The Latest from Iran (25 June): The Important Issues

1650 GMT: Imprisonment and Abuse. RAHANA publishes the story, which we have been following for 24 hours, on an attack on Zoya Samadi, the daughter-in-law of imprisoned labour activist Mansour Osanloo.

Intelligence Ministry agents reportedly accosted Samadi in public view, pulling off her headscarf, beating her, and dragging her by the hair. Handcuffed and blindfolded, she was taken to an undisclosed location for four hours and questioned for four hours, allegedly being told, "You must guarantee that if Osanloo is released from prison, he will never remain in Iran and that he will cease all activities.”

According to Osanloo's wife, Samadi was then left under a Tehran bridge. Her assailants warned, "You are not to inform anyone about this incident, nor are you allowed to file any form of complaint.”

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The Latest from Iran (24 June): Persistence

1535 GMT: The Divergent Tale of Two Political Prisoners, Two British Universities. Ian Black in The Guardian has an interesting profile of the cases of Mohammad Jalaeipour, an Oxford University Ph.D. candidate re-arrested on 14 June, and Ehsan Abdoh-Tabrizi, a Ph.D. student at Durham University who was imprisoned in January and has spent more than 50 days in solitary confinement. Black compares the very different approaches taken by Oxford and Durham officials to publicity over the treatment of the political prisoners.

1525 GMT: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Philosopher of Our Time. No, if you like your philosophy simple and to the point, then it might be best to leave behind today's Friday Prayer with global bodies that do not really exist and an Iranian unity that must be present even if it is not obvious. Instead, let's get our 21st-century Renaissance from the President via the Iranian Labor News Agency:

A long and black chapter in the history of humanity is coming to a close and an age of enlightenment is about to start. The arrogant powers have stood against the divine force throughout history and today the arrogant regime in the United States is the biggest obstacle against the cause of the prophets.

1500 GMT: Your Friday Prayer Summary. Hojatoleslam Kazem Seddiqi --- our favourite "women's breasts = earthquakes" cleric --- took the podium today.

No references to dangerous females this morning, however, as far as we know. Instead, Seddiqi was preoccupied with the recent UN sanctions against Iran, or rather, he was interested in the pronouncements of an invisible organisation: "This approach showed that the United Nations does not exist and that the Security Council is an 'anti-security' council."

If that's a bit too metaphysical to grasp --- ""It appears that you have yet to know the Iranian nation" --- Seddiqi was ready to use the international situation to whip up his own realities out of the Tehran air: "[The] Iranian nation will not only show resilience in the face of such sanctions but will also develop more resistance and solidarity."

0830 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Photojournalist Majid Saeedi, arrested last June, has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Shiva Nazar Ahari, human rights activist and member of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters detained since June 2009, has written a letter to her father: "You taught me not to break."

The families of detainees held in Gohardasht Prison, have written to Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Doulatabi: "Don't allow more injustices against our beloved."

The Iranian Teachers Trade Association has issued a statement protesting the continued detention of its leading members.

0825 GMT: The Attacks on the Clergy. The five daughter of the late Grand Ayatollah Montazeri have issued a statement challenging the recent assault on the Montazeri house by pro-regime activists.

0755 GMT: We begin today with an analysis from Josh Shahryar, "The Real Race for Iran: Human Rights v. Tehran's Defenders".

"Western" headlines are likely to be on last night's US Congress vote for stricter sanctions --- the Senate by 99-0, the House of Representatives by 408-8 --- aimed especially at Iran's financial and energy sectors. Meanwhile....

Khamenei Tries to Hold It Together

Writing for Rooz, Mohammad Reza Yazdanpanah takes a look at this week's statements by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and sees a Supreme Leader struggling to keep his flock together.

The website also sees a continuing challenge to the legitimacy of Khamenei's leadership in a year of statements by clerical and opposition figures.

The Battle Within

The Vice Speaker of Parliament, Mohammad Reza Bahonar, has given a speech warning of the danger to the establishment from "radicals" --- and he doesn't mean "radicals" of the Green Movement.

Mostafa Pourmohammadi, former Minister of the Interior, is worried about the threat to Iran from "lawlessness" --- but whose lawlessness does he mean?

Defending Political Parties

It looks like there is a twist in the tale of the attempt to ban Iran's reformist political parties such as the Islamic Iran Participation Front and the Mohajedin of Islamic Revolution.

Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi warns against lawlessness as one of the country's biggest dangers.

The conservative Morteza Nabavi has noted that President Ahmadinejad himself came to power through a political party, and key judiciary official Mohammad Javad Larijani has argued that party activities should be developed beyond elections, as they guarantee the future of the Islamic Republic.

Parliament (and  a Cleric) v. President

Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani has denounced this week's demonstrations by Basij and students in front of Parliament, challenging the Majlis attempt to defy President Ahmadinejad and assert its control of Islamic Azad University.

Meanwhile, we have gotten information of how heated the debate was inside the Parliament, with heated exchanges and heckling, insults, and even reports of a "fist fight".

The Latest from Iran (20 June): Remembering the Protests and the Dead

2000 GMT: Soroush and Khamenei. The website of Abdulkarim Soroush, one of Iran's most prominent intellectuals --- now living in exile --- has published the English translation of Soroush's letter to the Supreme Leader, "Flagging Oratory (and Mind?)".

1950 GMT: Limiting the Remembrance. Pictures and video show a heavy security presence in Tehran's Vanak Square:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6KAX0Oj5oo[/youtube]

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The Latest from Iran (19 June): How Does Mahmoud Respond?

1645 GMT: The Karroubi Statement. We've posted lengthy extracts in a separate entry --- with its apparent challenge to the powers of the Supreme Leader, is this a significant step forward for the cleric?

1620 GMT: The Threat to the Reformists. The Islamic Iran Participation Front, responding to the declaration of the Tehran Prosecutor General that the party would be banned and might be broken up, said  Abbas Jafari Doulatabi's remarks were "private and without legal value".

1610 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani has reportedly declared that he would like to retire, but were he to step down from positions such as head of the Expediency Council, there would be "grave political consequences".

1445 GMT: Today's Hijab Discussion. Member of Parliament Reza Akrami has declared that the President "should ask himself why he protests" against enforcement of the law on hijab.

Ahmadinejad spokesman Ali Akbar Javanfekr did a bit of "don't look at us", saying that the Government is not responsible for the crackdown on "bad hijab" because the security forces are not controlled by the Minister of the Interior.

1250 GMT: One Year Ago. Setareh Sabety reminds us of the words she posted, on the morning of 25 Khordaad (20 June) 2009:

I pray, even though an atheist, I pray that today this all important day, courage and justice is triumphant and that there will be no blood shed. I pray that no mother has to hear bad news, no woman is martyred and no young man beaten or arrested. I pray that these people whom I love, who are risking their lives with incredible courage for me and you, are not harmed and that their silent, persistent message of the basic need for freedom and democracy wins the day.

1245 GMT: The Reformist Challenge. The message from member of Parliament Mohammad Reza Tabesh to the Government is  direct and to the point: "Stop these radical behaviours."

1200 GMT: Cyber-Shutdown. Parleman News reports Persianblog, Iranicloob, and Blogfa have now been filtered.

1155 GMT: We've posted a special feature, Shadi Sadr's legal analysis of the post-election violation of rights by Iranian authorities.

1055 GMT: Documenting "Neda". Iranian state television has broadcast the "real" story of the killing of Neda Agha Soltan, "Crossroades". It features Abbas Javid Kargar, the Basij militiaman accused of the murder, who claims he was unarmed on that day and played no role in her death.

So who did it? The documentary implies that the "terrorist" Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MKO) was responsible.

Arash Hejazi, the doctor who tried to save Neda's life, has posted his response to the documentary's claims.

And we've re-posted two other documentaries on "Neda" and post-election events, the BBC/PBS/Tehran Bureau production, "An Iranian Martyr", and HBO's "For Neda".

1045 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Peyke Iran claims that activists and students have been detained in Hormozogan Province.

RAHANA reports that eight students have been arrested in Shiraz on charges of "propaganda against the Prophet".

0925 GMT: Political Prisoners and the Labour Front.

The International Transport Workers Federation has denounced the further arrests of members of Sandikaye Kargarane Sherkate Vahed, the Tehran bus workers’ union in Iran.

Saeed Torabian and Reza Shahbi were arrested in June by Iranian security forces and are being held at an unknown location. They join Mansour Osanloo and Ebrahim Madadi, both in prison since 2007, in detention.

