Iran Feature: Spotlight Returns to Detained Opposition Leaders Mousavi and Karroubi

Before the Detentions: Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi KarroubiTwo of Iran's main opposition leaders are in their 70s and in poor health but 23 months of house arrest have failed to crush their "unshakeable spirit", their families said last week.

Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi are standing by their "righteous and principled position", they added in a statement that demanded their immediate release. That position is primarily a call for the "ruling apparatus" to recognise "the people's right to self-determination".

Cut off from the outside world, the two men --- along with Mr Mousavi's charismatic wife, Zahra Rahnavard - have been denied free access to newspapers, television, the internet and regular family visits.

But all three are now back in the Iranian spotlight ahead of polls in June to elect a successor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

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Iran Live Coverage: "Supreme Leader Ordered House Arrests of Mousavi and Karroubi"

See also The Latest from Iran (25 December): Is the Currency Falling Again?

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2117 GMT: Economy Watch. Radio Zamaneh summarises the gloomy report of Parliament's Research Center, surveying 98 economic organizations over the past year, that production has fallen 40% and employment is down 36%. The downturn has been fed by price rises of 87.9% for produced goods and 112.1% for primary materials.

The Center adds that in the past year, only 50 production facilities have been established while 566 have shut down.

Meanwhile, in an example of the problems with production, 300 workers at the Fajr Petrochemical factory in Mahshahr have gone on strike protesting the lack of job security.

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The Latest from Iran (9 February): News and Propaganda over Oil

A cartoon from Javan Online, linked to the Revolutionary Guards, summarises frustration with Iran's political and economic situation

See also Iran Feature: The Regime Locks Down the Internet
The Latest from Iran (8 February): Seeking the Voice of the Nation

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2135 GMT: Elections Watch. The Guardian Council has announced that 3320 out of 5395 applicants, or about 61%, have been approved as candidates for the Parliamentary elections on 2 March.

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The Latest from Iran (7 February): Campaign Season

See also Iran Feature: A Middle Class on Edge
Iran Film Special: The Simpsons Are Gone, But You Can Still See Shrek in Tehran
The Latest from Iran (6 February): "The Regime Will Demolish Ahmadinejad"

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1917 GMT: Oil Watch (China Front). Evidence that China is joining the squeeze on Iran over Tehran's oil exports...

Beijing, Iran's biggest customer, has said publicly that it will not join US-led sanctions; however, in January and February, it has halved its crude from Tehran. Now industry sources say China is increasing its supplies from Saudi Arabia, which has raised production since December.

Beijing is also importing more cargoes from West Africa, Russia, and Australia to replace reduced supplies from Iran.

China takes around 20% of Iran's total exports. Since January, it has cut purchases by around 285,000 barrels per day (bpd), just over half of the total daily amount it imported in 2011. At the same time, Beijing has purchased an additional 200,000 bpd from Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabian output reached 9.76 million barrels per day (bpd) in December, up 360,000 bpd from October, and remained near that level in January.

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The Latest from Iran (2 February): Will There Be Protests on 25 Bahman?

See also Iran Caption Competition: What Would a 6-Foot (Cardboard) Ayatollah Khomeini Say?
The Latest from Iran (1 February): Is the Supreme Leader Fretting About Syria?

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2130 GMT: Foreign Affairs (Syrian Front). Yet another sign of Tehran's concern at developments in Damascus (see 1435 GMT)....

Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Iran is “astonished and confused” by the failure of the Arab League mission in Syria, blaming a lack of willingness on the part of Arab states for the breakdown.

“The observers went to Syria, where they worked for over a month, presented a balanced report, and they were supposed to continue their mission," Salehi said. “We are astonished and confused. We do not understand why the Arab League halted the work of observers who agreed to continue with their mission and chose to go to the Security Council instead."

Salehi indicated Tehran's reliance on Beijing and Moscow, saying he believes both will continue to support both Iran and Syria in the face of Western pressure. He tried to minimise any differences with Ankara: "Regarding Syria, our Turkish brothers have their own opinions. They want the reforms to happen quickly, not slowly."

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Iran Interview: Detained Mehdi Karroubi on "A Rigged and Forced Election Process"

These gentlemen are fully aware of the continued discontent and anger of our people, and as a result they seek to organise a rigged and forced election process in which candidates who do not meet their requirements are disqualified and barred from participating. This will lead to ballot boxes filled with votes that belong to God knows whom.

