The Latest from Iran (29 May): Statements for 22 Khordad/12 June

1655 GMT: Visiting Panahi. Mehdi Karroubi has met with Jafar Panahi, the prominent filmmaker who was detained for almost three months before being released this week.

1650 GMT: CyberPolice? Lots of chatter today that Google was filtered in Iran, at least for a short time.

1635 GMT: To Russia, With Criticism. All is still not well in Tehran over Moscow's position on the nuclear issue.

After President Ahmadinejad's public telling-off of Russia earlier in the week, senior Iranian lawmakers have taken up the criticism. Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani went after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev by exalting his predecessor,

If the approach agreed on with the former Russian president (Vladimir Putin) had been pursued, it could have served the interests of both sides. Concerning nuclear issues, Russia has always sought to fit things within the frame of its own interests, and efforts must be made to return this approach to its precise path.

Kazem Jalali of Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission said said Moscow was under the same "analytical misconception" as the US but offered a way back, "Russia can be effective in rejecting the [sanctions] resolution, and can save face internationally through a positive response to Iran's letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency."

NEW Iran Document: Mousavi “Greens Will Not be Stopped by Arrests, Prisons, or Killing”
NEW Iran: A Poem for Executed Teacher Farzad Kamangar
Friends or Obstacles?: Iran, Human Rights, & US “Concern”
Iran Analysis: When Allies Co-ordinate (Mousavi & Karroubi)
NEW Iran Analysis: When Allies Fight (Tehran and Moscow
The Latest from Iran (28 May): A Pause in Discussion?

1435 GMT: Political Prisoners Watch. Maziar Khosravi, editor of the Hammihan website, has been released from detention. Khosravi had been detained after his reports on last June's attacks on Tehran University's dormitories.


Activists are reporting that student activist Majid Tavakoli, who is on hunger strike, has been moved out of solitary confinement.

1410 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. As news emerges of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani reasserting his critical statements from last year (see 1350 GMT), we also get a report that assailants have raided the office of Rafsanjani's daughter, Faezeh Hashemi.

1405 GMT: The Students' Declaration. Student activists have released a statement calling for innovation in civil disobedience and asserting "perseverance on the way to democracy".

1350 GMT: And More Statements. I don't we think we quite expected, selecting the title for this morning's updates, how appropriate it would be.

We have posted in a separate entry the English translation of Mir Hossein Mousavi's latest lengthy critique of the Government and statement of the Green Movement's defiance.

And another prominent politician is making mischief: Agence France Presse reports that the website of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani has posted the 2009 letter he sent to the Supreme Leader, criticising the regime:

Even if I keep quiet, part of the people, groups and parties will undoubtedly not bear this situation any more and set off social upheavals, examples of which can be seen in street rallies and universities....

The website also posts extracts from Rafsanjani's Friday Prayer sermon of 17 July --- the last one he has given:

What should we do? Our key issue is to return the trust which the people had and now to some extent is broken....

It is not necessary that in this situation people be jailed. Let them join their families. We should not allow enemies to rebuke and ridicule us because of detentions. We should tolerate each other.

1245 GMT: Monitoring the Cleric. Back from a break to find the report that banners supporting Ayatollah Yusuf Sane'i for 4 June --- the anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeini's death --- have been removed from Khomeini's mausoleum because of "deceitful phrases".

Posters for Sane'i, a critic of the current Government, were also removed from the recent Tehran Book Fair.

0810 GMT: Corruption vs. Corruption at Highest Levels. The political battle within the establishment over corruption allegations continues.

More details on the Fatemi Street insurance fraud, with which 1st Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi is allegedly involved, have emerged.Two companies were established in 2005/2006, and Rahimi reportedly used his influence to arrange large loans (eventually more than $1 billion) for them, receiving 10-15%.

Ahmadinejad supporters have countered that Mohammad Javad Larijani, a senior official in Iran's judiciary, has seized 300,000 hectares of land. Emrooz claims that the President, in his speech this week in Kerman, implied that Larijani's brothers, Speaker of Parliament Ali and head of judiciary Sadegh, blocked the Government from taking back the property.

0805 GMT: Raising the Stakes (cont.). More on this week's Friday Prayer, on the anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeini's death, from the Supreme Leader (see 0650 GMT)....

The warm-up act for Ayatollah Khamenei will be President Ahmadinejad.

And Ayatollah Khamenei's title, at least according to his office? “The Leader of All Muslims in World Affairs”.

0800 GMT: Another Statement. Visiting the family of political prisoner Mohsen Armin, a senior member of the Mojahedin of Islamic Speaker and former Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mehdi Karroubi declared that the "imprisonment of the Revolution's children is a shame".

0755 GMT: Film Corner. Concern is growing over filmmaker Dariush Shokouf, an Iranian expatriate in Germany, who has disappeared. Shokouf, a vocal critic of Iran's regime, was last seen in Cologne, boarding a train for Paris.

0750 GMT: The Executions. We have posted a poem by Fatemeh Shams in memory of teacher Farzad Kamanager, executed on 9 May.

0650 GMT: Raising the Stakes. Golnaz Esfandiari of Radio Liberty reports that the Supreme Leader will lead Tehran Friday Prayers this week, presiding at the mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini.

Friday will be the anniversary of Khomeini's death in 1989.

This will be the first time that Ayatollah Khamenei has led Friday Prayers since his appearance one week after last year's Presidential election.

