The Latest from Iran (1 July): A Pause for Denial

1855 GMT: Press Watch. The journal Shahrvand has returned after a ban with a cover featuring prominent writer Mahmoud Doulatabadi and poet Javad Mojab.

1845 GMT: Corruption Watch. Hojatoleslam Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, the head of the Shiraz Administrative Court, has asserted that corruption amongst officials is one of the most important factors in the downfall of states.

1820 GMT: All the President's Men. Farda News claims that President Ahmadinejad's inner circle spent 338 million tomans (about $300,000) in less than a year for foreign travel, boat trips, and suits.

1755 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Human rights activists and lawyers have written an open letter to Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Ali Doulatabadi, calling for an investigating into last month's deaths of activists Haleh Sahabi and Hoda Saber.

Sahabi died on 1 June after she was confronted by security forces at the funeral of her father. Saber passed away 10 days later during a hunger strike over Sahabi's death --- witnesses allege he was beaten and denied medical care before he expired from a heart attack.

1745 GMT: Economy Watch. Reformist MP Mohammad Reza Khabbaz has claimed that there is "economic confusion" because of political interventions. Production is at the verge of bankruptcy, while the amount of cash circulating in the country has sharply risen from $70 billion to $392 billion.

The Iranian Labor News Agency claims the rubber industry is on the verge of breakdown, with price increases capped at 8% vs. the 25-30% required by producers.

1735 GMT: Your Friday Prayer Update. There was one reference to note in Hojatoleslam Seddiqi's sermon today (see 1330 GMT) --- amidst the current political conflict, he declared that the Supreme Leader's support for the judiciary makes the responsibility of judges more important.

So what does this mean, if anything, about the arrests and possible further action against President Ahmadinejad's allies?

1730 GMT: Oil Watch. The National Iranian Oil Company has said shipments to India will stop in August, if no agreement over currency for payment is reached.

Earlier this year, the Indian Central Bank suspended the payment for imports from the agreed Asian "currency basket" because of international sanctions. An alternative has not been found, and Iran has been supplying oil on credit.

1715 GMT: In a separate feature, we write about the extraordinary situation where the President has been censored by Iran's State broadcaster for his comments about a "red line" against the arrest of members of his Cabinet --- Ahmadinejad's office has responded by posting the uncut video on the President's official website.

Meanwhile, the political argument continues to bubble. MP Ali Motahari, a prominent critic of the Government, has declared that Ahmadinejad's claims about political persecution are "illogical" --- "His red line should be the law, not his friends. All are equal before law."

A Government outlet responds that the recent accusations against Vice President Hamid Baghaei and Presidential Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai are "mere lies".

But MP Fazel Mousavi, a member of Parliament's Article 90 Commission overseeing Government activity, has confirmed that a committee has been formed to investigate the Rahim-Mashai and Baghaei cases.

1710 GMT: Remembering. A 40th day mourning ceremony has been held in Behesht-e Zahra cemetery for football Nasser Hejazi.

In the presence of heavy security, the crowd chanted, "Wake up, your place is empty, our popular hero."

Before his death from cancer, Hejazi has criticised the Government over its failure to address the economic plight of Iranians.

1335 GMT: All-Is-Well Alert. The Deputy Minister of Oil has said there is no reason for concern over the operation of power plants in Iran.

Earlier this week the Deputy Minister of Egypt had said natural gas shipments to 15 plants had been suspended because suppliers had not been paid and reserve stocks of liquid fuel were low. The Deputy Minister of Oil said, however, that the average daily delivery of 140 million cubic metres of natural gas was secure, and there were adequate supplies of liquid fuel.

1330 GMT: Your Tehran Friday Prayer Update. Hojatoleslam Siddiqi told the faithful today that the movements in "some countries of the region" showed how the Islamic revolution of the last 32 years had succeeded against American arrogance and were now moving to the US and Europe.

Siddiqi did not say the word "Syria", however.

1300 GMT: Destroying Culture. An EA correspondent points us to a video of 16 destroyed or "disappeared" statues, depicting Iranian mythological epic hero Arash Kamangir on chariots or horses, from a public Square in the northern city of Sari.

Faramarz Naghibi, the head of Islamic Council, has reportedly ordered the removal of large statutes because they insult Ayatollah Khomeini.

The statutes had decored public squares in Sari since 1975. Arash Kamangir is Iran's epic archer who infused his own life into his arrow and threw it as far as possible to expand Iranian borders.

1130 GMT: Everybody Just Calm Down. Iran Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei has reiterated the Supreme Leader's call for everyone to step back from the political conflict, declaring that news media should refrain from publishing facts which could create turmoil in society.

0735 GMT: Economy Watch. Iranian official statistics indicate that food prices rose 35% in the month of Khordaad (May/June), in comparison to the average price of the last three years.

0620 GMT: Revealing the Past, Discussing the Present. In a 20-minute interview, Jafar Behkish, who lives in Canada, discusses the deaths of six members of his family at the hands of the regime --- including the emerging context of the 1988 massacre of thousands of prisoners --- and the current detention of his sister, Mansoreh Behkish, in solitary confinement in Evin Prison.

0610 GMT: Subsidy Cuts Watch. Mohammad Reza Farzin, the head of the agency overseeing support payments to cover rising prices from subsidy cuts, has said that the payments are continuing, even though there might be a delay of two to three days.

Farzin denied reports that the $45 per month would be replaced in part by an "energy voucher". Some observers have suggested that recipients might be using their support payments to buy other goods rather than cover their energy bills.

0605 GMT: A Message from the Supreme Leader. Ayatollah Khamenei has used a holiday message to declare that Muslim nations will not allow the success of the US and Israeli plots, including "the conspiracy to undermine the great Iranian nation".

At the same ceremony, President Ahmadinejad struck a religious tone with the message that humanity needed the voice of Prophet Mohammad more than ever, although he added a denunciation of the "evil and idolatrous" of the US and Zionist agenda for expansion and domination.

0555 GMT: Thursday was a public holiday in Iran so, combined with today's weekend, the news has slowed. 

In the lull in the political conflict, the most notable story was on the sanctions front, where the world's largest container firm, the Maersk Line, said it was suspending operations in several Iranian ports, including Bandar Abbas, because of US-led sanctions. The step could have a significant effect on Iran's food supplies ahead of the holy month of Ramadan this summer.

Some Iranian media used the lull for a bit of denial and diversion. Press TV, for example, ignored all news coming out of Syria to assure, "Most of the refugees who had fled the Syrian town of Khirbat al-Jawz to neighboring Turkey have returned to their homes."