Their goal is to once again arrest, create fear amongst our citizens, impose a heavy security atmosphere and repeat the tragedies that took place during the Presidential elections in 2009; a process in which candidates will be approved by the Guardian Council based on their positions regarding the supposed "heads of the sedition" and the groups causing the "diversion".

It goes without saying that when the ruling government is reduced to calling the reformists, the Green Movement, and protesting citizens the "diversionary group", their intent is to deceive and I believe that our nation is fully cognizant of these types of tactics.

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The Latest from Iran (21 November): Let's Talk Nukes...And Nothing But Nukes

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The initial aftermath of the raid by security forces on the offices of Iran newspaper, as they tried to detain Presidential advisor Ali Akbar Javanfekr --- full video now in our special analysis

See also Iran Feature: So What Happened When Security Forces Tried to Arrest the President's Senior Advisor?

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1900 GMT: Things That Make You Go Ummm.... The President's office says Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has cancelled his tour to Kohgilouyeh and Boyer Ahmad Province in western Iran this weekend because of expected bad weather.

The official forecast for Kohgilouyeh and Boyer Ahmad Province on Friday is sunshine with a high temperature of 18 degrees Celsius (64 degrees Fahrenheit).

1850 GMT: More Tough Talk of the Day. Mojtaba Zolnour, the Supreme Leader's former liaison to the Revolutionary Guards, has said that if Syria is attacked, the Islamic Republic will support it as it does Lebanon's Hezbollah.

Zolnour added the assurance that the explosion at the Revolutionary Guards base on 12 November, which killed between 17 and 37 people, was not due to sabotage.

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The Latest from Iran (16 November): Non-Appearances

A Green Movement poster opposing any military attack on Iran

See also Iran Analysis: Ahmadinejad --- A Phoenix Rising from the Ashes?
The Latest from Iran (15 November): After the Explosion

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2100 GMT: The Explosion. Digarban goes back into the question of the death toll of Saturday's blast at the Revolutionary Guards base and --- contrary to the latest claim of the Guards of 17 deaths --- comes up with the names of 36 people who were killed.

The list is taken from accounts in IRNA, Fars, and Mehr.

2050 GMT: CrimeStoppers. MP Hosein Harati has declared that the Supreme Leader is the leader of the movement preventing crime in Iran.

If so, Ayatollah Khamenei has gone a big task --- Harati said that, in a country of 75 million people, there are 10 million criminal files.

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Iran Letter: Fatemeh Karroubi Writes Head of Judiciary from Her House Arrest ---- "We Have Been Denied Basic Rights"

Mehdi and Fatemeh KarroubiDo you truly believe that you will find one rational human being on this planet who will confirm that [my husband Mehdi] Karroubi is at home rather than under imposed house arrest?  Will the silence by the judiciary not lead to a new trend in which security institutions will impose the costs associated with such house arrests on the shoulders of the families of those arrested? Is this type of behaviour worthy of the Islamic Republic? Although you are fully aware that this newly devised and ridiculous tactic will be recorded in history as such,  the family has nevertheless chosen to comply with your demands in order to protect the physical well-being of Mr. Karroubi.

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The Latest from Iran (22 September): Yesterday the US Hikers, Today the UN

See also Iran Video: President Ahmadinejad's Address to the United Nations
Iran Special Analysis: US Hikers Released --- Everyone, including Ahmadinejad, is a Winner (for Now)
Iran Interview: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Runs Circles Around ABC News' Stephanopoulos
The Latest from Iran (21 September): The In-Fighting Over the US Hikers

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2135 GMT: The UN Speech. An EA correspondent notes that, in his attention to the centuries-long perfidy of the West, President Ahmadinejad failed to mention the current issue of Palestine and its quest for statehood. Any significance?

What is definitely significant is the marker set down by Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of Parliament's National Security Council, over Ahmadinejad's signals that he would like a resumption of talks with the US: Boroujerdi that is not within the Government's power to decide Tehran's relationship with America.

1945 GMT: Analysis of the Day. Interesting that Press TV opened its de-brief of the Ahmadinejad speech not with praise for the address but by asking about the walkout by many delegates. And Dr Seyed Mohammad Marandi ran with the theme:

I think it shows the intolerance that is dominant in the United States and in Europe...at least at the official level. They are unwilling to even listen to a person who has an alternative viewpoint, yet ironically the United States allows the Mujahedin-e-Khalq [MKO], the terrorist organisation, to rally outside the United Nations at the time of President Ahmadinejad's speech.

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