In a letter to President Ahmadinejad, ITWF General Secretary David Cockroft said: “We once again reiterate that the carrying out of normal trade union duties is not an arrestable offence and should never be the grounds for the detention of Saeed Torabian, of Mansour Osanloo, or anyone else. We therefore request that you once again intervene in this process, remedy this situation, and also assure the good health and safety of Mansour Osanloo, who remains unjustly imprisoned.”

Human Rights Activists News Agency reports that workers at the Zhaveh reservoir dam in the Kurdish Kamyaran region have gone on strike over non-payment of seven months of back wages, workers yearly bonuses, overtime wages, and dues.

0810 GMT: The Clerics Fight Back? Ayatollah Bayat Zanjani has said that the distance between religion and revolutionary principles is the reason for the weakness of Iran's judiciary.

The more intriguing report, however, is in Rah-e-Sabz. The website claims that Hashemi Rafsanjani, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, Mohammad Khatami, and Hassan Khomeini have all been on the telephone with Grand Ayatollah Sanei: these attacks were not a rebellion of unorganised people but a planned assault.

0800 GMT: The Battle Within (cont.). The latest jab of Keyhan, the "hard-line" newspaper, at the Government is a query about Ahmadinejad's chief aide Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai: why did he, in one of his many offices, give money to a rich artist?

0720 GMT: The Battle Within. The opposition's commemorations and the execution of "terrorists" has not entirely taken the headline heat off the President. Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei, the spokesman for the Guardian Council, has told Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that he cannot interfere in the affairs of other regime institutions.

0630 GMT: Remembering 25 Khordaad. Zahra Rahnavard has issued a statement reflecting on the protests of 20 June 2009:

"Today the Green Movement owes its place to the resistance of women, who along with their spouses and children, and as a group of leaders on the front lines have had a unique presence. The movement should realize that achieving freedom and democracy without the presence of noble women and without considering and implementation of the demands to eliminate discrimination and violence that women have always asked will not be possible.”

0625 GMT: Karroubi on the Vote and the Supreme Leader. Saham News, the website of Mehdi Karroubi, has published the cleric's  latest statement. Karroubi opens:

One year after the 10th Presidential election, considering what they did with your votes and the blood that was shed for regaining your rights, once again firmly and honestly, I declare that I am standing on my promise with you to the end of this path and I am ready to debate with anyone who would represent the ruling powers.
The vote that they stole from you and the right that was brutally denied from you is a shame that cannot be covered in anyway. Such that after one year despite all the pressure and intimidations not only your rightful demands have not been forgotten but also this seek for change has penetrated in various layers of the society based on an extensive social network and this social extent is not something that can be eliminated by repressions, intimidations, arrests and staged trials.

This declaration of defiance from 12 June 2009 to the present is followed by thoughts about the recent pro-regime attacks on senior clerics, used by Karroubi to consider "the powers of the Supreme Leader". In other words --- if I'm reading this right --- if Ayatollah Khameni is the ultimate defender of the Islamic Republic, why is he not defending its leading religious figures and its people?

0600 GMT: Today is likely to be dominated by remembrance of last year's mass demonstration, eight days after the Presidential election and a day after the Supreme Leader tried to close off debate, and those who died.

For many, Neda Agha Soltan, the 26-year-0ld woman killed by a Basij militia gunshot, became the symbol of tragedy and hope, and outside Iran, her name remains a beacon. (The #4Neda hashtag may be one of the most prominent on Twitter today.)

Inside Iran, however, there will be memorials for all those killed on 20 June and in the days after the election. It is reported that four Tehran universities are holding services, and there is chatter of events across the country.

The Iranian Government, however, has made a late bid to take over the headlines by adding another death: this morning it executed Abdolmalek Rigi, the leader of the Baluch insurgent Jundullah organisation.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi0IMc1uXMY&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

The Latest from Iran (5 June): Is That All There Is?

1945 GMT: The Follow-Up to Friday. Mir Hossein Mousavi has issued a statement condemning the treatment of Seyed Hassan Khomeini during his speech yesterday.

1915 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. An appeals court has approved a five-year prison sentence for Rajabali (Babak) Dashab. Dashab, arrested during the Ashura protests on 27 December, had been given a six term.

1715 GMT: Re-packaging the Supreme Leader. An interesting twist in Khabar Online's coverage of the Khamenei speech: rather than note his threats against the opposition, the website says he emphasised that "even enemies and dissidents have to be treated with justice and piety".

