The Latest from Iran (6 September): Water Fights, Soggy Papers

1938 GMT: This video purportedly shows merchants protesting at the Tehran Bazaar strike yesterday:

1710 GMT: Terror Watch. Iranian officials say they have arrested five Al Qa'eda members in Kerman Province. Two of the suspects are non-Iranian.

1705 GMT: Today's Get-Tough Moment. Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi has said that his Ministry "vows to curb enemy moves" for next March's Parliamentary elections.

1335 GMT: Picture of Day. A T-shirt with messages and signatures of detainees in Evin Prison:

1330 GMT: Press Watch. Reporters Without Borders, noting yesterday's ban on two reformist publications, has called on Iranian officials to end repression and free detained journalists and bloggers.

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The Latest from Iran (9 September): Water Fights, Soggy Papers

Oops! A bit of a slip-up on the date. We're not actually predicting the future --- the LiveBlog for today, 6 September, is now at the top of the page.

Syria, Libya (and Beyond) Liveblog: Defections Up, Dictators Down

1931 GMT: Two more videos of the large protests in Aleppo, at the funeral for Sheikh Alsgayna. Now Lebanon also has received reports of the same protest.

This could be VERY significant. The death of a religious leader, at the hands of the Syrian security forces, will not go lightly. The size of the funeral procession, and the presence of protests, combined with reports that the protest was broken up inside the cemetery, would suggest that this could become a local rallying call:

1924 GMT: A key piece of evidence. Earlier we reported that a large protest for a slain protester was disrupted in a cemetery in Aleppo. This video appears to show a very large protest at the funeral for Sheikh Alsgayna, killed by security forces in recent days. It's not video of the clashes, but it's evidence that there was a very large rally today in Aleppo:

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Iran Snapshot: So How Does the Supreme Leader Spend His Day? (Farahabadi)

In the interview, the Supreme Leader's bodyguard says, ”After the morning prayer, he goes hiking three times a week and walks uphill for about 45 to 60 minutes, spending about 30 to 45 minutes on the way back."

On some days when the hiking takes place at a more distant location, the Ayatollah carries out his prayers on his way to the hike location. Shahpasandi also mentioned the issues that the guards faced when the leader was on his hike: “We cannot use the same mountain for the hikes, as the enemy can find this out to hurt us. He uses any heights or hill in/around Tehran, from the Bibishahr in Rey to the northern hills of Tehran, such as Velenjak or Darband. There is no exclusive hill to which we go. There are two, three exclusive places we go to,”.

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The Latest from Iran (5 September): It's the Economy, Stupid

See also Iran Snapshot: So How Does the Supreme Leader Spend His Day?

WikiLeaks and Iran Document: Why US Diplomats Suspected Fraud in 2009 Election
Iran Snapshot: A Protest With a Difference --- This One is by Kermanshah’s Basiji
Iran: Assessing Latest Cyber-Threat, Rogue Certificate Part 2
The Latest from Iran (4 September): Shrinking Lake, Growing Protests

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0350 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Journalist Nader Karimi Jooni, who has worked for Jahan-e-Sanat and Shargh, has been released 33 months after his arrest.

0335 GMT: When An Arrest is not an Arrest Watch. More from the slightly surreal press conference of Iran Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei (see 1430 GMT)....

Mohseni Ejei explained that opposition figures Mir Hossein Ejei and Mehdi Karroubi were not under arrest -- "staying at home", i.e., their strict house arrests, was to their benefit to prevent "other things".

The Prosecutor General then applied his logic to the detentions of youths for water games in parks in Tehran and Mashhad. These were "not crimes" but "immoral actions must be punished".

And other acts escaping punishment altogether? Nothing was being done in cases of bank fraud and an alleged $11 billion in oil money "missing" from Iran's foreign reserves.

0315 GMT: He's Back. The President's right-hand man, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, has accompanied Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the official visit to Tajikistan. It is Rahim-Mashai's first trip with Ahmadinejad in four months.

