The Latest from Iran (7 August): Commemorating "Journalists Day"

1940 GMT: Journalists Day. And here is how President Ahmadinejad marked the eve of Journalists Day, in remarks at the end of the Cabinet meeting, “We hope that Iran’s news community will be vibrant, motivated and committed to human and divine values as before. I hope that our journalists could provide the international community with a suitable model."

Ahmadinejad made no apparent reference to the more than 100 Iranian journalists in prison or under threat of heavy bail.

1935 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Reza Khandan, the husband of imprisoned lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, claims a new development: he was detained for several hours, along with the couple's children and Sotoudeh's sister, as they tried to visit the political prisoner today.

The attorney is serving an 11-year sentence for alleged actions against national security, including the giving of interviews to foreign media.

1920 GMT: Revolutionary Guards Do Politics. The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, General Mohammad Ali Jafari, has pronounced that the Guards' engineering firm, Khatam al-Anbia, saved the Ahmadinejad Government in difficult times.

Even more significantly, Jafari, speaking at the induction ceremony for the new head of Khatam al-Anbia defended the expansion of the Guards through the Iranian system, declaring that the Supreme Leader paved the way for the IRGC to enter economic and cultural spheres.

Jafari's statement is a reaffirmation both of the Guards' determination to assert its place in Iranian politics and the economy and of the alliance with Ayatollah Khamenei against any effort by President Ahmadinejad to expand his power.

Support for Jafari's declaration came from the new Minister of Oil, Rustam Qassemi, who was the head of Khatam al-Anbia before moving into Cabinet. Qassemi, speaking at the same ceremony, said, "Khatam-al-Nabia Base has strong resources, experts, facilities and infrastructure and is the largest contractor in the country and must be strengthened further."

1700 GMT: Reformist Watch. Back from a break to find an interview with Mohsen Armin, the former Deputy Speaker of Parliament and a senior member of the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution....

Saying that former President Mohammad Khatami's Khatami's demands are essential for any involvement in March's Parliamentary elections, Armin continued that "all essential prerogatives" for involvement "are missing". Armin also summarised, "Coalition with hardliners never; debate yes."

Armin asserted that, "Apart from solving huge econ problems, reformers must reinstall social and moral foundations" for the Iranian community.

(An EA correspondent notes how Armin's comments are distorted in the version on the conservative site Khabar Online, following false claims in the Iranian media that 20 reformists have signed an open letter endorsing participation in the Parliamentary campaign.)

1303 GMT: CyberWatch. The official website of President Ahmadinejad is down for a third day in a row.

1300 GMT: Parliament v. President. Alef, the website of influential MP Ahmad Tavakoli, raises a bit of trouble about this week's approval of Rustam Qassemi as Minister of Oil.

Suggesting that the process was stage-managed to avoid dissent, the site asks, "If a MP who passed all filters can't speak freely in the Majlis, what about freedom of speech in society?"

1250 GMT: Foreign Affairs (Syria Front). Could this be a sign of a significant shift in the Iranian media's coverage of events in Syria?

The conservative Jahan News, while noting the line that the uprising in Syria is in part because of foreign instigation, asks, "What is Iran's position? Why are the Government, Foreign Ministry, and [State broadcaster] IRIB silent about the killings and tyranny?"

1230 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Kalemeh reports fears for the health of imprisoned blogger and publisher Mehdi Khazali as he enters the 20th day of a hunger strike.

Khazali began the strike after he was summoned back to prison on charges of acting against national security and disturbing public opinion.

1215 GMT: Food Watch. Iranian MP Mehrdad Lahouti has claimed that more than a million tons of imported wheat in warehouses has been destroyed.

1105 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Seven cultural activists have been arrested in western Gilan Province in northern Iran. No reason has been given for the detentions.

1050 GMT: Journalists Day. The International Association of Iranian Journalists, "comprised of professional Iranian journalists based outside of Iran", has been launched "to provide professional support to Iranian journalists living abroad, and to defend freedom of speech and the press".

0905 GMT: Even the Dolls Are A Political Issue. Khabar Online, linked to Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, puts pressure on Iranian officials denying the existence of illegal wharves and smuggling with this story --- 55 tons of dolls, bikes, and toys have been imported via the Abouzar oil platform in a "mistake". This, the website notes, is an "error" like the recent import of 50 tons of pork meat.

The issue of smuggling escalated last month when President Ahmadinejad criticised illegal imports, to the point of implying that Revolutionary Guards were using ports for commercial activity. Other Iranian officials, including the Guards, have denied that illegal wharves exist.

An EA correspondent notes that, by using "mistake" and "error", Khabar avoids being censored for indicating that illegal activity is deliberate.

0902 GMT: Oil and Politics. Khabar Online claims that new Minister of Oil Rustam Qassemi plans widespread reshuffles of personnel, as "men of the south" (Khuzestan Province) demand the reinstatement of managers who have recently been forced out.

0900 GMT: Economy Watch. The Secretary of Iran's Dairy Industry Association has said that prices for dairy goods will increase by 10% --- and milk by 15% --- after this month of Ramadan.

0850 GMT: An Award for the President. Aftab reports that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has become an honorary member of the Scientific Board of Academic Jihad.

0840 GMT: Picture of the Day (2). A photo essay in Mehr features the poor of Kahnouj and Ghaleh Jang villages, in Kerman Province in southeastern Iran. A woman holds up a letter of appeal to President Ahmadinejad:

0715 GMT: Clerical Intervention. Ayatollah Hossein Mazaheri has declared, "You have to weep for a society invaded by lies and deceit," adding that a society and government ruled by lies are un-Islamic.

0710 GMT: Picture of the Day. Journalist Ahmad Zeidabadi says good-bye to his son as he returns to prison after a 48-hour furlough:

0555 GMT: Journalists Day. Rah-e Sabz publishes a statement from imprisoned journalists, marking Journalists Day tomorrow.

The statement condemns the "authoritarian rule" that suppresses civil liberties and freedom of the press, and it also declares that the house arrests of opposition figures Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi since February are the "clearest evidence of the denial of civil rights".

0540 GMT: An EA reader informs us that tomorrow is Journalists Day in Iran, with a ceremony in  the Institute of Culture and Art Studies in Tehran attended by Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad Hosseini.

We thought we would join in the occasion. In addition to our rolling feature profiling the more than 100 Iranian journalists who are detained or under threat of heavy bail, we post these cartoons from the London-based newspaper --- very different from its Tehran namesake --- Kayhan, remembering those who are imprisoned in Iran, Libya, and Syria:

"You closed our newspapers, threw us in jail, threatened our families, but these voices cannot be silenced"

The badge: "Security forces" --- The hand: "Government fist. Violence. Corruption. Oppression" --- The Paper: "People's Voices. Liberty. Laws. Equality"

Ahmadinejad: "Iran defends liberty of Tunisian and Egyptian people!" --- Press TV: "Boldly uncovers all slander, contradictions, and lies of Western media"