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1545 GMT: Beating the Oil Squeeze? Press TV reports that Iran, now accepting the withdrawal of Royal Dutch Shell and Spain's Repsol from Phases 13 and 14 of the South Pars oil and gas field as definiite, is giving the project to the Iranian Khatam-ol-Osea Consortium for $5 billion.


1530 GMT: Jamming Neda. Voice of America reports that Iranian authorities jammed a documentary, For Neda, about Neda Agha-Soltan, who was killed during last year's post-election demonstrations.

The documentary, produced by Home Box Office in the US, was shown on Wednesday. It is due for re-broadcast on 12 June, the anniversary of the Presidential election, and 20 June, the anniversary of Neda's death, and it is also available on the Internet.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F48SinuEHIk[/youtube]

1515 GMT: More Support for Hassan Khomeini. In a letter to Seyed Hassan Khomeini, Ayatollah Bayat Zanjani has condemned Friday's disruption of Khomeini's speech as a systematic attack planned by extremists “to take revenge from Imam (Khomeini,Hassan's grandfather) and his followers".

1500 GMT: We reported yesterday that human rights activist Saba Vasefi had escaped arrest when she was away during a security forces' raid on her home.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran now reports, from a "reliable source", that Vasefi was hit by a motorcycle on Tuesday when she was in Shahryar, near Tehran, to check on a death penalty case. Vasefi struck her head on the road and is now in a coma.

1250 GMT: Reacting to Friday. The prominent conservative member of Parliament Ali Motahari has said that the disruption of Seyed Hassan Khomeini’s speech was "very sad" and "against freedom of speech that is one of the principles of Islamic Revolution".

Significantly, Motahari accused President Ahmadinejad of organising the sabotage of Khomeini's appearance.

Motahari said, "Ahmadinejad is like a spoilt child in a family where the more he annoys others, the more he is appreciated by the parents. If judiciary had put [Mehdi] Karroubi, [Mir Hossein] Mousavi, and Ahmadinejad all on trial, this would not have happened."

The Islamic Society of Tehran University has requested urgent action to be taken against those "small groups" who interrupted Hassan Khomeini, claiming the disruption was because of the hatred that the hardliners have for Imam Khomeini.

1245 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. A story that slipped by us earlier this week....

Parveneh Osanloo, the wife of labour activist Mansour Osanloo, has said that her husband has been put in solitary confinement inside the Revolutionary Guard's Ward on new charges of “relations with state opposition groups”.

1240 GMT: Yesterday's Arrests. Tehran Police Chief Hossein Sajedinia has said 19 people were arrested during the commemorations of the death of Ayatollah Khomeini.

0715 GMT: Forgive the blatant "Western" cultural reference in the title of the post, but this was my immediate thought after watching the regime's setpiece yesterday for the commemoration of Ayatollah Khomeini's death. We have an analysis of the day, from the Ahmadinejad-Khamenei speeches to the unexpected "highlight" with the shout-down of Khomeini's grandson, in a separate entry.

In other news on an anti-climactic slow day (so far)....

Dastgheib's Support for Mousavi

The English translation of Ayatollah Dashgheib's letter to Mir Hossein Mousavi has been published:

Greetings,

I saw your statement which was published on Ordibehesht 23, 1389 (13 May 2010) and as I was certain of your religiousness, I am certain now too and I see you as someone with the love for Islam, Quran, and the Prophet’s and Holy Imam’s way of life, with good Islamic manner, devoted to Iran’s Islamic society, the establishment and the Islamic Republic of Iran, possessing honesty and purity, far from lies, betrayals and deceptions, and free from the love for earthly possessions and being in power.

What you stated about various issues are in accordance with the religious teachings and in compliance with the Constitution and the slogan of “independence, freedom and the Islamic Republic”. I, as a citizen, consider you useful and rather necessary for the continuation of the Islamic Revolution that was carried out by the people and the leadership of Imam Khomeini.

I am amazed by the people who considered themselves just but call your remarks, which are supported by reasons, deviation from the establishment and –-- may God have mercy on us –-- in confrontation with the establishment, and –-- may God have more mercy on us –-- accuse you unjustly, hideously and irrationally. These are disasters for you and us, and we should say, “We are all from God and we will return to him” about them.

Political Prisoner Watch

Women's rights activist Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in jail and 30 lashes for "acts against national security". Abbasgholizadeh was arrested on 21 December on her way to the funeral of Grand Ayatollah Montazeri.