism of President Ahmadinejad and his adminstration on economic matters --- features a critique of the Government's revenues, while State news agency IRNA tries to give reassurance with a lead story that tax rates will not soar.

Given that chink in the armour of the Drone Show, I am not sure how long it will last.