The Latest from Iran (21 February): The Contest Continues

2155 GMT: The 1 Esfand Casualty. Shiraz University students have announced a week of mourning for Hamed Nourmohammadi, who was allegedly thrown off a bridge by security forces during Sunday's protests.

2135 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Singer and composer Afshin Taheri was detained on Tuesday and is in an unknown location.

2125 GMT: 1 Esfand. Setareh Sabety offers an overview and crisp analysis of the significance of Sunday's opposition marches:

1st Esfand (Feb.20) was big enough to show that 25th Bahman (Feb.14) was not a single outburst inspired by the events in Tunis and Egypt but rather the revival of an opposition movement that continues to show signs of resilience. Iranians are pragmatists and unlike their Arab neighbors have recent experience with revolution. They will not risk life and limb unless they are sure that they are on the winning side. 1st Esfand was a step in the winning direction for the opposition in Iran.

Iran Feature: My Funny Valentine's Day...at a Protest
Iran Special: Protest --- From Tunisia to Egypt to the Green Movement
Iran Video: The Protests of 1 Esfand
The Latest from Iran (20 February): So What Happens on 1 Esfand?

1945 GMT: Where's Mahmoud? President Ahmadinejad also spoke to Iranian officials today (see 1700 GMT), “Today, we witness that humanity is striving to realize the truth and the world is on the threshold of an enormous change....Achieving justice is rapidly turning into a global objective....While the global arrogance is hatching complex, satanic plots, the people are awaking and, God willing, the time has come for the extinction of the arrogant powers....When the oppressed people of the world rise for justice and monotheism, the grounds will be prepared for the righteous to rule the world."

There was no reported comment on Sunday's protests in Iran.

1915 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Mohammad Sadeghi, the son of Ayatollah Khalkhali, a famous judge in the Khomeini period, has been released after a day in detention.

1830 GMT: Cyber-Developments. Peyke Iran claims that the Iranian Government has shut down the website of the Expediency Council's Center for Strategic Research.

1700 GMT: Today's Regime Show. The setpiece for the regime, on a public holiday, was an address by the Supreme Leader to Iranian officials. Ayatollah Khamenei's rhetoric yielded no surprises: the "Arab revolts" marked the decline of US influence, and indeed the ejection of Washington from the region. Photographs, however, gave an impression of unity amidst recent stories of division within the establishment on political and economic issues --- head of judiciary Sadegh Larijani, Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani and former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, who is under sustained attack from some in the Government, smiled alongside President Ahmadinejad on the stage.

1500 GMT: A Bit of Advice? The Iranian-born Grand Ayatollah Sistani, one of the leading figures in Shi'a Islam, has said from Iraq that protesting is everyone's right, but killing or destroying property is not.

1245 GMT: 1 Esfand's Casualty. Fars News is claiming that Hamed Nourmohammadi, contrary to opposition reports, did not die in clashes during Sunday's protests (which, according to Fars, never happened). Instead, Nourmohammadi died in an automobile accident.

1240 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch (Foreign Edition). AFP reports that the release of two German journalists, arrested after five months in detention in Iran, was due to the intervention of Turkish President Abdullah Gul, who was in Iran last week.

1235 GMT: Karroubi Watch. Mardomak reports that about 30 people attacked the residence of Mehdi Karroubi about 1 a.m. local time, breaking glass and throwing sound grenades into the complex.

1230 GMT: 1 Esfand's Casualty. HomyLafayette offers more information on Hamed Nourmohammadi, the Shiraz University biology student who was killed during Sunday's marches.

Eyewitnesses said Nourmohammadi was thrown off Namazi Bridge in Shiraz. His family is under intense pressure from authorities to remain silent.

1200 GMT: CyberTribute. Opposition supporters took over the website of Shahroud's Azad University and posted a tribute to Sanee Zhaleh and Mohammad Mokhtari, who were slain during the 25 Bahman protests last Monday.

