2300 GMT: The US Hikers. In the first day of their closed-door trial (see 1115 GMT), Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer pleaded not guilty to espionage and trespassing.
The hearing lasted five hours, but there were no details, as all observers --- including the Swiss Ambassador, who represents US interests in Iran --- were excluded and the hikers' lawyer was barred from giving information. The trial for Fattal and Bauer, who were arrested on the Iran-Iraq border in July 2009, was continued to an unspecified date by Judge Salavati.
1735 GMT: President v. Parliament. And look for this battle to escalate....
MP Ali Akbar Aghaee of Parliament's Development Commission has said that retaining Hamid Behbahani as Minister of Transportation, after his dismissal by Parliament this week, is illegal.President Ahmadinejad, who said the impeachment was against the Constitution, has effectively defied the Majlis by announcing that Behbahani would reamin in his post for the next three months.
1730 GMT: Budget Watch. Minister of Economics Seyed Shamseddin Hosseini has declared that the general outlines of the 2011 Budget have now been submitted to Parliament.
1725 GMT: Energy Watch. Khabar Online reports that Minister of Oil Masoud Mirkazemi has dismissed 250 oil managers in 17 months.
1710 GMT: Ahmadinejad's Diplomatic Victory. Confirmation of the comprehensive win for the President over the Foreign Ministryhis rivals within the establishment, and possibly the Supreme Leader....
Last summer, Ahmadinejad made a power play by appointing four special envoys, including his confidante Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, to pursue foreign policy initiatives. Parliament and many dipljavascript:noop();omats, including the Foreign Minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, took offense at the power play; Mottaki threatened his resignation. Eventually, the Supreme Leader publicly chided Ahmadinejad for pursuing "parallel actions", and Mottaki stayed in his post.
Well, Mottaki is now gone, having been dismissed in early December, and his successor, Ali Akbar Salehi said on Saturday, “The Foreign Ministry is completely aware about the dispatch of special presidential envoys...and there is no problem regarding this matter.”
Salehi continued that the use of the envoys was constitutional and complement the country's diplomatic apparatus; describing this as parallel work to the Foreign Ministry was wrong.
1705 GMT: Torture Watch. There is confusion now over the earlier report (see 1225 GMT) that two guards had been executed for their role in the torture and killing of three political detainees at Kahrizak Prison after the 2009 election.
The hangings were reported by a Basij students site, quoting Abdolhossein Ruholamini, a prominent conservative activist and the father of Mohsen Ruholamini, who was one of those killed in Kahrizak. However, Ruholamini has now denied that the executions have taken place.
Ruholamini noted that cases against others are still pending. Saeed Mortazavi, who was Tehran Prosecutor General at the time time and is now a Presidential aide, has nominally been suspended from his duties but has suffered no other punishment.
1305 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. The bail for journalist Nazanin Khosravani has been increased, delaying her release from prison.
Khosravani was detained at the start of November.
1300 GMT: Rumour of the Day. "Conservative" Iranian media http://www.peykeiran.com/Content.aspx?ID=28248">have launched an attack on controversial Presidential Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, claiming that he has deposited 50 million tomans ($50,000) in the bank accounts of Friday Prayer leaders.
Heated rumours are circulating that Rahim-Mashai, who is opposed by many clerics and politicians within the establishment, is running for President --- with Ahmadinejad's support --- in 2013.
1230 GMT: The Battle Within. Radio Zamaneh summarises the escalating dispute between the Expediency Council and President Ahmadinejad.
Responding to Ahmadinejad's open letter of complaint over interference with his powers, the Council said the President was “undermining the system and instigating Iran’s enemies both within and outside the country”.
The Council maintained that it has always been “lenient in the supervision of government actions in accordance with the Supreme Leader’s recommendations”, adhering to the Constitution. It added that no government institution can override its authority.
The dispute has escalated after conflicts over issues such as control of the Central Bank.
1225 GMT: A report comes in that two guards, convicted in the post-election torture and murders of three protesters in Kahrizak Prison, have been hanged.
1220 GMT: Corruption Watch. Rah-e-Sabz summarises that the dispute over 1st Vice President Mohammed Reza Rahimi's university diploma --- is it real? --- is still unresolved after 3 yrs, with Minister of Science and Higher Education Kamran Daneshjoo failing to report to Parliament.
And, the website notes, there is a major corruption cases still pending against Rahimi.
1210 GMT: On the Border. Minister of Oil Masoud Mirkazemi said on Sunday that an agreement has been reached with Afghanistan to supply it with fuel and that it has started deliveries.
Iran has held up to 2000 tankers on the Afghan border for months.
There is no reported comment from Afghan officials.
1115 GMT: Back from a travel break to find two developments:
The trial of detained US hikers Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer, arrested in July 2009 on the Iran-Iraq border, has finally begun, according to their lawyer.
A third hiker, Sarah Shourd, was summoned for the hearing, which has repeatedly been delayed, but she did not return after her release on a $500,000 guarantee in September. Instead, she is presenting a written statement via the Swiss Embassy, which represents US interests in Iran.
Meanwhile, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi have called for a rally on 25 Bahman (14 February), three days after the regime marks the anniversary of the 1979 Revolution.
Mousavi and Karroubi have asked for a permit to march to Azadi Square in support of the peoples of Egypt and Tunisia.
This is the first time Mousavi and Karroubi have called for a protest date which does not coincide with a religious commemoration, such as Ashura, or a regime celebration.
0450 GMT: An updated version of the video of Tuesday's meeting between Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Grand Ayatollah Bayat Zanjani, offering English translation:
0430 GMT: We reported yesterday that former President Hashemi Rafsanjani and former Presidential candidate Ali Akbar Nategh-Nouri did not show up for the Supreme Leader's Friday Prayers.
We open this morning with another notable no-show. President Ahmadinejad and his Cabinet marked the 10 Days of Fajr (Dawn), leading up to the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, with a visit to the mausoleum of Imam Khomeini. But, as the official photo confirms, the Ayatollah's grandson, Hassan, was not there to greet them.
This is only the latest episode in the running tension between Hassan Khomeini --- and beside him, some leading clerics --- and the Ahmadinejad Government. Last June, at the ceremony for his grandfather's death, Khomeini was shouted down by Government supporters.
