The Latest from Iran (9 July): Remembering 18 Tir?

Editor's Note: A technical glitch means that Comments are now closed on this page. Further comments and discussion continue on the 10 July updates page.

2125 GMT: Who Could He Mean? And ahead of tomorrow, another glance at a statement by Ali Larijani on Thursday: "Whoever stands against the law is committing rebellion and everyone should obey the law, or the Parliament will stand against him. It makes no sense that ordinary people obey the law but some of the officials do not."

2040 GMT: Heat Alert. The Ahmadinejad Government has announced that Sunday and Monday will be public holidays --- Saturday is a religious holiday --- because of the "extreme heat".

We presume that they mean the high air temperatures in the country rather than any extreme political heat they may be feeling amidst Bazaar strikes, conservative intrigues, etc.

NEW Iran Document: Detained Student Leader Tavakoli on 18 Tir & Protest (6 July)
NEW Iran Analysis: Assessing the Bazaar Strikes & a Political Twist (Verde)
Iran Document: Mousavi on UN Sanctions & Ahmadinejad Government (7 July)
Iran Snap Analysis: The Wave of Economic Discontent?
The Latest from Iran (8 July): Criticisms

2025 GMT: Important but Overlooked News? For reasons we will explain tomorrow, we think that this speech by Seyed Ahmad Dastghaib, the reformist PM of Shiraz, in the Majlis might be significant.....

Dastghaib said, "Unfortunately today many of Imam [Khomeini]’s speeches are not being said to the people". Then, using those speeches, he dropped his political bombshell: "If the top person in the country does wrong, Islam will depose him. He is not suitable for ruling and he is a Dictator."

In case anyone was not sure to whom Dastghaib was referring, he clarified that anyone can criticise the Supreme Leader.

Dastghaib also asserted, from Khomeini's words that broadcasters should be independent of the government and must broadcast everyone's opinion. Military forces must not interfere in the political and economic fields. And it is against Islamic law to attack or insult any cleric.

1935 GMT: It is reported that the Feminist School website has been filtered for the 15th time.

1925 GMT: Poster of the Day? It is claimed that this is a poster at the Tehran Bazaar: "Join the Strikes".



1430 GMT: Remembering. A group from the Mothers of Mourning, remembering their detained and killed children, have visited the memorial site for Cyrus the Great to denounce the oppression and injustices being committed against Iran's youth. The group then visited the home of imprisoned student activist Majid Tavakoli to share their empathy with his mother.

1315 GMT: Your Tehran Friday Prayer Update. Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami taking charge today, and I have to say it's a pretty impressive performance from the fiery fellow.

Sure, he starts with the standard denunciation of Israel in the Middle East and of US and European sanctions against Iran but then he gets distinctive with his criticism, bringing in the July 1988 incident when the USS Vincennes shot down an Iranian civilian airliner, killing 290 people.

And then he's nimbly onto the cultural front, warning Iranians that they should not be misled by "Los Angeles singers". Tolerance, he says, must not only "cultural"; it must also be "political".

So how does all this fit together? Khatami name-checks 18 Tir (9 July) 1999 and the demonstrations against the Iranian regime . What was it? A great occasion to learn of the US threat and to neutralise it (and its Los Angeles singers).

1310 GMT: Culture Corner. According to Green Voice of Iran, famous singer Mohammad Nouri, artist of songs such as "Maryam", has rejected an offer of assistance from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.

1250 GMT: Responding to the Bazaar Strike. Javan News, linked to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, has offered a special reaction to this week's developments in the Tehran Bazaar, "Angelina Jolie and Half-Naked Women Instead of Traditional Rug Designs":

There were wall carpets bearing half-bare women and girls, and the faces of [Indian superstar] Aishwarya Rai, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, and some Iranian actresses were more prominently displayed than [traditional rug designs]...., master rug weavers, who in the old days would not sit before their looms before performing ablution, now weave pictures of skulls and swastikas of Satanist groups into Iranian carpets. And even more regretfully, the bulk of rug traders' orders to weavers consists of vulgar pictures of women in various poses.


