The Latest from Iran (21 June): Beyond Quiet Remembrance

2025 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Zahra Farajzadeh, the wife of imprisoned Azeri activist Ayat-Mehr-Ali Bigloo, has been detained. She was reportedly held by authorities when she asked the Revolutionary Court for a telephone conversation with her husband.

Farajzadeh's sister, Hamideh Farajzadeh, is also in prison.

NEW Iran, One Year On: The Names of 107 Killed in Post-Election Violence
Iran Document: Karroubi Takes on the Supreme Leader (20 June)
Iran Special: Legal Analysis of Post-Election Violations of Rights (Shadi Sadr)
Iran Video, One Year On: The “Neda” Documentaries
The Latest from Iran (20 June): Remembering the Protests and the Dead

1845 GMT: The Oil Squeeze. Reuters reports that China's imports of Iranian oil dropped 74 percent in May, compared to a year earlier.

Iran is now #8 oil supplier to China, down from #3 in April. Industry analysts said the main cause of the decline was the uncompetitive pricing of Iranian crude oil, with China boosting purchases from Saudi Arabia, Brazil, and Angola.

1745 GMT: The Fall-Out from 4 June. A representative of Grand Ayatollah Sistani, who is based in Iraq, has met Seyed Hassan Khomeini in Qom and expressed regret for the "insult" to him at the ceremony for Ayatollah Khomeini early this month.

1450 GMT: Iran and Palestine. Remember those Iranian aid ships which were making headlines with their planned trip to Gaza (indeed, at one point, it was said one was en route)?

The Iranian Red Crescent said today that  due to lack of international coordination, the ships were delayed and no date had been fixed for their journey.

1445 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Journalist Nasour Naghipour has been released on bail, after 110 days' detention, while he awaits trial.

1435 GMT: A Health Care Crisis? Dr. Rahbar Mozhdehi Azar, the head of Iran's pharmacists, has reportedly claimed that several pharmacies closed because they have not been paid by insurers for six months. Aftab News reports that 19 hospitals are waiting for 350 millions tomans ($35 million) in payments.

Khabar Online wonders if  pharmacies can cancel their agreements with with insurers, leaving people with debts unable to get medication.

1425 GMT: The Economic Battle, Chapter 437. More sniping by members of Parliament against the Ahmadinejad budget. Reformist Darius Ghanbari says that reports from the Majlis point to budget deviations by the Government, and Ali Akbar Oulia adds criticism of "deviations" are in economic growth, revenues, and employment in the 4th development plan.

1420 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Just for the record --- because I'm too tired to evaluate yet another inscrutable comment by Hashemi Rafsanjani --- the former President has said in his most recent interivew that he expected the Supreme Leader to speak out against the “accusations” made against “certain officials of the regime.”

Rafsanjani said in an interview that Mahmoud Ahmadienjad’s statements in his presidential debate with Mir Hossein Mousavi were “highly inappropriate.” He also talks at length about his letter to Ayatollah Khamenei, sent three days before the election, over Ahmadinejad's accusations of financial corruption against Rafsanjani and his family.

Now is Rafsanjani trying to give a signal of support for Mousavi or is he merely fighting his personal corner in his running battle against the Government and its pressure against him, his allies, and his children?

1410 GMT: Corruption Watch. Member of Parliament Elyas Naderan has kept the corruption issue alive, saying that his complaint against 1st Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi --- made over an insurance fraud scandal --- is still valid and he is still pursuing it.

1405 GMT: The Fall-Out from 4 June. Another sign of support for Seyed Hassan Khomeini after he was shouted down at the ceremony for his grandfather earlier this month: Ayatollah Amini, the Friday Prayer leader of Qom, has met Khomeini and declared his regret over the incident.

1354 GMT: Yesterday's "Fear of the Gravestones". Fereshteh Ghazi writes of the security buildup on 25 Khordad, with all roads to Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery covered by security forces. About 1000 people were at the cemetery, and Ghazi reports that victims' families were menaced.

Peyke Iran reports on security forces at Vanak Square (we have video of this in yesterday's updates) and Enghelab Square.

1348 GMT: A New Battlefront Within. Looks like another conflict between President Ahmadinejad and Parliament deserves attention. This one is Ahmadinejad's attempt to get more say about free universities: the Parliament voted 134-72 to maintain the current system of oversight. The President reportedly then cancelled a conference between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches over the issue.

1345 GMT: Bad Hijab. Looks like President Ahmadinejad's criticism of the zealousness of the "morality police" has not made a bit of difference in Qom. Tehran Today, quoting Colonel Khorasani, Head of Public Security in Qom Province, says 62,000 women have been warned about inappropriate attire.