Mokhtari was a student at the university.

1200 GMT: 1 Esfand. RAHANA claims hundreds of people held from Sunday's marches have been transferred to detention centres such as Shariati Street and Fateb Police Station.

1025 GMT: 1 Esfand. The Human Rights House of Iran claims Hamed Nourmohammadi, a biology student at Shiraz University, was killed during Sunday's protests.

Kalemeh claims, from a source, that about 500 people were detained on Sunday, and many have been released.

1020 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Mohammad Sadeghi, son of Ayatollah Khalkhali, a famous judge in the Khomeini period, has been arrested.

1010 GMT: 1 Esfand. Farnaz Fassihi in The Wall Street Journal parallels our reports with an estimate of "tens of thousands" in Sunday's marches. She reports, from opposition websites, of slogans such as "It's the season for revolts; it's the end of Khamenei."

One witness said, "This was the most violent protest we've had by far, and people were also really angry and fearless."

1000 GMT: A Quick Note. News is likely to be slow today, as it is a public holiday in Iran.

0810 GMT: 1 Esfand. Radio Zamaneh reports from eyewitnesses, "Even groups of ten walking silently together were not tolerated by the vast number of security and Basij forces deployed all across Tehran."

Still, as we noted last night, the opposition is upbeat about the outcome. Mojtaba Vahedi, an advisor to Mehdi Karroubi, said, "In view of the heavy security deployment, gatherings and demonstrations were way beyond our expectations."

0740 GMT: 1 Esfand. Another first-hand account from Sunday, "Even during the 1979 revolution, when martial law was in effect, I had never seen such a ratio of non-civilians to civilians. This, however, had not prevented many people from coming out and joining other protesters."

0725 GMT: 1 Esfand's Clashes. A provocative report by HRANA about Sunday's protests in Kurdistan. The site claims that there is a security crackdown after several Revolutionary Guards were killed in Marivan.

0720 GMT: 1 Esfand's Political Prisoners. HRANA claims 150 protesters were arrested in northwestern Iran during Sunday's march.

0715 GMT: Catching Up on the Budget. Overshadowed by Sunday's marches was the news that President Ahmadinejad had finally delivered his proposed 2011 Budget to Parliament.

Khabar Online, linked to Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, is already sniping that there was no press conference and Ahmadinejad's presentation had confirmed the Supreme Leader's rebuke to keep peace between powers.

Larijani quickly moved to take the high political ground, asking Parliament to discuss the proposals as soon as possible.

0710 GMT: Claimed video from Sunday of security forces roughing up a man:

0650 GMT: We are working on an analysis of the political significance of Sunday's opposition marches for 1 Esfand, but here is the tag-line: Marathon, Not a Sprint....

...and The Marathon Continues

Despite the increasing difficulty of getting news in and out of Iran because of the regime's blanket on communications, we got enough reports and footage to put forth a reasonable estimate that tens of thousands marched in Tehran, a figure similar to that of last Monday's marches on 25 Bahman, which brought the Green Movement back into view after more than a year's absence. 

More significantly, those demonstrations now appeared to extend across most of the capital, a 10-kilometre stretch. And even more significantly, the evidence was that the turnout beyond Tehran was larger than that on 25 Bahman. Isfahan, Shiraz, and Rasht all had significant demonstrations, and only a very heavy security presence prevented a large turnout in locations like Mashhad.

The regime's line that there were no rallies was betrayed by the deployment of security forces, even larger than last Monday's police lines. That again prevented the symbol of a mass gathering --- think Egypt's Tahrir Square or Bahrain's Pearl Roundabout --- but even the ban on foreign media and the the dedicated efforts of State media to pronounce, "Move Along, Nothing to See Here".

Still, the denial continues this morning, raising a smile: Press TV reports that police arrested a total of two people in Sunday's demonstrations --- one carrying handgun with a silencer and the other carrying a Molotov cocktail.