1230 GMT: Rumour of the Day (Week? Month?). Back from an academic break and then some checking with sources. Here's the story as we have it so far....

In recent days, there has been a meeting involving Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, 2009 Presidential candidate and Secretary of Expediency Council Mohsen Rezaei, and key member of Parliament and Larijani ally Ahmad Tavakoli. MP Ali Motahari may also have been present.

The meeting discussed the current political and economic situation and the tensions with the Ahmadinejad Government. We have reason to believe that there may be serious consideration of how and when to limit President Ahmadinejad's authority and possibly remove him from office. Specifically, those in the meeting were hoping to open up discussions with former President Hashemi Rafsanjani on the next steps.

(EA readers will recall that a similar initiative was reportedly discussed in January between Larijani, Rezaei, and Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf. That effort seemed to have been put on hold by the apparent success of the Government in restricting opposition on 22 Bahman/11 February.)

We hope to have more information and a full analysis on this development tomorrow.
0935 GMT: Grounding the Aircraft? A bit more on this week's tale that Iranian flights were being denied fuel by suppliers in Britain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Germany....

A Hamburg Airport spokeswoman said two Iranian aircraft took off without refuelling, one on Saturday and one on Wednesday: "We can confirm that these aircraft flew from Hamburg but did not take on fuel here. We cannot say where they flew to or where they refuelled."

0930 GMT: Propaganda Ploy. Green Voice of Iran claims a new creative tactic from Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting: fabricating "statements" by Mir Hosseni Mousavi, Mohammad Khatami, and Mousavi advisor Alireza Beheshti by splicing together clips from their older speeches.

0920 GMT: Remembering. Thousands of people reported visited Beheshte Zahra cemetery yesterday afternoon in memory of last year's victims. Services for Mohsen Rouholamini, who was abused and killed in Kahrizak Prison, will be next Thursday.

Green Voice of Iran reviews the story of the post-election abuses in Kahrizak.

Peyke Iran posts photographs of families of detainees gathering on Wednesday outside Evin Prison.

0910 GMT: Where's Mahmoud? So let's check President Ahmadinejad's response to all these internal developments and tensions....

Speaking in Nigeria at the meeting of the Group of Eight Developing Countries, Ahmadinejad declared, "The UN should be in a free place, away from the US domination."

0905 GMT: Pressure on Ahmadinejad. Two stories in Rooz Online English which parallel our coverage....

Bahram Rafiee reviews this week's challenge by MP Ahmad Tavakoli to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who "weakens the judiciary and law", and Mohammad Reza Yazdanpanah, like EA's Mr Verde today, picks up the claims by Abbas Palizdar, the former MP who was jailed for verbal attacks on senior clergy and who now says he was acting on behalf of Ahmadinejad's camp.

0815 GMT: We have published the English translation of a statement by detained student leader Majid Tavakoli on 18 Tir, the anniversary of the 1999 demonstrations, and protest today.

0730 GMT: Parliament v. President. Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani has declared that the Majlis will stand firmly against "lawbreakers" --- a reference to Ahmadinejad's maneouvres v. Parliament over his 5th Budget Plan? --- and defend people's rights

Reformist MP Dariush Ghanbari has said that a plan to question Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, specifically over reparations from Iraq, is being prepared.

0720 GMT: The Bazaar Dispute. An EA correspondent reports that a meeting between Iranian officials and Bazaari representatives may not have gone too well. It is said to have ended in a clash with one official, Ali Asgari, leaving angrily. Bazaaris shouted at journalists to keep the other officials from departing and to make them give suitable answers.

There were also new reports that men in plainclothes were trying to get shopkeepers to open on Wednesday.

A bit of clarification. Yesterday was a religious holiday in Iran, so the Bazaar would normally have been closed, rather than "on strike"; Saturday is also a religious holiday. 0715 GMT: A Bit of Mischief over Ahmadinejad's Journeys. Khabar Online reports on President Ahmadinejad's visit to Mali and features this photo:



An EA correspondent says that, in Persian, "to put a hat on someone's head" --- in this case, a turban --- can mean cheating him.