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Libya, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Preparing to Fight for Bani Walid

Al Jazeera English's assessment of the fight for Bani Walid in Libya

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0125 GMT: Activists say Syrian security forces have killed at least nine people and arrested dozens in the central cities of Hama and Homs and in the northwestern province of Idlib.

A spokesman of the Local Coordination Committees said dozens of troops backed by at least 30 military vehicles and security forces raided Hama, with a similar operation in Homs that caused the nine deaths, while about 100 people were rounded up in Idlib Province.

Activists based in northern Lebanon also reported sounds of heavy shelling in the Wadi Khaled, an area facing the Syrian town of Tal Kalakh.

The operations occurred as the Syrian regime granted access to the International Committee of the Red Cross to the Damascus Central Prison, in the suburb of Adra.

1856 GMT: Two videos show a Syrian sniper on the roof of a building, preparing to shoot. According to someone on Twitter, the translation is as follows:

Someone off camera asks the sniper, "could you shoot her? If you shoot her you are a real hero, but if not you are a coward." The sniper then said yes, and he takes the shot.

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WikiLeaks and Iran Document: Why US Diplomats Suspected Fraud in 2009 Election

Iran analysts, both Iranian and foreign, have reacted with incredulity to the results of the Iranian presidential election and accused the IRIG of grossly rigging the election and falsifying the resuls. The Iran Regional Presence Office's review of Iran's recent presidential elections and the current election indicate the accusations of fraud have merit.

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Syria Special: Syria’s Sons of No One (Shadid)

Abdullah (left) and Ahmed in a safe house in Homs, Syria.Abdullah, a 26-year-old computer engineer and pious Muslim, is a wanted man. He joined the first protest in Homs in March, and since then he has emerged as one of the dozen or so leaders of the youth resistance. His savvy with technology has made him a target for the police, and this was the fifth place he had slept in in less than a week. He hadn’t been to his family’s home in two months. Around his neck he wore a tiny toy penguin that was actually a thumb drive, which he treated like a talisman, occasionally squeezing it to make sure it was still there. I sat next to him on the mattress and watched as he traded messages with other activists on Skype, then updated a Facebook page that serves as an underground newspaper, then marked a Google Earth map of Homs with the spots of the latest unrest. “If there’s no Internet,” Abdullah said, “there’s no life.”

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Iran Snapshot: A Protest With a Difference --- This One is by Kermanshah’s Basiji

Yeah there are protests in Urmia and Tabriz over the ecological disaster, but you think those are the only malcontents in Iran? As Karmand News points out, there are a whole lot of plain-clothes enforcers who haven't gotten paid in a long time. And let me promise you, those skulls won't crack themselves, so if Ahmadinejad wants to put down the other protests --- you know, the ones by troublesome opposition and Greens --- he better pick up a baton or pay up.

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On the morning of 26 July 2011, around 150 Basijis from Kermanshah gathered outside of the Majlis building in Tehran to protest not being paid wages. According to one protester, although Ahmadinejad agreed in 2006 that Basijis should receive at least a wage equivalent to that of lower-level government employee, they have yet to be paid a salary. They are instead given only a small sum once per year.

Furthermore, according to the 5th Development Plan [for 2010 to 2015], Basijis who fought in the Iran-Iraq War and were on the front lines for more than a year are eligible to receive a pension and health benefits. The Basijis, however, have yet to receive these benefits.

Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Expect More Funeral Protests

See also Saturday's Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Won't Give Up, Won't Back Down

1520 GMT: Yesterday we received a picture from an activist showing a man, reportedly in Sitra, Bahrain, standing in front of a police convoy at protests. Frankly, I don't like pictures, as they are hard to verify, but today we have received and EXCLUSIVE VIDEO of the same scene, and more. Protesters take to the streets, but tear gas, and what appears to be rubber bullets (though it's possible that live ammunition was also used) is fired towards the protesters. Amidst the smoke an chaos, the police convoy can be seen, and the man with no shirt stands in front of it.

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