The Latest from Iran (16 July): We Are Here for Your Security

Maya Neyestani illustrates the warning of Iran's Police Chief against films and television showing people eating chicken, as it encourages the poor "to stab the rich"

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1720 GMT: Persian Gulf Watch. A US military supply ship fired today at a small boat in the Persian Gulf after it came too close, apparently killing one person on board, American officials said.

The USNS Rappahannock, a fuel resupply ship, fired on what the officials called a "small, white pleasure craft" 10 miles from the Dubai port of Jebel Ali.

The Navy said in a statement, "In accordance with Navy force protection procedures, the sailors on the USNS Rappahannock...used a series of non-lethal, preplanned responses to warn the vessel before resorting to lethal force. The U.S. crew repeatedly attempted to warn the vessel's operators to turn away from their deliberate approach. When those efforts failed to deter the approaching vessel, the security team on the Rappahannock fired rounds from a .50-caliber machine gun."

Fars briefly had the item at the top of its homepage, but the entry has now disappeared.

1620 GMT: Chicken Watch. Amid the escalating public concern over the cost of chicken, IRNA reports that thousands of tonnes of beef and poultry is being sent to provincial centres.

1610 GMT: Press Watch. Press TV, for unexplained reasons, returns to the attack against Reuters, effectively suspended by Iranian authorities this spring:

Reuters is putting mounting pressure on Iranian ninjas to withdraw their complaint against the news agency over a February report that branded them as Iran's "assassins," Press TV has learned.

Reuters' officials have repeatedly contacted the trainer of Iranian ninjas, warning him against pursuing the legal case. Iranian female ninjas have filed defamation charges against Reuters after the news agency accused them of being killers for hire. Reuters also faces a lawsuit from the Iranian government over the same report.

Press TV has learned that both London officials and Tehran personnel of the news agency are trying intimidation and enticement tactics to prevent a court hearing involving private plaintiffs.

This comes after a court hearing has been scheduled for late September.

The Iranian State offers no evidence for its claim.

Reuters' Tehran bureau was closed by the Islamic Republic's officials and the press cards of its staff revoked on the pretext that, in a video report on Iranian women pursuing ninjutsus, Reuters had called them "assassins". Its journalists have been questioned and are under threat of arrest.

1257 GMT: Sanctions Watch. Mohammad Reza Yazdi, a member of the Revolutionary Guards in Parliament, has complained about the "illegal freeze" of foreign Guards accounts, denying they belong to commanders.

1254 GMT: The House Arrests. Mehdi Karroubi, the opposition figure held under strict house arrest since February 2011, was allowed a short visit with his family this weekend.

Days earlier, Karroubi was not allowed to attend the funeral of his sister.

1242 GMT: A Mystery Meeting. Rooz Online reports that the Assembly of Experts had its first mid-term meeting in the history of the Islamic Republic.

The extraordinary session was accentuated by the absence of the chairman, Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani. It was led instead by "hard-line" cleric Mohammad Yazdi.

Yazdi, in his presentation, focused on the topic of “sanctions” and “differences among the leaders”. He declared:

There is no doubt that the enemy has used every opportunity since the first days of the Revolution till today to confront the Islamic Republic. The Islamic Republic in return has responded appropriately and has been successful in this until now. These problems and sanctions will be resolved and they are 100% wrong to believe that these problems will result in a retreat by the Islamic Republic because we will not retreat on the nuclear or non-nuclear issues.

As for the question of leadership, Yazdi insisted, “Differences of opinion among people are natural but there are no differences in the common goals and the senior authorities of the country, the heads of the three branches and their affiliate agencies, are working to find solutions to better meet the challenges caused by the sanctions."

1237 GMT: Election Watch. Aftab reports that Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf will definitely run for President in 2013.

Meanwhile, former President Hashemi Rafsanjani has demanded a free and fair Presidential election and warned of division.

1231 GMT: All the President's Men. Journalist Mohammad Hossein Noubakhti, an ally of Presidential Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, has reportedly been released from detention after 99 days.

0645 GMT: Economy Watch. I doubt President Ahmadinejad meant this statement to a Pakistani trade delegation as an admission of economic weakness, but this is an effective admission of the difficulties brought by sanctions:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the Islamic Republic sees no barriers in the development of barter trade with other countries, particularly Pakistan....

The Iranian president later termed bartering as one of the greatest ways in trade exchange, highlighting that Tehran intends to use the method in its trade transactions with Islamabad.

Bartering benefits both parties involved and Western banks will not thus benefit from the process of trade, President Ahmadinejad pointed out.

The Islamic Republic's international trade has been hindered by restrictions on transactions in dollars and Euros, forcing it to seek agreements for transactions in other currencies or for barter arrangements, especially for its oil exports.

0635 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. The detentions of three members of the Baha'i faith --- Bakhtiyar Rasekhi and his wife and daughter, Farhnaz Na`imi and Farin Rahimi --- have reportedly been extended.

The three were among Baha'is arrested on 5 January as they marked the Day of Iranian Youth. They are charged with propaganda against the regime in favour of opposition organisations and groups; spying for the benefit of foreigners; promoting deviant Baha’i ideas; supporting the apostasy of Muslims; and blasphemy against Islam.

0530 GMT: A series of assurances in Iranian State media this morning --- on the military front, Press TV features the words of Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, “We do not seek to disturb the security of the region, we want to establish security in the region....We can stand against any threat and protect our interests and the country’s maritime borders.” 

For its top story, IRNA chooses a reassurance on the economy, "New Request of Some Countries for Petrochemical Products".

Fars, however, has a much different emphasis, turning to the US and the past to proclaim that World Trade Center Building 7, next to the Twin Towers, was destroyed by a bomb inside the building on 11 September 2001.