0710 GMT: Mousavi's Statements Keep On Coming. Hard on the heels of his analysis this week of UN sanctions and the Ahmadinejad Government, Mir Hossein Mousavi has put out a statement declaring that the Green Movement welcomes diversity.

0540 GMT: We have posted an analysis by Mr Verde of the significance of this week's strikes in the Tehran Bazaar and of a new political development that may be trouble for President Ahmadinejad.

0535 GMT: Writing at insideIRAN, Sohrab Razzaghi, a former official in the Ministry of Interior, has posted a series of recommendations to strengthen Iran's civil society:

• Creation of social networks to support the political and civil liberties movement in Iran and starting talks with Iran’s civil rights and political activists to enhance human rights and democracy

• Building of civil societies, with assistance from the international community to help civil society activists in capacity-building and related efforts.

• Promotion of human rights in Iran in various levels and for various segments of society.

• Education of a new generation of political activists and human rights defenders

• Enhancement of the free flow of information among Iranian citizens.

0530 GMT: Parliament v. President. Footage has been posted of Press TV interviews, in Persian, with members of Parliament over the attacks by leading MP Ahmad Tavakoli on the Ahmadinejad Government.

0515 GMT: Execution Watch. Amidst international pressure, Iranian authorities have announced that Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, sentenced to death for adultery, will not be stoned. However, there is no indication that the threat of execution has been lifted.

0445 GMT: Today in Iran is 18 Tir. On the eve of this date in 1999, students began what would become the most widespread public protests since the 1979 Revolution. After a raid by security forces on a dormitory, the demonstrations escalated. Several people were killed in injured, hundreds were injured, and more than 1000 were estimated to have been detained.

So far, we have little news of public commemoration of the event. It may be notable that it is already in the mid-90s (35 degrees Celsius) in Tehran --- local time 9:15 a.m. --- and the temperature is projected to reach 107-108 (42 Celsius). So if there is a gathering of note, it may not take place until late afternoon.

Meanwhile....

Political Prisoner Watch

EA correspondents point us to a new report by human rights activists, in Persian, on conditions in a number of detention centres.

The Latest from Iran (1 July): Establishing the Pattern

2025 GMT: Today's All-is-Well Alert: Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Behrouz Alishiri has said that new UN sanctions have proven futile, as transactions in Iran's investment market have risen 10 percent since the passage of the UN resolution.

Alishiri added that, according to the reports of the International Monetary Fund, foreign investment in Iran rose from $900 million in 2007 to $3 billion in 2009.

NEW Iran Interview: Ahmad Batebi “The Green Movement Goes Underground”
Iran Eyewitness: “Life Continues for People…With the Hope of Change” (Fatemeh)
Iran Special: The Significance of the “Universities Crisis” (Verde)
The Latest from Iran (30 June): Assessing “Crisis”

1925 GMT: Oil Squeeze. Lloyd’s of London, the insurance market, is recognising US sanctions by restricting cover for any ships carrying petroleum to Iran.

1815 GMT: Where's Mahmoud? Well, this weekend, the President will visit Nigeria.

It could be that Ahmadinejad fancies a change of scenery. Perhaps he got one of those special e-mails offering him a lot of money if he helped get the funds of a late President/General/businessman out of the country. Or maybe there is some connection with Nigeria taking over the presidency of the United Nations Security Council.

1805 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Activists report that Narges Mohammadi , the vice-chair of Shirin Ebadi's Center for the Defenders of Human Rights, has been released on $50,000 bail.

1800 GMT: Speaking of Universities and Threats. BBC Persian reports that some applicants for Iran's universities have received a threatening text message warning that, if they participated in post-election protests last year, they will be ineligible for acceptance regardless of their performance on entrance examinations.

The head of the government agency that administers the examinations has harshly criticised the sending of the messages. Iran Unfiltered concludes that this is an example of "hardline" elements of the regime acting without the consent and probably the prior knowledge of officials.

