The Latest from Iran (10 October): A Moment's Relief from House Arrest

0850 GMT: Eggs and the Economy. Nikahang Kowsar illustrates the current economic situation with the sharp increase in the price of eggs --- the chicken tells the pleading Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, "You cannot have them":

Aftab, noting that the price of a single egg is now 300 tomans (about 25 cents), declares, "Soon you will show your children pictures and tell them: 'These are eggs!'"

0840 GMT: Iranian authorities have imposed a travel ban on director Nader Davoodi, preventing him from participating in the Beirut International Film Festival on Monday.

Davoodi was going to present Red, White and Green, his 2010 documentary about violence after the disputed 2009 Presidential election.

“The Lebanese censorship authorities told us Friday afternoon we would have to remove Iranian director Nader Davoodi’s film from our program, and then we were informed that he would not be able to travel,” said Colette Naufal, director of the Film Festival.

Naufal added that she was told that Iranian Kurdish filmmaker Ibrahim Al-Saaidi, director of Mandoo, will be unable attend the festival due to travel difficulties.

In June, Iranian director Hana Makhmalbaf's Green Days, which also dealt with post-election violence in Iran, was cancelled after Lebanese intelligence warned the organisers of the film festival against screening the film.

0455 GMT: Social Media Watch. According to Digarban, the Supreme Leader has issued a fatwa that Facebook is acceptable, if it is not used for spreading porn or strengthening enemies of Islam.

0450 GMT: Execution Watch. Park ranger Asad Taghizadeh is facing imminent execution after his death sentence was approved by the Supreme Court.. 

In 2007, Taghizadeh, a licensed park ranger in the Dena mountain range in southwestern Iran, was arrested for manslaughter after his being caught in a shooting incident involving five illegal hunters. 

The death sentence was issued despite the fact that Taghizadeh had all required licences for carrying firearms.

An Iranian official said the Court's seal of approval meant the ranger would be executed within the coming two weeks.

0440 GMT: On Friday, the opposition figure Mehdi Karroubi was unexpectedly given a respite from his strict house arrest, imposed in mid-February, to visit the family of his son Hossein. Banooye Sabz posts an English translation of the account from Hossein Karroubi's Facebook page:

Last night my mother and my brothers had gathered at my house to celebrate father's birthday and the fact that my daughter had been accepted to university. Just as we were about to serve dinner the door bell rang and an agent confirmed that they had brought father to the house. We could not believe our ears and were elated that they had brought father to the house so unexpectedly.

My father arrived at our doorsteps accompanied by six security agents. Though he had lost some weight, he was nevertheless in great spirits. By his own accord, the weight t loss is a result of the more than two hours he walks in the apartment he is currently being held. When we inquired about his health he responded that he had been taken to a medical center a few days ago where he had undergone a complete medical checkup.

At the end of this one hour visit, the security agents allowed the family to take a group photo. It is worth mentioning that the security agents recently assigned to my father have promised my father that his situation will improve and that they plan to transfer him to a house in the area of Shemiran within the next ten days. They have also promised that the family members will be allowed to take turns and visit with him once a week. When inquiring whether father would be allowed access to books and newspapers, the security agents responded that the authorities would have to approve that first.

Although the six security agents were present at all times during father's short visit, it goes without saying that seeing him after 8 months transformed our small family gathering into a memorable and auspicious night.