The Latest from Iran (14 March): All Hail Intelligence

1955 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. The International Committee for Human Rights in Iran describes the case of 80-year-old Ebrahim Yazdi, whose trial has been postponed for the third time.

Yazdi, the Secretary-General of the Iran Freedom Movement, has been in prison since early October, charged with “acting against national security,” “propagating against the regime,” and “establishing the Iran Freedom Movement". He is in poor helath and is now detained in a Ministry of Intelligence house of detention.

1925 GMT: Human Rights Update. The Secretary-General of the UN has just released his interim report to the Human Rights Council on the situation in Iran:

The present report highlights many areas of continuing concern for human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Secretary-General has been deeply troubled by reports of increased executions, amputations, arbitrary arrest and detention, unfair trials, and possible torture and ill-treatment of human rights activists, lawyers, journalists and opposition activists.

The Secretary-General encourages the Government to address the concerns highlighted in the report and the specific calls to action found in previous resolutions of the General Assembly as well as the Universal Periodic Review process. The Secretary-General notes the important and constructive role the human rights lawyers and activists play in protecting human rights and encourages the Government of Iran to fully guarantee freedom of expression and assembly and to open up greater space for human rights lawyers and activists.

1905 GMT: After 25 Bahman. Mardomak summarises the presentations, emphasising that "violence has no place in Green Movement policy & its victory is subject to peaceful struggle", of opposition advisors Mojtaba Vahedi and Ardeshir Amir Arjoman, lawyer Shirin Ebadi, and cleric Mohsen Kadivar's in Sunday's gathering in London (see 0600 GMT).

1900 GMT: No Comment. From Middle East Online:

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi on Monday demanded that Bahraini leaders be wise and not use violence in their handling of anti-government protests, the state-run Fars news agency reported.

Salehi said the Bahraini authorities should avoid using "violence and force against the population", adding that Iran expects "the Bahraini government to be wise in responding to the demands of protesters and respecting their rights".

1715 GMT: No More Fireworks. Ali-Reza Avaie, the head of judiciary in Tehran Province, has warned young people participating in this week's Chahrshanbeh Suri (Fire Festival): "The counter-revolution seeks to infect youths who have no counter-revolutionary motives but simply want to perform sensational acts."

Avaie asked "young people and their families to act wisely and logically to avoid being trapped by the counter-revolution", warning that the judiciary will take action against all those who "disturb the peace".

1700 GMT: Parliament v. President (New Year Edition). Leading MPs such as Ahmad Tavakoli and Alireza Zakani have criticised the Government's invitation to King Abdullah II of Jordan to visit Iran for Nowruz (New Year) next week.

The MPs noted, following the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia --- supported by Tehran --- that Jordanians have been protesting for reforms.

There is also tension because the invitation was extended by Ahmadinejad's controversial Chief of Staff, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, in his role as the President's "special envoy" for foreign affairs.

1645 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Mardomak has more on the six-year prison sentence imposed on journalist Abdolreza Tajik.

Kodoom offers an overview of poet Hila Sedighi, summoned for questioning by the Ministry of Intelligence.

1625 GMT: The House Arrests. Amidst the speculation over whether opposition figures Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard were ever moved from strict house arrest to detention, this is a sharp reminder from Mojtaba Vahedi, an advisor to Mehdi Karroubi. Vahedi said, given that Karroubi's whereabouts have been unknown since 21 February:

Whether [Karroubi and his wife Fatemeh are kept in Heshmatieh [military prison] or in a basement in the Supreme Leader’s house does not make any difference: they are illegal prisoners of the Islamic republic because there has neither been a trial nor any defense attorney for them and their arrest and detention has taken place strictly on the orders of Mr. Vahid [the Supreme Leader's advisor Vahid Haghanian].

1250 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Maedeh Tahmasebi, Kurdish lawyer and member of the Tehran Bar Association, has been arrested.

1045 GMT: Budget Watch. With the Government and Parliament still failing to agree on a budget for 2011/12, Parliament is considering emergency funding of $15 billion for the Government for April and May.

1030 GMT: CyberWar. Over the weekend, Iranian authorities continued their public campaign on a "cyber-war", with General Ali Fazli, acting commander of the Basij, declaring that Iran's cyber-army is made up of university teachers, students, and clerics.

Fazli said, "As there are cyber attacks on us, so is our cyber army of the Basij, which includes university instructors and students, as well as clerics, attacking websites of the enemy. Without resorting to the power of the Basij, we would not have been able to monitor and confront our enemies."

0930 GMT: Sedition. Iran Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei has said in an interview, "We predicted the sedition. But, except for the Supreme Leader, everyone else ridiculed us."

0900 GMT: Cartoon of Day. As Wednesday's Fire Festival approaches, Nikahang Kowsar's paper-hatted journalist advises former Mohammad Khatami and other reformists, "Just turn up your frock and jump":

0730 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. There is still no news on Hojatoleslam Goudarzi, a campaigner for Mir Hossein Mousavi, who was arrested almost two weeks ago in Qom.

Students Amin Roghani and Ehsan Ghashghaei have been arrested in Semnan in northern Iran.

0600 GMT: President Ahmadinejad's showpiece on Sunday was a visit to a Ministry of Intelligence exhibition, "Intelligence and Security in the Fourth Decade of the Islamic Revolution".

Amidst the displays of technological advances and successes against Israeli espionage networks and the insurgent group Jundullah, Ahmadinejad praised the Ministry's achievements.

Meanwhile....

The Battle Within

A story from the weekend: Ali Akbar Javanfekr, a senior adviser to the President and head of Iran's official news agency, claimed that the Government has the right not to implement Parliamentary legislation.

Javenfekr declared that the government is not supposed to be obedient to the Majles because the Parliament has considered legislation that is against religion and the Constitution. 

Energy Watch

Ahmad Ghaleh Bani, a Ministry of Oil official, has announced that several Chinese and Russian companies have signed agreements to develop Iranian oil fields.

A Chinese firm intends to exploit the northern and southern sectors of the Azadegan oil field, a large reservoir with more than 30 billion barrels of oil, of which 25% is recoverable. The firm has invested $6 billion in the field, to be developed in two phases with a peak production of 600,000 barrels/day.

Azadegan was to be developed by a Japanese firm, but it withdrew from the project after political pressure. The field is currently producing 55,000 barrels/day.

Ghaleh Bani said that the National Iranian Oil Company has begun to develop the Azar and Changooleh oil fields, with negotiations with Russian firms to participate.

Economy Watch

A report by Parliament's Research Centre claims that only 20% of state projects --- 193 of 975 --- that were supposed to be finished this year, which ends 20 March, have been completed.

Opposition Watch

Key opposition figures, including advisors Ardeshir Amir Arjomand and Mojtaba Vahedi and Nobel Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi spoke at an event in London on Sunday, considering the state of the movement after its recent public re-appearance with the protests of 14 February.

We are hoping to have a report from an EA correspondent. Meanwhile, video of the speech by Arjomand (in two parts) and audio of the presentation by Ebadi: