The Latest from Iran (21 July): Stand By Your (Supreme) Man

2010 GMT: Literature Watch (cont.). More about the poetic debut of the head of the Basij militia, Mohammad Reza Naqdi (see 0710 GMT)....

Naqdi's effort, which has failed to impress our Literary Correspondent, is titled “The Youth and Soft War", rhythmically (or not-so-rhythmically) takes on Twitter, Facebook, rap music, and jazz. The opening lines, which may lose a bit in translation:

He [ failed in hunting me with his gun. He came back with lowly hired musicians, the Internet, and musical instruments/

His navy hasn’t been able to rein me in. He came with an eye-catching doll/
Bombs and missiles failed to scare me. He came back with the rumor-spreading Twitter and Facebook/
He used chemical weapons and I still didn’t back off. He came with crack and heroin.

1950 GMT: Stand by Your (Supreme) Man. Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani, a senior cleric i Qom, says democracy must be confirmed by Ayatollah Khamenei to be in line w Islam.

1610 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. The President has returned to the theme of drug smuggling

by criticising "brothers" who are behind drug smuggling and using it partly for political goals.

This time, it appears that Ahmadinejad is targeting the "West", as he declared that if 10% of the money spent on the Afghan War, was devoting to fighting drugs ,the problem would be solved.

Earlier this month, there was a different context, as the President chided those who were behind smuggling and illegal imports. Although he did not give specific names, many saw an attack on the economic interests of the Revolutionary Guards --- the next day, the commander of the Guards struck back and said his forces did no commercial trade through Iranian ports.

1600 GMT: Economy Watch. Facing the prospect of rising inflation before the month of Ramadan, Minister of Commerce Mehdi Ghazanfari has ordered more price controls.

Iran's officials said inflation had moved to 15.4% from 14.2% a month earlier.

http://t.co/M4TWvN1

1230 GMT: Oil and Politics. India's second-biggest state-run refiner, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, cannot buy crude oil from Iran for August as Tehran insisted on knowing the payment mechanism, according to a company source.

The source said BPC, which buy 20,000 barrels per day from Iran, has arranged shipments from Saudi Arabia.

Two other Indian refiners have confirmed they are not getting crude from Iran this month.

Iran's oil exports to India have been hindered since December, when the Reserve Bank of India halted use of the Asian currency basket amidst US-led sanctions. The head of Iran's Central Bank said earlier this week that India now owed $5 billion for shipments since then.

1100 GMT: Dangerous Media Watch. The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance has warned Iranian journalists that they should not co-operate with "hostile media" such as the Voice of America and thee BBC.

1050 GMT: Cartoon of Day. Nikahang Kowsar on former President Mohammad Khatami's task in defining his position on participation in the 2012 Parliamentary elections:

0940 GMT: You Can't Keep A Bad Story Down. So much for hoping that the Iranian propaganda on shooting down a US drone near a nuclear enrichment facility will fade away....

After CNN gave breathing space to the tale on Wednesday, Associated Press and America's CBS News are now highlighting the still-unsupported claim.

0930 GMT: Literature Watch (continued). In an interesting juxtaposition with the Supreme Leader's declaration on Wednesday that "Iranian officials should encourage the youth to read useful books" (see 0710 GMT), Aftab notes the closure of six printing houses because of economic problems, including a shortage of orders and rising imports of printed products.

0840 GMT: Human Rights Watch. Iran has repeated that it will deny entry to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said today, "Appointing a UN special Rapporteur on human rights for Iran is a political and illegal move, and the Islamic Republic will not allow the envoy to enter the country under any circumstances."

The UN Human Rights Council authorised a Special Rapporteur for Iran in March and named former Maldivian Foreign Minister Ahmed Shaheed in June.

“Unfortunately the human rights issue is the political tool of certain Western countries which have serious problems with regards to human rights and are accused of many cases of violating human rights,” Mehmanparast declared.

0725 GMT: Green Watch. We're still looking for reaction inside Iran to the "New Green Manifesto", put out by "representative of more than a dozen underground groups", but the document has reached the mainstream media in the US.

Ilan Berman, the Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council, has written in The Wall Street Journal of "the most detailed agenda to date for the country's reformists to retake the offensive in the ongoing struggle for Iran's soul".

0710 GMT: Literature Watch (Orwell Edition). To those readers who have asked, yes, we did notice this story yesterday:

In a meeting with officials of Iran's major public libraries on Wednesday, the Leader pointed to Iran's long history of publishing books, but expressed disappointment at the current figures of book publication and reading in the country.

Ayatollah Khamenei said Iranian officials should encourage the youth to read useful books.

Obeying the Supreme Leader, we have been reading --- about the extensive censorship of authors, about the detention of writers, about the closure of bookshops, publishers, and printing houses....

I sense a Special Feature may be appearing soon....

Meanwhile, EA's Literature Correspondent notices a poem by the head of the Basij militia, Mohammad Reza Naqdi denouncing Twitter and Facebook.

Our Correspondent evaluates, "Terrible poem --- no rhyme, no style. Surely he will publish a collection soon."

0700 GMT: Reformist Watch. Former President Mohammad Khatami, continuing a public campaign to stake out his political position, has visited the parents of opposition figures Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard, who remain under strict house arrest after more than five months.

Khatami, who had been criticised by some reformists and activists over a call for reconciliation between the people and the regime, has been setting a firm position against partication in the 2012 Parliamentary elections until political prisoners are released and freedoms are guaranteed.

0650 GMT: Clerical Interventions. Ayatollah Amjad, whose home was raided by security forces this week, remains defiant: "I will shout against injustice and ignorance until my terminal breath."

The cleric, who was outside the country when the raid occurred, said his family had been threatened and told to leave the residence until this Saturday.

Ayatollah Dastgheib, persisting in his criticism of the Government, has declared that as long as the screening of candidates for elections exists, the situation will not change --- torturing people and a "security atmosphere" are not the way of rule and the way of the Qur'an and Islam.

Dastgheib asked, "Are people like Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi who defend people not worthy of support?"

0635 GMT: Yesterday afternoon James Miller asked me to summarise the day in Iran. Dismissing the non-stories (the Iranian propaganda about shooting down a US "drone" near the Fordoo nuclear enrichment facility) and the old stories suddenly presented as new (Iran cracking down on the Web in anticipation of the American-backed "Internet in a suitcase), we decided on this....

"Watching the Reformists, Standing by the Supreme Leader"

Earlier I had chatted with a US-based Iran analyst who asked, "In the complex political situation in Iran, how do you assess each person's position?"

Well, there's a question that could take hours of analysis but I was helped out by this starting point:

"Everyone wants to be alongside the Supreme Leader. Look at the recent statements of Ali Larijani [the Speaker of the Parliament], loudly declaring Ayatollah Khamenei's wise authority. Former President Rafsanjani has been trying to get Khamenei's support for months. The conservative critics of the Government do not want to defy him --- that is why they backed away from the attempt to interrogate the President. The commanders of the Revolutionary Guards, in the contest between the President and the Supreme Leader, have made their choice clear.

"Arguably, the one person who has not made alliance with the Supreme Leader a priority is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. And that's why, after trying to extend his power and failing, he's paying the price."