The Latest from Iran (4 August): The Regime Admits Its "Economic War"

Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati1705 GMT: Food Watch. The Government Trading Corporation has continued to build up strategic stocks of grain, purchasing at least 240,000 tonnes of milling wheat this week.

Traders said the Iran agency took advantage of the recent drop in prices, including German and Baltic Sea region wheat.

Last week President Ahmadinejad called for a three-month strategic stockpile of vital goods and commodities, including grain.

1702 GMT: Friday Prayer Watch. Radio Farda, profiling the Friday Prayer leaders in 530 cities and towns, claims they all receive a standard text on the Wednesday before their sermons.

1655 GMT: Elections Watch. Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, the spokesman of the Guardian Council, has repeated his call for reform of election laws while saying this was not connected to alleged "past violations".

The proposed changes appear to strengthen the control of the Guardian Council and the Supreme Leader over the process, at the expense of the Government. Some observers see them as preparation for a Prime Ministerial system to replace the current Presidency.

1635 GMT: Fraud Watch. Khorasan News reports that an embezzlement of 15 billion Toman (about $12.5 million at official rate) has been discovered in a Bonyad Shahid (foundation).

1335 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Student activist Bahareh Hedayat, serving a 9 1/2-year sentence, has returned to prison after a short furlough.

Hedayat was arrested in December 2009, just after demonstrations on National Student Day.

1320 GMT: Foreign Affairs Watch (Syrian Front). An Iranian diplomat in Damascus has told State TV that 48 Iranian pilgrims have been kidnapped from a bus in the Syrian capital en route to the airport.

Majid Kamjou said, "There are no reports about the fate of the pilgrims. The embassy and Syrian officials are trying to trace the kidnappers."

(Cross-posted from Syria Live Coverage)

1045 GMT: Opposition Watch. So what's the reason for persistent opposition to the authority of the Supreme Leader? His representative to the Revolutionary Guards in Isfahan, Hojetoleslam Tayyebi Far, explains, "Jewish roots."

The cleric continued, "Religion is no longer called the opium of the masses but rather is the motor of many movements."

1015 GMT: Chest-Thumping. Minister of Defense Ahmad Vahidi has announced the successful test-firing of the fourth generation of the indigenously-made Fateh 110 missile, with a range of more than 300 kilometres (190 miles).

Vahidi said the missile could destroy ground and sea targets, missile sites, radars, and other targets, adding, “Iran's capabilities are defensive and will only be used against aggressive countries and those who threaten our country’s interests and territorial integrity.”

0730 GMT: Nuclear Watch. The regime is continuing its push for more nuclear talks with the 5+1 Powers. Following a telephone conversation in which the 5+1's Catherine Ashton effectively told Iranian counterpart Saeed Jalili there would be no more discussions without Tehran's concession, Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that negotiating is the only solution to the issues pertaining to Iran's peaceful nuclear energy dossier. Nuclear talks can only lead to an appropriate result through pursuing negotiation and cooperation.”

0702 GMT: Conspiracy Watch. The head of Iran's armed forces, Hassan Firouzabadi, has asserted, "US foreign policy [in the Middle East] is allied with Al-Qaeda."

Firouzabadi's line follows an escalation in claims in Iranian state media that Washington is working with Al Qa'eda to overthrow the Syrian regime.

0613 GMT: The Next Generation. One of a series of photos in Mehr of youth clubs run by the Basij militia:

0555 GMT: The Tehran Friday Prayer by Ayatollah Jannati, the head of the Guardian Council, was a mix of (inadvertent) dark comedy and serious statement. 

Jannati, passing off responsibility for problems, came up with a line for the satirists, ""Heat, cold, and high prices are in God's hands", then he got to the core of his message. Only weeks after regime figures were declaring their confidence that sanctions would not affect the Islamic Republic, the Ayatollah announced an "economic crisis" which was "a war waged by the enemy against Iran". 

Jannati did not go as far as the head of the Central Bank, Mahmoud Bahmani, who broke ranks at the start of the year to say this war matched that of the armed conflict with Iraq in the 1980s, but he asserted that all Iranians had to mobilise to deal with the situation.