The Latest from Iran (29 September): The Economy and the Divisions Within the Regime

See also EA Video Analysis: Iran --- Ahmadinejad in New York "He Came, He Spoke, He Slipped Away"
Iran Feature: Fars News and The Onion Agree --- "Rural American Whites Prefer Ahmadinejad to Obama"
The Latest from Iran (28 September): The Next Fall in the Currency

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1544 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Prominent human rights lawyer Mohammad Ali Dadkhah has been summoned to Evin Prison to begin his nine-year sentence.

Dadkhah, one of the founders of the Center for Defenders of Human Rights, was arrested less than a month after the disputed 2009 Presidential election. He was sentenced in July 2011 on charges including membership of the CDHR and "spreading propaganda against the system through interviews with foreign media".

1531 GMT: Press Watch. Families of 25 martyrs and veterans of the 1980s Iran-Iraq War have expressed support for Hadi Heydari, cartoonist for the reform newspaper Shargh, in an open letter.

Shargh was banned and its managing editor imprisoned this week over a Heydari cartoon which showed men blindfolding each other in bright light. Authorities argued that the image was an insult to veterans on the 32nd anniversary of the start of the war.

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The Latest from Iran (23 September): An "Inevitable" War with Israel?

President Ahmadinejad and military commanders gaze at a missile during Friday's parade in Tehran

See also The Latest from Iran (22 September): The Syria Muddle Continues

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2022 GMT: The House Arrests. The son of opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi, held under strict house arrest since February 2011, has provided an update on his father's status.

Mohammad Taghi Karroubi said, "For the past six weeks, the family has been allowed to meet with Mr. Karroubi once a week and on a regular basis. These visits have taken place in the presence of security agents. Prior to this change in policy, there had been times when the family had gone four months without seeing Mr. Karroubi."

Karroubi's son said the opposition figure, who ran for President in 2009 and pressed the regime after the disputed election over justice and rights, has had access to newspapers for only four weeks out of his 19-month detention. So "I deemed it necessary to bring him up to breast with current affairs during our short visits that took place in the presence of security agents".

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The Latest from Iran (19 September): Another Regime Move on Syria

Syria's President Assad with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi

See also The Latest from Iran (18 September): Nuclear Manoeuvres

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2010 GMT: Budget Watch. Marcus George and Zahra Hosseinian combine statistics, observations from analysts to write, "Unemployment Mounts as Iran's Economy Falters":

A wealthy Iranian businessman sits in the lobby of one of Dubai's most luxurious hotels, shaking his head as he laments the state of Iran's economy....

He is en route from Europe, where he runs a company that makes electrical goods, to Iran, a trip he makes several times a year....

"Business is drying up, industry is collapsing. There's zero investment," he said. "I know. I see it with my own eyes."

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The Latest from Iran (15 September): The Failure of the Regime's Anti-US Diversion?

An image from Friday's protest "Down with US, Down with Israel" in Tehran

See also Iran Feature: The Week in Civil Society --- Collapsing Currency, Closed Embassy, No to Women Watching Volleyball
The Latest from Iran (14 September): The Regime Stages a Protest Over a Movie

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2040 GMT: Sanctions Watch. More on the US waivers from economic restrictions for Japan and 10 European countries because they cut their purchases of Iranian oil, noted by the Islamic Republic's media this morning (see 0540 GMT)....

The 11 countries have been given a second 180-day waiver from the threat of being cut off from the US financial system. The European Union implemented a full embargo on Iranian crude and petroleum products on 1 July Japan has sharply reduced imports.

The 10 European countries are Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

The review of waivers for India and South Korea, who have cut off or sharply reduced oil purchases (see 0940 GMT), is due in December.

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The Latest from Iran (9 September): Sanctions, More Sanctions, No Talks

See also The Latest from Iran (8 September): The Threat Is Not Israel --- It's the Economy

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1942 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Children's rights' activist Saeed Shirzad, who was detained while helping victims of August's earthquake in East Azerbaijan, has been released.

1925 GMT: The Currency Crisis and Politics. Two stories pointing to the possible rise of political tensions over the weakening Iranian currency.

The head of the Central Bank, Mahmoud Bahmani, has indicated the Bank will not release reserves to bolster the currency, saying people still have dollars at home.

That answer is unlikely to satisfy prominent conservative MP Ahmad Tavakoli, who accused the Central Bank of withholding dollars. That allegation fits the news, posted on EA yesterday, that importers have been able to get foreign currency at official rates to release their goods from ports.

An EA correspondent assesses, "I think this is a full-fledged battle tween Ahmadinejad and his opponents about control of the currency market. The Supreme Leader is afraid to enter because of collateral damage."