1750 GMT: The Universities Crisis. The dispute between Parliament and President over Islamic Azad University, analysed by EA's Mr Verde yesterday, has finally hit the non-Iranian mainstream press. The Guardian of London offers a summary, framing the battle as "a bitter political battle for control between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his most powerful rival, Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani".

1740 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Labour activists claim that the Iranian government has informed the International Labour Organization that Mansour Osanloo, a leader of Tehran's bus union, is due for release.

The Interational Transport Workers Federation and the International Trade Union Confederation have welcomed the news but also insisted that 52 other innocent trade unionists should be freed.

1605 GMT: Cyber-Shelter. Reporters Without Borders has launched the world’s first “Anti-Censorship Shelter” for use by foreign journalists, bloggers, and activists.

The organization said at a gathering in Paris, "At a time when online filtering and surveillance is becoming more and more widespread, we are making an active commitment to an Internet that is unrestricted and accessible to all by providing the victims of censorship with the means of protecting their online information.”

The initiative, pursued with the communications security firm XeroBank, offers free high-speed anonymity services, including encrypted email and web access, to those who use the Shelter Connection through a Virtual Private Network routes traffic across XeroBank's gigabit backbone network. As it passes from country to country, mixed with tens of thousands of other users, it creates a virtually untraceable high-speed anonymity network.

The network will be available not only to users of the Shelter in Paris but also to their contacts anywhere in the world and to all those identified by Reporters Without Borders. They will be able to connect with the XeroBank service through access codes and secured, ready-to-use USB flash drives.

1545 GMT: Larijani "Mans Up". Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani continues to put forth the even-tougher-than-the-President line on international matters.

Speaking at the end of an Islamic Inter-Parliamentary summit in Damascus, Larijani said the Americans' ulterior motive in imposing new sanctions lay not in Tehran but in the West Bank and Gaza: "We are told that Iran's approach toward Palestine is important for them [the US], and they think they can change our will by pressuring us."

Larijani added, "Considering the Zionist regime's plots, countries in the Islamic world should stand beside each other."

1400 GMT: Rewriting the Past for the Present. The head of the Basiji militia, Mohammad Reza Naqdi has announced a new Basij Cyber Army. To introduce this advance in Iranian warfare, Naqdi declared that the Soviet Union was toppled by Iranian martyrs, and those fighters also ensured Zionists are surrounded by Hamas and Hezbollah today.

1220 GMT: Refugee Watch. OMID Advocates have published an extensive, vital study, "Report on the Situation of Iranian Refugees in Turkey".

1125 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Pedram Rafati, a student activist at Amir Kabir University, has been sentenced to two years in prison and fined. Reports claim that the presiding judge, Abolghassam Salavati, threatened Rafati with a longer term if he appeals.

Labour activist Khosro Boukani has been given a two-year sentence.

0945 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Hossein Marashi, former Vice President and relative and ally of Hashemi Rafsanjani, has returned to jail after a temporary release during his one-year sentence.

Professors and students have demanded the release of Ehsan Abdoh Tabrizi, a Ph.D. candidate at Durham University in Britain. Tabrizi was detained on Ashura during a visit to his relatives.

0935 GMT: Economy Watch. Sadegh Mahsouli, the Minister of Welfare and Social Security, has announced that the  subsidy reduction plan will be implemented in six provinces --- Isfahan, Sout Khorasan, Kermanshah, West Azerbaijan, Bushehr, and Golestan --- from July.

Minister of Housing Ali Nikzad has expressed his concern about a "housing bazaar gone mad", resulting in extremely high rents.

Six million families will receive a basket of goods for Ramadan, with a reduction of 20 percent in price.

0930 GMT: The Battle Within. Fatemeh Bodaghi, the President's deputy for judicial affairs, notes that complaints against member of Parliament Elyas Naderan, a vocal critic of the Government, and (even more politically interesting) Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf are still in court and asks Iran's judiciary why they have not been handled.

0920 GMT: Spinning the Nuclear Talks. What is highlighted in Khabar Online's coverage of the statement by the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov: his call for renewed discussions between Russia, the US, France, and Iran.

What's missing: Lavrov's pre-condition that Iran suspend the attempt to enrich uranium to 20 percent.

