Iran Live Coverage: What Happened in the Nuclear Talks in Istanbul?

See also Iran Feature: So What is The Regime's "Must Read" US Book?
Monday's Iran Live Coverage: "Sedition is On the Way"

---

1955 GMT: Education Watch. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for the dismissal of the heads of Tehran University and Tarbiat Muddares University, Khabar Online reports.

Khabar published what it said was a letter from the President to Kamran Daneshjoo, the Minister of Science, Research, and Technology, calling for the firings.

Reports also claim Ahmadinejad is insisting on the dismissal of the head of Jahad Daneshqai University and Amir Kabir University.

An EA correspondent suggests that the reason for these requests is because the four University Presidents oppose Ahmadinjad's close confidante and advisor Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai studying for a Master's degree.

Some observers believe the Guardian Council could use Rahim-Mashai's lack of a postgraduate degree to prevent him from standing for President.

1915 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Faezeh Hashemmi, the daughter of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, has been released from prison after serving a six-month term.

Hashemi was detained in September on charges, imposed in 2011, of spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic. The court also banned her from political activities for five years.

Click to read more ...

Iran Live Coverage: The Supreme Leader Tries to Bolster His Popularity

See also Iran Analysis: Preparing for Elections, Ahmadinejad Tries to Replace His Vice President
Thursday's Iran Live Coverage: A Collapsing Economy?

---

1954 GMT: Oil Watch. Turkey's imports of Iranian oil held steady at around 100,000 barrels per day from September to December, data from a shipping source and Reuters indicate.

The volume is 45% down from Ankara's 2011 purchases of about 180,000 bpd and more than 60% lower from peak imports of 250,000-280,000 bpd in early 2012.

Iran State media highlights the unchanged imports but somehow fails to mention the sharp fall compared to the start of last year.

Click to read more ...

Iran Live Coverage: The Supreme Leader Admits A Crisis

See also Iran Feature: The Top 10 Stories of 2012 --- A Currency Falls, Sanctions Expand, and Political Prisoners Continue to Resist
EA Special: 10 Predictions for 2013 --- Assad Gone, an Angry Middle East, and Little Change on "Human Rights"
Monday's Iran Live Coverage: All-Is-Well Oil Alerts

---

2040 GMT: Labour Front. More than 500 workers at the Safa Pipe factory have begun a fourth round of protests over conditions and the delayed payment of wages.

A worker said the demonstration began Saturday after employees were not paid in more than six months.

1940 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Popular singer and activist Arya Aramnejad was summoned today to serve his 91-day sentence.

Aramnejad has been detained on several occasions, including a five-month stay in prison from November 2011 to April 2012.

Click to read more ...

Iran Live Coverage: Celebrating Victory Over Protests

See also Saturday's Iran Live Coverage: Cheerleading for Sanctions

---

Tehran, 30 December 20091759 GMT: At the Movies. The Iranian Directors Union has warned that cinema is on the verge of closure amidst censorship and economic difficulties.

Scores of movie houses have reportedly shut this year. The Ministry of Culture gave the reassurance that Iranians could always watch television.

1750 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Faezeh Hashemi, the daughter of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, has been put in solitary confinement for three weeks for "insulting the Supreme Leader" and "disturbing order in prison".

Hashemi is serving a six-month sentence for propaganda against the regime.

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (25 December): Is the Currency Falling Again?

See also The Latest from Iran (24 December): All-Is-Well Oil Alert...But With a Confession>

---

1755 GMT: Parliament v. President. Kalemeh summarises today's closed session of Parliament, the latest act in the Majlis' battle with President Ahmadinejad over his economic plans and subsidy cuts programme.

1725 GMT: Economic Warfare Watch. Mohammad Reza Naqdi, the head of the Basij militia, has tried to rally people for economic battle.

Naqdi said the enemy has turned to Iran's economy after failure in the military, cultural, and political realms. He proclaimed that the Bazaar is the "honour" of Iran's economy and that, as a large consumer, the Revolutionary Guards can change the behaviour of producers.

An EA correspondent assesses, "This is a harsh warning to the private sector to keep prices low."