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The Latest from Iran (8 August): A Short Break for the Olympics

The family of Omid Norouzi celebrate his Olympic gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling

See also Iran Analysis: Is This the Last Elected President?
Iran Snap Analysis: Scrambling Over Syria
The Latest from Iran (7 August): The Currency "Situation"

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2017 GMT: Foreign Affairs Watch (Syrian Front). Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has published a statement "announc[ing] Iran’s readiness to host a meeting of countries committed to immediately implementing these steps in hopes of ending the violence...[and] reiterat[ing] our willingness to facilitate talks between the Syrian government and the opposition and to host such a dialogue".

That is not new --- Salehi has said this on several occasions in recent weeks. What is new is the outlet: an opinion piece in the Washington Post.

And what is even more distinctive is Salehi's recognition --- the first I can recall from a high-ranking Iranian official --- of the legitimacy of protest against the Syrian regime:

When the Islamic Awakening — also known as the Arab Spring — began in December 2010, we all saw people rising up to claim their rights. We have witnessed the emergence of civic movements demanding freedom, democracy, dignity and self-determination.

We in Tehran have watched these developments with delight. After all, a civic movement demanding the same things that many Arabs want today is what led to the emergence of our Islamic Republic in 1979. During the past three decades, Iran has consistently underlined that it is the duty of all governments to respect their people’s demands. We have maintained this position as the Islamic Awakening has unfolded.

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The Latest from Iran (4 August): The Regime Admits Its "Economic War"

Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati1635 GMT: Fraud Watch. Khorasan News reports that an embezzlement of 15 billion Toman (about $12.5 million at official rate) has been discovered in a Bonyad Shahid (foundation).

1335 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Student activist Bahareh Hedayat, serving a 9 1/2-year sentence, has returned to prison after a short furlough.

Hedayat was arrested in December 2009, just after demonstrations on National Student Day.

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The Latest from Iran (15 July): Worries Over the Economy

Iranians line up to buy cheaper chicken as the price of meat rises sharply

See also The Latest from Iran (14 July): Sanctions Watch

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2135 GMT: All-Is-Well Alert. Minister of Economy Mehdi Ghazanfari, speaking in the religious city of Qom today, said, “The Iranian economy is dynamic, which will not be influenced by sanctions."

More interesting than Ghazanfari's rhetoric was the effective admission that he had come to Qom after senior clerics had protested over inflation. The minister insisted that difficult days have passed, that the situation in the market is good, and that “we have a sufficient stock (of goods)".

2129 GMT: Morality Watch. ISNA reports that security forces and members of the "morality police" raided 87 cafes and restaurants in a district of Tehran on Saturday, shutting them "for not following Islamic values, providing hookah to women, and lacking proper licenses".

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The Latest from Iran (1 July): The European Union Cuts Off Imports of Tehran's Oil

1535 GMT: Correction of the Day. I am not sure we can take credit for this but, hours after we noted Press TV's use of a conspracy-theory "analyst" to proclaim "US Seeks War with Russia", the Iran State website has downgraded the crisis: "West Seeks Tussle with Russia over Syria"

1445 GMT: A Revolutionary Guards commander has announced plans for a new missile exercise, Great Prophet 7, from Monday to Wednesday.

The Commander of the Aerospace Division, Brigadier General Amir-Ali Hajizadeh said, “By firing missiles into these simulated bases (of regional forces), our commanders will assess the precision and the effectiveness of the warheads installed on the missiles.”

The commander said the message for the “regional and transregional countries seeking adventurism is that the Islamic Republic is determined to resist their bullying and will give a crushing and decisive response to any potential act of mischief. In case of any potential incident, Iran's surface-to-surface missiles will descend upon them like bolts of thunder.”

1245 GMT: Sanctions Watch. Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, who earlier said Zionists are behind the US and European Union's economic restrictions, has tried to rally Iranians: “Today, we are facing the heaviest of sanctions and we ask people to help officials in this battle."

Rahimi said the “dastardly sanctions” might cause “occasional confusion” in the market, but assured that the Iranian nation would not be stopped.

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The Latest from Iran (30 June): "Talk to Us"

See also Iran 1st-Hand: The Squeeze of the Sanctions
The Latest from Iran (29 June): The Pressure Builds

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1822 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. A letter signed by 141 Iranian journalists has expressed support for their detained colleague, Bahman Ahmadi Amoui.

The journalists express concern that Ahmadi Amoui was imprisoned for his critical articles on the economy, noting his exile to Rajai Shahr Prison and transfer to solitary confinement.

Ahmadi Amoui was arrested just after the June 2009 Presidential election. He was sentenced in January 2010 to seven years and four months in prison.

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