Iran Live Coverage: Mr Ahmadinejad Goes to Parliament

President Ahmadinejad, watched by Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, in the Majlis today

See also Iran Live Coverage: President v. Parliament

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2105 GMT: Nuclear Watch. Talks between a high-level delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency and Iranian officials will continue for a second day on Thursday.

Both Iranian State media and an IAEA spokesperson confirmed the extension of discussions. There was no indication, however, if progress had been made towards a protocol for IAEA inspection and supervision of Iranian nuclear facilities.

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The Latest from Iran (9 June): Spiralling to a Nuclear Breakdown

See also Iran Interview: Rapper Shahin Najafi on His Music, the "Death Fatwa"...and Kurt Cobain
The Latest from Iran (8 June): Preparing for the Fallout

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2032 GMT: CyberWatch. Iranian police have claimed that computer experts have tracked an April cyber-attack on Ministry of Oil computers to two IP addresses in the US.

Police General Seyed Kamal Hadianfar said the US should disclose the identities of the two IPs to Iran so that the country can identify those who have embarked on the act of sabotage and file a lawsuit against them.

1649 GMT: Economy Watch. A sign of nerves that the nuclear talks are collapsing? The Tehran Stock Exchange has fallen 270 points today to 26365.

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The Latest from Iran (15 May): Shutting Down the Journalists

See also The Latest from Iran (14 May): Will a Nuclear Drawing Unsettle the Talks?

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1826 GMT: Parliament Watch. Outspoken conservative MP Ali Motahari has said that Gholam Ali Haddad Adel --- former Speaker of Parliament and member of the Supreme Leader's inner circle --- is not suitable to replace Ali Larijani as Speaker: "People like him believe that defending people's rights is against the nezam (system)."

1737 GMT: Nuclear Watch. Both the Iranian delegation and International Atomic Energy Agency officials have put out optimistic statements after two days of talks in Vienna.

"During these two days we discussed a number of options to take the agency verification process forward in a structured way," the IAEA's Hermann Nackaerts said. He added, "We had a good exchange of views and we will meet again on Monday," two days before Iranian officials meet the 5+1 Powers in Baghdad.

Iranian envoy Ali Asghar Soltanieh said: "We had fruitful discussions in a very conducive environment. We have made progress on this issue regarding preparing and negotiating the modality framework for resolving our outstanding issues."

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Iran Feature: The Week in Civil Society --- From The "Butcher of the Press" to Speaking Out Against War (Arseh Sevom)

"Raising Their Voices": Iranian Intellectuals Speak Out Against War

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Our colleagues at Arseh Sevom, a non-governmental organisation promoting civil society in Iran, bring us their weekly review of developments within the country:

Butcher of the Press leaves…Not!

Regular readers of Arseh Sevom’s weekly review won’t be surprised to find that former Tehran prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi, is topping headlines once again. This time with rumors of his resignation after a contested promotion to director of the biggest financial holding organization in Iran, Social Security Organization [Sazman-e Tamin-e Ejtema’ie].

Mortazavi is no stranger to controversy and condemnation. After the 2009 demonstrations against the flawed presidential elections, he was summoned for a hearing in connection with  atrocities that occurred at Kahrizak prison. Dismayed parliamentarians threatened that his promotion, instead of punishment, would mean the impeachment of his boss, the Minister of Labor.

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Iran Video: Free Nasrin Sotoudeh

Nasrin Sotoudeh is a prominent human rights lawyer who was arrested in September 2010 and sentenced in December to 11 years in prison --- later reduced to six years on appeal --- with a 20-year ban on legal practice. The official charges included spreading propaganda, conspiring to harm state security, and failing to wear hijab. Her real "crimes" were daring to defend many political prisoners, including those seized after the June 2009 Presidential election, and speaking to foreign media about the situation in the country.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has posted this video campaigning for her release:

Iran Interview: The Imprisonment of Actress Marzieh Vafamehr

Nasser Taghvai spoke to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran about the arrest of his wife, actress Marzieh Vafamehr, who was seized in June: "[Last month] they contacted us on the phone. First we ignored them. Then they contacted us again, without sending the summons home. They promised me that they only needed Marzieh Vafamehr for a few questions and answers. They said, “If you tell her to come in, we will solve the problem through mediation.” They said, “We respect you personally, and we don’t wish for a case to be built against her.” They didn’t serve the summons. I told my wife, “Go, things will be resolved.” I trusted what they told me, but she went and did not return. The next day they issued her temporary detention orders for a month.

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Iran Document: 500 Activists Condemn Escalation of Violence Against Women

This week 500 activists and supporters of the women's movement in Iran issued a statement protesting the “systematic violence against women,” “constant insults and humiliation,” and “the blaming of victims for acts of sexual violence against them” by regime officials. The signatories demanded that authorities be held responsible for sexual violence and rape against male and female prisoners, and they defended a woman’s right to choose her clothing.

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Iran Document: Regime's Broadcaster Blames Itself for Post-Election Protest (ICHRI)

The report says that the “premature announcement of election results, prior to preparing public opinion, was a mistake in the national media’s news coverage...considering voting hours ended at 22:00 on the night of 12 June, and the initial results (announcing [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad’s victory) were reported (after counting 61% of the votes) at 2:47 a.m. the next day .”

The report finds that “announcing election results with such speed was almost unprecedented". The report implicitly blames the IRIB’s performance during the vote count, as one of the factors contributing to widespread street protest.

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Iran Special: Latest on the Regime's Detention of Opposition Figures Mousavi, Rahnavard, and Karroubi

On Sunday morning we posted the confirmation that key opposition figures Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi and Fatemeh Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard had been moved to a house of detention controlled by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.

James Miller of EA has established a LiveBlog on his website Dissected News to cover this development, which we consider one of the most significant in the crisis after the disputed Presidential election of June 2009. EA is linking to this LiveBlog and Dave Siavashi's Iran News Now, as well as posting the latest news as we get it.

28 FEBRUARY

2010 GMT: The children of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard and of Mehdi and Fatemeh Karroubi have written an open letter to the regime challenging the detention of their parents: "We believe that our parents did not commit a crime but only applied the divine language in their statement. Are you are so afraid of the facts stated in public view that you must imprison them?"

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