Latest from Iran (4 September): Shrinking Lake, Growing Protests

1710 GMT:Environment Watch. Associated Press' coverage of the Lake Urmia protests is taken entirely from the summary of Mehr, which claims demonstrations have ended with no casualties.

Mehr --- and thus AP --- assert that the protests ended Saturday night.

1410 GMT: Protest Watch. Peyke Iran reports that the strike of cloth merchants in the Tehran Bazaar, complaining about the Government's policies on value-added tax, is continuing despite talks with MPs.

1405 GMT: More claimed footage from Saturday's protests in Tabriz over Lake Urmia:

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Iran Feature: The Intimidation of the Regime (Baji)

"Yasaman Baji", an Iranian journalist in Tehran, writes for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting:

The Iranian security forces stepped into action to prevent opposition protesters coming out onto the streets and hijacking the annual anti-Israel demonstration last week.

The last Friday of Ramadan is designated Quds (“Jerusalem”) Day in Iran, and is used by the regime as a ritual show of anti-Israeli and anti-American sentiment.

Last year, however, the opposition Green Movement took advantage of the officially-sanctioned presence of crowds on the street to make their own appearance, to the consternation of the government. They challenged official policy on the Palestinian cause – normally a taboo subject – by shouting, "No to Gaza, no to Lebanon, may my life be sacrificed for Iran."

This year, the intelligence agencies were ready, and took action to forestall any public appearance by the opposition.

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