0555 GMT: Two weeks before the anniversary of the 2009 election, and we awake to a flurry of opposition statements.

Mir Hossein Mousavi, in his latest meeting, asserts that Iran should be "run by freedom and justice not by imprisonment". He argues, "We do not want the Government to give up rule in the name of Islam, but the content [of its rule] is empty and it does not address our desires."

Mousavi adds that this Government "monologue", meeting the wishes of the people with repression rather than discussion, leads to "tyranny" and "dictatorship".

The Assembly of Combatant Clergymen, like Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi earlier this week, use the "historical importance" of the month of Khordad (May/June) to invoke the legacy of Ayatollah Khomeini, remember the Presidency of Mohammad Khatami, and cite "the great participation" of the Iranian people in last year’s election.


The clergymen say this participation could have led to a better future for Iran; instead, it ws met by the brutal confrontation of the Government, which continues today with "heavy and unfair" prison sentences. They call for the release of all political prisoners and free elections.

The banned Islamic Iran Participation Front declares that the reform movement is an attempt to fix errant behaviour arising from narcissism, despotism, and fundamentalism that had shaped. The continuation of that effort of that effort led to a bitter showdown, with Government attacks on people’s freedom, security, and dignity in the name of religion.

The party calls for adherence to the Constitution and recognition of people’s demands for their rights, free assembly, political parties, a free press, and free elections.

Iran Document: Mehdi Karroubi "The Islamic Republic Depends Upon the People"

Mehdi Karroubi's statement to teachers, physicians, nurses, and families of martyrs, from the Facebook page supporting Mir Hossein Mousavi:

The great people of Iran fully supported the revolution in all aspects and have gone through many hardships and sufferings during these times. The great nation of Iran courageously resisted and made many sacrifices during the eight-year Iran-Iraq war and Saddam Hossein’s dictatorship, as well as in the face of sanctions and numerous terrorist attacks, including the bombing of the office of the Prime Minister, and the reason for all these sacrifices and braveries has been the love for their country and Islam and the two words of Islamic and Republic which was established by the very same people.

The Latest from Iran (17 May): Let’s Make a Deal (But Not with You, Mousavi)

Our system is based on people’s vote so that people elect their representatives to the Assembly of Experts to oversee the performance of the Supreme Leader; people elect their representatives to the Parliament to legislate laws and also have permanent oversight on the performance of their elected administration. So this is how people play an important role through direct and indirect elections and overseeing the performance of the officials in different ranks, and this is how the body of the Islamic Republic comes to life and becomes meaningful with the spirit of the people and their votes. However, unfortunately today we witness the derailment of the train of Islamic Republic because some individuals are trying to eliminate the Republic and people’s role to stay in power.


Unfortunately, we are witnessing a trend in pushing the pure religion of the Prophet Mohammad and his descendants towards superstitions. Lies and deceptions were not enough for them [the authorities] so they are adding superstitions and fictions to the religion too....Unfortunately our system has reached a point that some thoughtless people, ignorant about this world and afterlife, recklessly accuse others of being an enemy with God. We have just recently witnessed that in a strange and thoughtless act, a member of the Guardian Council [Gholam-Hossein Elham] called Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife [Zahra Rahnavard] enemies of God.

They themselves know that we...did not choose the path of reform only recently. You and I both have realized this correctly that the true democracy is not being implemented in the system. When the result of the election was already known on the morning of the Election Day and they started congratulating each other right then, for sure this shows that they don’t respect and honour people’s votes.

We say that the system must return to its main path. Free and healthy elections must be held, there must be independent media and freedom of speech, different parties and groups must have the right to be active, various classes and groups of the people must be recognized and their rights must be respected, and the Constitution must be implemented correctly. Of course, every law has flaws and shortcomings except for the holy books, so the Constitution is not some holy word and has some flaws too. Therefore the Constitution, if necessary, must be changed according to present needs and to fulfill public benefit and national interest....

To follow up on the situation of the families of the victims and to comfort them, soon after the post-election events I had a meeting with Mir Hossein Mousavi to create a committee, and he appointed the son of Martyr Beheshti [Alireza Beheshti] and Mr. Rohollah Moghadam from the Assembly of Combatant Clergymen, and I appointed Mr. [Morteza] Alviri and Dr. [Ebrahim] Amini. Unfortunately from this group of four, three were arrested. After that I did all I could and have been meeting with the families of the victims and prisoners of the recent events, and I have also asked my representatives in other provinces to meet with the families of the victims in those provinces and see how they are doing.

[One of the guests said to Karroubi that people are worried for his well-being and safety and added: "They issue heavy sentences, the social networks are also being more and more restricted every day, the independent press and those critical of the government have been shut down and not everyone has access to Internet. With all of this, what is your plan for better informing and educating the people?"]

Unfortunately, the issues you mentioned do exist. The pressure is extreme. My family and I are also under pressure like the rest of people and you know of what has happened to my family, like other families. To break people's spirits the government had even started rumours that I have a fatal disease but they didn't gain for them [these rumours]. These pressures intensify the situation but the nation is aware and is standing vigilantly in front of this suspicious movement. Some seek an opportunity to spread more violence in the society to survive; therefore we should pay more attention because we also have share in this revolution and the system. In this situation that they have taken all means of communication from us, have closed down parties, and have shut down newspapers. We must benefit from the cyberspace and also we should increase public awareness by face-to-face interactions.