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (22 November): Ahmadinejad Benefits from Tehran's Problems Abroad

See also Iran Feature: The Week in Civil Society --- A Health Crisis, A Hunger Strike, and Keeping Women at Home
The Latest from Iran (21 November): The Economy? "All Is Well"

---

1740 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Doulatabi has stopped all in-person visits in the women’s section of Evin Prison, according to opposition websites.

Kalemeh wrote that female inmates who had children were allowed to meet with them in person on Wednesday, but yesterday the prisoners were told that these visits are cancelled until further notice.

Prison authorities have informed detainees that the decision has been handed down from the prosecutor’s office and prison officials have no authority to alter it.

Up to nine women political prisoners recently went on hunger strike over their treatment, including denial of visits, and seven of them signed a statement of condolence to the family of Sattar Beheshti, a blogger killed earlier this month during interrogation in prison. The women have also expressed sympathy with detained lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who is in the fifth week of her hunger strike.

Click to read more ...

Iran Feature: A Letter from Detained Journalist Jila Bani Yaghoub to Her Imprisoned Husband

Jila Bani Yaghoub & Bahman Ahmadi AmouiMy dearest Bahman, what I find most attractive about this prison is that individuals with a variety of backgrounds and apposing points of view are coexisting peacefully. We sit together, share meals, have discussions and arguments. I find this peaceful coexistence extremely gratifying. My experience here behind bars has made me hopeful that I may someday witness a similar model implemented across our society at large. I look forward to the day when men and women with a variety of political and religious beliefs live together without the need to eliminate one another, or become enemies as a result of their differences of opinion, religion, or political ideologies.

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (25 September): Which is More Important --- The Ahmadinejad Show or an Economy in Crisis?

Full interview of President Ahmadinejad by CNN's Piers Morgan: "How do you feel about being Public Enemy Number One?"

---

2049 GMT: Cyber Denial of the Day. Minister of Communications Reza Taghipour has said that Google is not filtered in Iran. Gmail's problems were "because of the rule of the judiciary", and "we had to observe the law".

1727 GMT: Nuclear Confusion. Yesterday we noted that Iran's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, had confirmed --- for the first time in a public statement by an Iranian official --- that Tehran had offered to give up enrichment of 20% uranium in return for an easing of sanctions.

Now Soltanieh has denied the remark, reported by InterPress Service, “Let me tell you! I’ve taken part in no interviews about [the country’s uranium] enrichment and relevant issues with anyone in the past one month. I’ve not said such a thing."

1717 GMT: CyberWatch. Baztab writes that some government offices have installed Virtual Private Networks and filter-breakers because of the need to communicate via Gmail, blocked by authorities on Sunday.

Click to read more ...

Iran Analysis: Daughter in Prison, Son Back in Tehran --- What Now for Ex-President Rafsanjani?

Mehdi Hashemi at immigration at a Tehran airport on Sunday night

---

I doubt few people --- possibly not former President Rafsanjani, possibly not even the Supreme Leader --- have a full idea of how the politics and intimidation played out to this point and what comes next. Instead, the key figures have to make a quick re-assessment today and calculate the benefits and costs of their next steps.

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (23 September): An "Inevitable" War with Israel?

President Ahmadinejad and military commanders gaze at a missile during Friday's parade in Tehran

See also The Latest from Iran (22 September): The Syria Muddle Continues

---

2022 GMT: The House Arrests. The son of opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi, held under strict house arrest since February 2011, has provided an update on his father's status.

Mohammad Taghi Karroubi said, "For the past six weeks, the family has been allowed to meet with Mr. Karroubi once a week and on a regular basis. These visits have taken place in the presence of security agents. Prior to this change in policy, there had been times when the family had gone four months without seeing Mr. Karroubi."

Karroubi's son said the opposition figure, who ran for President in 2009 and pressed the regime after the disputed election over justice and rights, has had access to newspapers for only four weeks out of his 19-month detention. So "I deemed it necessary to bring him up to breast with current affairs during our short visits that took place in the presence of security agents".

Click to read more ...