The Latest from Iran (3 January): Desperately Seeking Reformists

See also Iran Snap Analysis: Finding a Scapegoat in the Currency Crisis
Iran Audio Feature: Scott Lucas with the BBC "The Economy is More Important than the Missile Tests"
The Latest from Iran (2 January): The Currency is Falling

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2040 GMT: No Comment. Those conservatives and principlists who have warned of the "deviant current" around President Ahmadinejad may be interested in this from the Tehran Times:

Presidential aide Mojtaba Hashemi-Samareh ruled out the possibility of the manipulation of the March parliamentary elections by administration officials, emphasizing that there is no cause for concern in this regard.

He told the Mehr News Agency that the administration is tasked with holding the elections, but candidates’ representatives and the Guardian Council will oversee the running of the elections, so there is no cause for concern.

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The Latest from Iran (13 December): Shoes Are Thrown at the President

2140 GMT: Parliament Watch. Speaking at Tehran University today, MP Ali Motahari, a vocal critic of the Ahmadinejad administration, has criticised the crackdown on students after the 2009 Presidential election. Considering why the repression occurred and why it continues, he said that there is an atmosphere of "fear and terror" in the Iranian Parliament because of the actions of some legislators.

2135 GMT: Sanctions Watch. The executive board of Nokia Siemens Networks has said that it will not take on any new business in Iran and will gradually reduce its existing commitments from 1 January 2012.

The Finnish company said in a letter to its staff in Iran that the decision was taken because US-led sanctions "make it almost impossible for Nokia Siemens Networks to do business with Iranian customers".

Nokia Siemens has been criticised for providing telecommunications equipment allowing the Iranian regime to maintain surveillance of protesters after the 2009 Presidential election.

2100 GMT: Economy Watch. Former Minister of Labor Hossein Kamali has claimed that more than 50% of Iran's workers now live below the poverty line.

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The Latest from Iran (26 October): It's All About US Crimes....

2250 GMT: Reality or Illusion Watch. Prominent Iranian academic Sadegh Zibakalam, speaking at the Tehran Media Exhibit, said the "Islamic Awakening" --- declared by the Supreme Leader to be inspiring movements across North Africa and the Middle East --- is an illusion of the Islamic Republic. Zibakalam said the real significance of events is that Arab people are fed up with dictatorship.

1810 GMT: The Plot. In a speech in South Khorasan Province in eastern Iran, President Ahmadinejad has said the "Iranian nation is very kind and just and does not need to terrorist acts".

Responding to US accusations that Tehran planned the assassination of the Saudi Ambassador to Washington, Ahmadinejad asserted, "Every time the Iranian nation moves toward the peaks of progress, its enemies grab it with their teeth showing." He turned the charge of assassination against others, claiming they had killed Iranian scientists.

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The Latest from Iran (11 October): The Bank Fraud Expands

See also Iran Document: The Formal Complaint over "Plot to Kill Saudi Ambassador to US"Iran Document: US Account of the "Plot to Murder the Saudi Ambassador to Washington"
Iran 1st-Hand: The Flogging of Peyman Aref

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1941 GMT: The Terrorist Plot. We have just posted the US Department of Justice press release summarising the alleged plot, backed by elements of the Revolutionary Guards, to kill the Saudi Ambassador to Washington.

We have also posted a copy of the original complaint filed in the Court of the Southern District of New York.

Iran's State news agency IRNA, has called the accusations "America's new propaganda scenario" against Tehran.

1912 GMT: CNN clarifies how the US is going to respond to this terrorist plot, on which the US President Barack Obama was briefed in June:

Attorney General Eric Holder, when asked how Iran would be held "accountable" in an alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States, said he expected action from the White House, the State Department and Treasury within the next few hours.

A US official expanded more about how the U.S. might hold Iran accountable. The official told CNN's Elise Labott that there are likely to be more sanctions and the U.S. will be taking this up with to the United Nations Security Council and other members of the international community.

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The Latest from Iran (20 July): "Harmless" Opposition?

1710 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. A friend of physician and blogger Mehdi Khazali has given an account of the arrest after Khazali was summoned to the Ministry of Intelligence on Monday:

When Dr. Khazali arrived at the Intelligence Ministry they presented him with an arrest warrant. Dr. Khazali told them this warrant is 10 days old and he already posted bond for it four days ago.

The agent replied that he has to arrest him and the Court’s instructions don’t mean anything to him. Dr. Khazali told him this warrant is illegal and I won't go with you.

All of a sudden three people jumped on him and throw him to the ground and handcuffed him. They placed him in a car, positioned him laying down with one agent sitting on his neck and one sitting on his stomach as his teenaged son was watching in shock.

The friend was also in court when Khazali was arraigned on Tuesday:

After they brought the doctor in, I was shocked, he was in prison attire, handcuffed and shackled, with his bruised swollen neck bent to one side and accompanied by two agents on each side.

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The Latest from Iran (2 June): A Revival of Dissent?

A photograph from last night's burial of Haleh Sahabi

2010 GMT: A Death at the Funeral. Our partner website, Arshama3's Blog", has posted an excellent summary in German of the case of Haleh Sahabi, "Anatomy of a Political Murder".

2005 GMT: A Death at the Funeral. Hamed Montazeri, the grandson of the late Grand Ayatollah, has written a note about the death of Haleh Sahabi. He said that Sahabi was beaten by security forces. Whether her death resulted from the impact of the blows or the shock of receiving them, Montazeri continued, "it can be said unequivocally that Ms Haleh Sahabi was murdered".

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The Latest from Iran (8 October): Hey, Look Over There!

1845 GMT: Banning the Reformists (Confusion Edition). Yesterday we erroneously reported, "Alireza Avayi, the head of the judiciary in Tehran Province, has denied that a banning order has been issued against the reformist Islamic Iran Participation Front."

Here's the rather muddled story. The IIPF is claiming that, after it complained about a ban on its activities, an Iranian court cancelled its dissolution and authorised the resumption of its activities.

Avayi has denied the IIPF's claim, saying that the file on the case has merely been transferred to the Tehran Revolutionary Court. The IIPF is still not allowed to engage in any political activity.

Last week, Iran Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei said the IIPF and another reformist party, the Mojahedin of Islamic Revolution, were banned.

1815 GMT: Sanctions Watch. Iranian Labor News Agency reports that paint factories are unable to import raw material due to sanctions, and retailers are now out of stock.

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