The Latest from Iran (19 March): Past and Future Elections

1710 GMT: A New Year's Message. The opposition Coordination Council has released another message for Nowruz, calling for patience, perseverance, and hope for victory. The poster with the message declares, "We are a wave whose calmness would mean our non-being":

1650 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. RAHANA has posted statistics on more than 1250 arrests in Iran in the past year, including 185 students, 165 members of religious minorities, 129 Kurdish activists, and 43 journalists.

1530 GMT: Religion and Detentions. Ten Christians were reportedly arrested on Thursday in a raid on a house church in Kermanshah.

1420 GMT: The House Arrests. The children of Mehdi and Fatemeh Karroubi, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and Zahra Rahnavard have posted a message for Nowruz (Iranian New Year), praising the "faith and perseverance" of their parents.

1320 GMT: Culture Corner. Parliament's Research Committee says that, in sharp contrast to the 42% rise in the proposed 2011 Budget, the Government has cut funding for arts and culture by 8%.

1315 GMT: A Notable Cancellation. The trip of President Ahmadinejad's right-hand man, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, to the US has been cancelled.

Rahim-Mashai had said he was meeting Iranian expatriates for New Year celebrations. No explanation for the change in plans was given.

Iran Video: Journalist Fathi, Congressman Ellison on Human Rights
Iran Special: A Rafsanjani Alliance with "Moderate Conservatives"?
The Latest from Iran (18 March): A Gentle Day?

1000 GMT: The House Arrests. Significant news on opposition figure Mehdi Karroubi and his wife Fatemeh, who have been under strict house arrest for a month:

Mohammad Taghi Karroubi was finally granted a visit on Wednesday with his parents in their apartment, "which has been turned into a full scale prison by security forces".

Mojtaba Vahedi, in an interview with BBC Persian, has added that the Karroubis have not had any access to newspapers, radio, or television since their house arrest, and their medications were not given to them for two weeks. Vahedi said Karroubi was in good spirits and claimed that if Karroubi is released, he will stand on his positions with more determination than before.

Vahedi said,"All the windows of Mehdi Karroubi's residence have been covered in a way that light cannot pass through them."

0715 GMT: Poster of the Day. A Nowruz (Iranian New Year) poster for political prisoners from Mona Heydari:

0705 GMT: A round-up of past, present, and future politics to start the day:

Ahmadinejad: God Will Take Care of the Election

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty picks up on an extract from a speech by the President on Wednesday, in which he reassured officials not to fret about the 2013 election to succeed him: "Several friends had come and were saying, 'We're worried about the future.' I said, 'The future has been decided, go do your work, the result will come.' [One of them] said, 'Who's the next one?' I said, 'Do you think God doesn't know who's next?' He said [yes, he knows]. I said, 'So why are you sad? The time is over when they could rule people through factional games.'" 

You Asked for It, You Got It

EA readers have been conducting a spirited debate about the evidence of manipulation and intimidation in the 2009 Presidential election. So here is a reminder of the audio of "Commander Moshfegh" of the Revolutionary Guard explaining how the plans were implemented before and after the vote.

Political Prisoner Watch

The 20-year sentences of seven leaders of the Baha'i sect have been upheld on appeal.