1830 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch (see 1235 GMT). Do you think former President Hashemi Rafsanjani is making an allusion here: "After removal of [former President Abolhassan] Bani Sadr, unity was created among the people"?
1430 GMT: Ahmadinejad's Men. More pressure on 1st Vice President Hamid Baghaei and Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai....
2015 GMT: Rumours of the Day (President's Right-Hand Man Edition). Mashregh News says Ahemadinejad confidante Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai is in hospital for diabetes. Fars says he is in good health.
Bottom line: Rahim-Mashai was not with the President on Ahmadinejad's trip to Kurdistan yesterday and today. Any significance?
1400 GMT: International Front. Kuwait's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad al-Salem al-Sabah has told Al Arabiya that an alleged Iranian spy cell had explosives to bomb "strategic" facilities: "We are talking about a cell whose task was not only to monitor and record the (US) military presence that is in their view hostile --- the American forces presence on Kuwait lands --- but it exceeded that."
The Foreign Minister claimed the cell, revealed last year, "had explosives and the intention to explode vital Kuwaiti facilities. They had names of officers and they had extremely sensitive information. This indicates bad intentions to harm Kuwaiti security."
2010 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Two supporters of the Laleh Park Mothers of Mourning, Jila Karamzadeh and Laila Saifollahi, have each been sentenced to four years in prison.
1710 GMT: The President's Former Right-Hand Man. A bit more context on the battle around controversial Ahmadinejad ally and advisor Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, who officially left as Chief of Staff today....
Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, considered a spiritual advisor to Ahmadinejad, reportedly launched a furious attack on Rahim-Mashai. The cleric said the "fitna" (sedition) of 2009 around the Presidential election had ended, but now there was a new fitna on higher level.
And what could that challenge be? In a reference to Rahim-Mashai's promotion of an "Iranian model" for other countries to follow, Mesbah Yazdi asked, "Why replace Islam and Revolution with an Iran School?"
1640 GMT: Cartoon of Day. Maya Nayestani presents a different version of the traditional 7-item "Haft Sin" table, offered by a member of Iran's security forces, for New Year --- Sandis (juice given to those attending regime rallies), Saloos (leech), Sarneyzeh (bayonet), Sangsaar (stoning), Sangdeli (hard-heartedness), Sarkoob (oppression), Saltanat-e Faghih (clerical monarchy). Her young boy responds, "I'll go to Grandpa's celebration."
1630 GMT: Missing. Journalist Behrouz Samadbeygi has not been seen since 15 March, the eve of Chahrshanbeh Suri (Fire Festival).
2150 GMT: A Royal Retreat. Iranian MP Hamid Resai has announced that the visit of King Abdullah II of Jordan to Iran has been cancelled: “In view of the current critical situation, the Jordanian Abdullah’s trip to Tehran did not meet the approval of senior Islamic Republic officials.”
A number of MPs had protested the invitation of the Jordanian monarch to celebrate Iranian New Year, in a ceremony hosted by President Ahmadinejad at the ancient capital of the Persian Empire, Persepolis. They noted the rise of protests in Jordan calling for political and economic reforms.
2145 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Reformist Ahmad Hakimipour and journalist Nazanin Khosravani have been released from prison.
Khosravani, detained for 135 days, was freed on $60,000 bail.
2130 GMT: Fire Festival. Claimed footage of people celebrating and singing original Iranian National Anthem tonight:
Tonight's Headline News: The daughters of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard have met their parents for the first time since Mousavi and Rahnavard were put under strict house arrest on 14 February.
Mousavi, who was not informed of the meeting and so was surprised to see his daughters, told them that agents raided the family home on 14 February --- the day of the first significant opposition marches in Tehran for more than a year --- and confiscated books, CDs, and personal items. The security forces even took classified documents from Mousavi's tenure as Prime Minister in the late 1980s.
The daughters claimed the yard of their parents' home was full of agents and a dark van was parked there. They said they were told to keep quiet about the meeting but believed people had a right to know.
2110 GMT: In the Courts. Mohammad Tahir Haeri Shirazi, the son of President Ahmadinejad's mentor Ayatollah Haeri Shirazi, has been sentenced to six years in prison for land theft.
1935 GMT: The "Subversive" Writers. More on the authors targeted in a new Government campaign against dangerous writers (see 1520 GMT)....
The international media have picked up on the specific case of Nobel Prize winner Paolo Coelho, who has appealed to the Brazilian Government after learning from his publisher of a ban on his books.
It is unclear whether the ban is linked to Coelho's editor, translator, and friend, Dr Arash Hejazi. The doctor attracted the ire of the Iranian Government as a supposed foreign agent after he tried to save the life of Neda Agha Soltan, killed by a gunshot during demonstrations on 20 June 2009.
Indeed, there is a Who's Who of Iranian authors whose place on the blacklist has not attracted notice outside Iran. They include Simin Behbahani, Mahmoud Doulatabadi, Ali Ashraf Darvishian, Sepanlou, Javad Mojabi, Bahman Farzaneh, Abbas Milani, Mashallah Ajudani, Bahram Beyzaie, Ebrahim Golestan, and Reza Ghassemi.
Mohammad Reza Nourizad, journalist and filmmaker, has been imprisoned since March, primarily because of letters he wrote to the Supreme Leader about the post-election crisis in Iran. He reportedly has been on hunger strike for more than a week, and other reports says he has been hospitalised.
Last week, the family of Nourizad and the wife of the detained reformist leader Mostafa Tajzadeh gathered in front of Evin Prison. They were accosted by security forces and detained for several hours. Nourizad's wife was reportedly sent to hospital with heart complaints after she was released.
On Saturday, the Nourizad family posted this open letter to Ayatollah Khamenei:
2125 GMT: Political Prison Watch. Rah-e-Sabz reports that Fatemeh Maleki, the wife of journalist/filmmaker, has been hospitalised after she was detained in front of Evin Prison.
Maleki was seized along with other relatives of Nourizad as well as Fatemeh Mohtashamipour, the wife of detained reformist leader Mostafa Tajzadeh. All were released after several hours, but Maleki was taken to hospital with a heart condition.
Earlier today (see 1710 GMT), the website supporting Nourizad said it was Mohtashamipour who had been hospitalised. However, Rah-e-Sabz features an interview with her about the day's events.
2115 GMT: Summarising Today. An EA reader writes, "Just reading your blog today re Ashura. I wonder if the huge number of security forces meant that the Islamic Republic could not show Tehran on TV. I mean, after all, 'Everything is under control, and everyone loves us!' But if they showed Tehran like a fortress it....".
And if they showed the capital with lots of security forces and very few people marching in support of the regime....
But I'm sure this is wild speculation.
2005 GMT: Signal of the Day. This might be the most telling news item about the future of Iranian diplomacy on the day that Foreign Minister Mottaki was fired.
While Mottaki was in Senegal on his last state trip, another Iranian emissary was leading a delegation to the strategic country of Jordan.
That emissary? President Ahmadinejad’s Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai.
That's right. The same Rahim-Mashai whose designation as a special envoy this summer prompted Mottaki's threat to resign and the Supreme Leader's chiding of the President for a "parallel" foreign policy, bringing a promise that Rahim-Mashai's position would be downgraded.
2000 GMT: Reaction to the Dismissal. We reported earlier (see 1654 GMT) that Alaeddine Boroujerdi, the chairman of the National Security Commission. learned of Foreign Minister Mottaki's dismissal from a Khabar Online reporter. His reaction is worth repeating in full: "Isn't Mr. Mottaki on a trip? You mean the dismissal decree was issued while he was on a mission?"
Friday, May 27, 2011 at 13:53