The Latest from Iran (28 May): No More Nice Guy --- Tehran Shifts Line on Nuke Talks

See also The Latest from Iran (27 May): A New Parliament Opens

1358 GMT: Dissent Watch. Former Foreign Minister and political prisoner Ebrahim Yazdi has posted another book on the Internet, as a protest against the Ministry of Culture’s failure to provide valid reasons for not approving its publication.

The Student Movement in the 1940s and 1950s was published 10 days after Yazdi uploaded his book about Mehdi Bazargan, the head of Iran’s interim state after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

In a letter to the Minister of Culture and Guidance, Yazdi wrote, “The president has said in his interviews that Iran is the freest country in the world, so it is not clear why a book about the late Mr. Bazargan cannot get a publication licence.”

Yazdi, arrested twice during the post-election protests of 2009, was the oldest political prisoner before the octogenarian was finally released last March.

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (27 May): A New Parliament Opens

President Ahmadinejad and former President Rafsanjani enter the first session of the new Parliament todaySee also The Latest from Iran (26 May): Propaganda Watch

---

1825 GMT: Nuclear Watch. Earlier today (see 0635 GMT) we had noted the defiant stance of the head of the atomic energy organisation, Fereydoun Abbasi, that the International Atomic Energy Agency would not be allowed to inspect the Parchin military site. This, we suggested, was a major step back from possible accomodation over Iran's nuclear programme, given that IAEA head Yukiya Amano had said only a week ago that an agreement over inspections was imminent.

Western media, however, are focusing on another section of Abbasi's comments on State TV, namely that Iran is standing on its right to enrich uranium to 20% on its soil: "“We have no reason to retreat from producing the 20 percent because we need 20 percent uranium just as much to meet our needs."

We are not so struck by the remark. Abbasi has been a "hard-liner" in the past --- in contrast to, for example, President Ahmadinejad --- on the level to which Iran can enrich.

Today's comment should be seen more as a re-assertion by the regime of a tough negotiating position after the failure to get any advance, and indeed signs of a retreat, on a deal at last week's Baghdad talks. Iranian officials blame the situation on the initial proposal put by the 5+1 Powers, which did not explictly recognise Iran's right to enrich and which offered no significant gesture on sanctions.

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (25 May): On to The "Last Chance" Nuclear Talks in Moscow

Nikahang Kowsar on "time" and the Supreme Leader after the Baghdad nuclear talks

See also Iran Analysis: 4 Lessons of The Baghdad Nuclear Talks...And What's Next
Iran Document: Statement By EU's Catherine Ashton After Baghdad Talks
The Latest from Iran (24 May): Day 2 of the Nuclear Talks in Baghdad

---

1803 GMT: Nuclear Watch. Journalist Scott Peterson has a telling follow-up quote from an Iranian diplomat who was speaking with him throughout the Baghdad talks, "I think [they were] a complete failure, in terms of content. The more they talk, the worse it gets."

Peterson's description makes clear that a tough opening proposal by the 5+1 Powers did not include a reference to easing of sanctions or a recognition of the level of enrichment that would be acceptable inside Iran.

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (18 May): Helping Damascus

The regime-supported rally denouncing the US and Saudi Arabia over Bahrain (see 1359 GMT)

See also Iran Special: The Nuclear Scientist, WikiLeaks, and the Executed Kickboxer
Iran Feature: How Tehran is Shipping Syria's Oil
The Latest from Iran (17 May): Arms to Syria?

---

1948 GMT: The Bahrain Card. More about the regime's propaganda offensive based on the (now dormant) Saudi initative for "union" with Bahrain....

One of the Tehran Friday Prayers leaders, Ayatollah Emami Kashani, has said that the Bahraini people, "thanks to their alertness", will not allow the US "and its mercenaries" to implement the union.

Far more colourful is the declaration of the head of the Basij militia, Mohammad Reza Naqdi, “Al Khalifa and Al Saud regimes should come to realize that their American masters are simply looking for new lackeys in the region. What happened ultimately to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Saddam Hussein, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, Hosni Mubarak and other dictators, now awaits them.”

Click to read more ...

Iran Feature: The Week in Civil Society --- Attacks on Journalists, A Death Bounty for A Rapper, A Woman Dragged from the Book Fair (Arseh Sevom)

Claimed photo of women being dragged from the Tehran International Book Fair for inappropriate dress

---

Summary: 126 Iranian journalists signed a letter protesting the arrests and harassment of journalists, sending it to the head of the judiciary and the Speaker of Parliament. After a cartoonist faced lashing for his drawing of an MP, colleagues all over the world launched a campaign of support. An MP assaulted a journalist who asked a sensitive question. Publishers banned from attending the International Book Fair received support from a prisoner of conscience. Women were targeted for bad hejab. The Minister of Communicatoins calls for government institutions to host their email and sites on domestic servers. Rapper Shahin Najafi wakes up to find a price on his head, offered by an anonymous Gulf resident, after his new song satirising the wait for the 10th Imam hit the airwaves. And more...