0915 GMT: A Challenge to Moscow. Iran's Minister of Defense, Ahmad Vahidi, has demanded Russian delivery of S-300 missiles to Tehran. The shipment has been held up for months amidst the international manoeuvres over sanctions and Iran's nuclear programme.

0910 GMT: The Fall-Out from the Attack on Khomeini. Another message from a cleric for Seyed Hassan Khomeini, who was shouted down by regime supporters when he tried to speak at the 4 June for his late grandfather....

That is far from unusual. What is distinctive this time is that the backing comes from a member of the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution, seen as a bulwark of the regime. Hojatoleslam Dr. Ahmad Ahmadi wrote to Hassan Khomeini, "I was stunned when I heard of this ugly uproar."

0755 GMT: The Voices of Women. Zahra Rahnavard has asserted that joining international conventions is the best way to prevent domestic oppression.

Female followers of the late Grand Ayatollah Montazeri have asked Grand Ayatollah Sistani, the leading Shi'a cleric in Iraq, to insist on a reopening of Montazeri's offices, recently sealed by Iranian authorities.

0750 GMT: Irony, Sarcasm, or a Message for Ahmadinejad? Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani offered this nugget to the press in a meeting with Bahrain's Foreign Minister on Tuesday, "The strategic policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran on Iraq is the formation of a national unity government with the presence of all political, religious and ethnic groups."

Now, Mr Larijani, is your tongue in your cheek or are you really pushing the idea of "national unity" not only for Iraq but for its neighbours? (And if it is the latter, does Fars News understand what you are doing?)

0745 GMT: Websites for Human Rights. An EA reader brings to our attention CrowdVoice: Tracking Voices of Protest, which included a section with news on "Prisoners of Conscience in Iran".

0735 GMT: Ahmadinejad's Token Sanctions. Iranian state media say that President Ahmadinejad has announced a boycott of Western companies and goods in retaliation against sanctions by the US and UN. Included are Coca-Cola, IBM, Intel, and Nestle.

Hmm.... Not quite sure why Ahmadinejad is presenting this as "new". I certainly couldn't get hold of an evil Coke when I was in Tehran --- instead, I got hooked on the politically correct (and quite tasty) Parsi Cola.
0725 GMT: More on Depression in Tehran. Yesterday we noted the headline, via Iranian Labor News Agency, on a study of the emotional state of Tehran residents: 30% depressed.

Rooz Online offers much more on the study, by Tehran's Aria Strategic Studies Center, and on press coverage. The "30%" refers to severe depression; another 28% claim to suffer from mild depression. The report says concerns about marriage, housing, employment, and income are among those that have caused anxiety and unease among Tehran residents.

The official unemployment is now 14%, with higher rates amongst youth and university graduates.

0710 GMT: Cyber-Development. The International Committee for Human Rights in Iran has launched a podcast. This week's topic: "Will more political prisoners face execution soon?”

0620 GMT: Nuclear Front. Another signal that talks on Iran's uranium enrichment may resume: Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has said Tehran will respond to a Russian proposal to meet with the Vienna Group (US, Russia, and France) after consulting with Brazil and Turkey.  He suggested that the discussions be held in Tehran.

Mottaki offered no comment, however, on the US-Russia-France pre-condition that Iran halt efforts to produce 20% enriched uranium.

0610 GMT: We have posted a feature, "The Green Movement Goes Underground", the third part of Persian2English's interview with activist Ahmad Batebi.

0450 GMT: Wednesday was another day in what seems to be the pattern of Iranian politics, now 12 1/2 months after the disputed Presidential election. Opposition activity was relatively muted, at least on the public front, while the Government tried to deal (or sometimes evaded) a series of conflicts within the establishment.

A follow-up to one of those possible emerging conflicts: Rooz Online have now published an English version of Mohammad Reza Yazdanpanah's lengthy article claiming that pro-Ahmadinejad members of Parliament are turning on the Motalefeh Party, a key group in Iranian politics since 1979, with the Islamic Azad University argument as a catalyst.