1340 GMT: Thanks to all readers for helping out. Now let's see what has been happening.

0730 GMT: We're on the road at the University of Leicester today. Updates will be limited until mid-afternoon.

As always, news and comments from our readers are most welcome to keep everything up to speed until we return.

0725 GMT: Nuclear Posturing. Iran has barred two UN nuclear inspectors from entering the country. The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, Ali Akbar Salehi, said the two were declared persona non-grata for authoring an "untruthful" report by the International Atomic Energy Agency about Iran's nuclear work.

0650 GMT: Culture Corner. Hat-tip to an EA reader for pointing us to a BBC Persian programme reviewing art, politics, and protest before and after the 2009 Presidential election.

0625 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Mehdi Karroubi has visited with the family of the detained politician Ali Tajernia, an executive member of the Islamic Iran Participation Front.



0530 GMT: Sunday's commemoration of 25 Khordad, the anniversary of mass demonstrations and the deaths of protesters, appeared to pass quietly in Iran. There was a heavy security presence in areas of Tehran, noted by Rah-e-Sabz in addition to its headlining of the "scathing silence" of the Mothers of Mourning.

Politics was far from silent, however. During the afternoon, news emerged of Mehdi Karroubi's latest statement, and it became clear that he had not just restated his personal determination, criticism of the Government, and the determination of the opposition. He had also issued a pointed query about the powers of the Supreme Leader. We have posted the English translation in a separate entry.

And Kalemeh clarifies our news yesterday that Hashemi Rafsanjani, Mohammad Khatami, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Karroubi, and Hassan Khomeini had all called Grand Ayatollah Sane'i in the aftermath of the attack on his house by regime supporters. This was not just a case of individual phone calls; this was a "dialogue" involving the former Presidents, clerics, and opposition figures.

Comments

[Catherine]

Abdulkarim Soroush trashes Khamenei in an open letter:

Letter to Khamaenei: Flagging Oratory (and Mind?)
http://www.rhairan.in/en/?p=4555" rel="nofollow">http://www.rhairan.in/en/?p=4555

[Catherine]

Has Brazil thrown in the towel?

Only paying subscribers to the FT will know for sure, but here's the intro to the article:
Brazil ends role as Iran broker
Last updated: June 20 2010 16:26/ Brazil is halting its attempt to broker a deal over Iran’s nuclear programme – an issue that has brought relations between the Lula da Silva government and the Obama administration to a new low. Celso Amorim, Brazil’s foreign minister, told the Financial Times the country would no longer seek to settle the nuclear dispute after the US rejected with Iran to exchange half Tehran’s stockpile of enriched uranium ..

[Catherine]

A History of Ahmadinejad’s Promises

From Bringing Bread to Tables To Saving America
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad began his presidency by promising to bring bread from oil revenues to the dinner tables of Iranians. Now, he is thinking about more important global missions, such as saving the American people. In the meantime, international sanctions have been imposed on Iran with increasing frequency, inflation and economic stagnation have reached alarming rates, and internal discontent is continuing to spread.
Continue reading: http://www.roozonline.com/english/news/newsitem/article/2010/june/21//from-bringing-bread-to-tables-to-saving-america.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.roozonline.com/english/news/newsitem...

[Catherine]

New rumours fly about Hassan Khomeini’s supposed "ambition to become the next supreme leader of the Islamic republic".
http://www.roozonline.com/english/news/newsitem/article/2010/june/21//new-claims-about-hassan-khomeini.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.roozonline.com/english/news/newsitem...

[Catherine]

Iranian Cartoonist Flees 'Unimaginable' Conditions, Reflects On Life In Exile
Iranian cartoonist Kianoush Ramezani is among some 150 Iranian intellectuals, media workers, journalists, and bloggers who were forced to leave Iran following the postelection crackdown last year.
Interview with RFE/RL: http://www.rferl.org/content/Iranian_Cartoonist_Flees_Unimaginable_Conditions_Reflects_On_Life_In_Exile/2077921.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.rferl.org/content/Iranian_Cartoonist...

[Catherine]

Hashemi Rafsanjani is still whining about al those nasty things Ahmadinejad said about him in last year's presidential debates on TV: http://www.zamaaneh.com/enzam/2010/06/moderate-iranian-cleric-c.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.zamaaneh.com/enzam/2010/06/moderate-...

[Adam]

The 74% drop in Iranian oil exports to china is striking, since China seems to be the one country that has protected Iran from an all out embargo. I would like to see where the rest of Iran's oil is going, if it is being produced at all. The regime's internal economic crisis may be even worse than we thought. I'd really like to get a better idea of what Iranian regime officials are saying behind closed doors or off-mic.
My understanding is that even before the June 2009 election fraud, supposed regime loyalists were telling reporters in private that the regime's hold on power was shaky.