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (13 May): Tehran's Falling Oil Exports

See also Iran Special: Politics and the "Death Fatwa" on Rapper Shahin Najafi
Iran 1st-Hand: Reports from a Controlled Election
The Latest from Iran (12 May): Ahmadinejad Keeps on Trippin'

---

1505 GMT: Economy Watch. Economist Saeed Laylaz has rejected the President's claims that Iran's price rises are due to global inflation, saying the most important factor is the Government.

Laylaz said inflation had fallen from 26-30% in 2008-2009 to 20% in 2011-2012, but he noted that production has sharply declined and is now the biggest threat to the economy.

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (8 May): The Political Fight Over Subsidy Cuts

See also Iran Feature: The Battle to Become Speaker of Parliament
The Latest from Iran (7 May): The Muddle of the New Parliament

---

Ali Larijani & Mahmoud Ahmadinejad1920 GMT: Oil Watch. Reinhard Baumgarten reports on Iran falling behind Iraq as oil exporter and interviews Sadegh Zibakalam about the disadvantages for Tehran in its deal to export to India.

1542 GMT: Oil Watch. More on the private manoevures behind US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's public encouragement, in her three-day visit, of India to cut oil imports from Iran....

Four Indian officials have told Bloomberg that supplies will be slashed by 20%, given the prospect of alternative supplies from Saudi Arabia.

The officials said India will lower its purchases to 14 million tons from the 17.5 million metric tons in the year ending 31 March.

Click to read more ...

Iran Feature: The Battle to Become Speaker of Parliament

Larijani (left) and Haddad Adel (right)The political outcome of the Parliamentary elections may be a "mish-mash", with the Supreme Leader as the likely victor in his ability to control the legislature as well as the President, but the first battle of the new Majlis is shaping up --- and it's not directly about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Current Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, despite his allegiance to Ayatollah Khamenei, faces a serious challenge for his position. Unsurprisingly, his challenges to the Government have aroused the animosity of Ahmadinejad supporters, and he now has to contend with the alternative of Gholam Ali Haddad Adel --- former Speaker of Parliament, officially the top vote-getter in Tehran's Parliamentary ballot, and a member of the Supreme Leader's inner circle (his daughter is married to Khamenei's son Mojtaba).

An Iranian correspondent for EA surveys the situation....

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (5 May): The Threat of Inflation

See also Iran Special: Photoshop Propaganda With Lots of Missiles (and Jar Jar Binks!)
The Latest from Iran (4 May): Election Day Again

---

2045 GMT: The Revolutionary Guards Intervene. Forget the election --- this may be the most significant news of the day....

General Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, has criticised the Government for not being able to meet the Supreme leader's expectations, saying, "We are hoping to take effective steps toward this goal."

Addressing students at Imam Hussain University, which is overseen by the Guards, he declared, "Whether we want it or not, we have become a model in the world and the people of countries which are facing reforms and changes are looking at us to give them examples to follow."

2035 GMT: Economy Watch. Economist Hussain Raghfar has said that Iranians cannot believe official statistics, having lost trust in Government and the Central Bank. Instead, they "search within their families and friends to find the true inflation and unemployment rate. They look at the number of young people in their families who are working and the everyday prices of necessary goods such as food and vegetables."

Raghfar blamed Government policies for economic problems, "For the past 24 month there have been no policies on controlling inflation." He predicted that, if the second phase of subsidy cuts is implemented, the inflation rate will surge past 100%.

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (1 May): The Supreme Leader Pins Economic Blame on Ahmadinejad

2025 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani has joined in the criticism of the Government over the economy, claiming it is increasing imports rather than supporting domestic production.

2015 GMT: Justice Watch. On Monday, we reported that Ali Akbar Heydarifar, a deputy to former Tehran Prosecutor General Saeed Mortazavi, was arrested over alleged involvement in the abuses at the Kahrizak detention centre in autumn 2009. Mortazavi, despite heated criticism from MPs and a file against him, has so far escaped prosecution and retains his post as a Presidential advisor.

A curious footnote from Radio Zamaneh:

Heydarifar, who reportedly signed the [Kahrizak] detainees’ transfer order, was involved in a recent altercation at a gas station in Esfahan.

He was reportedly trying to jump the line at the gas station when other customers complained. Media reports indicate that Heydarifard took out a gun and began shooting into the air. He was released after Security Forces called to scene checked his ID.

The Iran Prosecutor has announced that Heydarifar is also facing prosecution for the incident at the gas station.

Click to read more ...