The Latest from Iran (7 April): We Have Met the Enemy, and They are Facebook and Twitter

2015 GMT: Line of the Day. President Ahmadinejad gives short shrift to the New Year message from President Obama, "What do you know about Nowruz?"

2005 GMT: Currency Watch. Peymane claims that the Iranian toman has dropped to a rate of 1115 v. the US dollar.

The Iranian Government has been trying to keep the toman's value around 1050 to the dollar. Last autumn, after the announcement of subsidy cuts and amidst sanctions, it intervened with influxes of foreign reserves when the toman fell, on the "free market", to 1200 to the dollar.

Peymane also reports that gold prices are rising amidst economic uncertainty.

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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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Latest from Iran (27 February): The Power of Nonviolent Movements?

Because of the significance of the news that the regime has detained opposition figures Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi and Fatemeh Karroubi, putting them under the control of the Islamic Revolutoinary Guards Corps, we are now covering developments in that case in a separate LiveBlog.

2150 GMT: Pressing on Rights. The White House has issued a statement, "The United States strongly condemns the Iranian government's organized intimidation campaign and arrests of political figures, human rights defenders, political activists, student leaders, journalists and bloggers....The Iranian government should allow active dialogue among its citizens, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly without fear. Iranians deserve the same justice and rights that their government extols the virtue of abroad."

The statement did not refer to specific cases, including this weekend's detention of opposition figures Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi and Fatemeh Karroubi.

On Wednesday, the US imposed financial sanctions on Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Doulatabadi and the head of the Basij militia, Mohammad Reza Naqdi, for alleged human rights abuses.

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The Latest from Iran (9 February): The 25 Bahman Beat Goes On

2120 GMT: Not Worried at All (cont. --- 0925 GMT). Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Hamedani has commented on the proposed march for 25 Bahman (11 February), "The seditionists (opposition leaders) are nothing but a dead corpse and we will strongly confront any of their movements. We definitely consider them as anti-revolutionary and spies, and we will strongly confront them."

The Facebook page supporting Monday's rally now has more than 25,000 supporters.

2050 GMT: Partners. China has signed a $13 billion contract to develop Iran's railway system.

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The Latest from Iran (26 January): Blindness, Silence, and Injustice

2100 GMT: Nuke Talks. A hat tip to Scott Peterson of the Christian Science Monitor for his article today trying to sort out the details of the failed Istanbul talks on Iran's nuclear programme....

After my initial criticism of the US media's coverage of Istanbul, Peterson followed up with a message, which we noted in our subsequent analysis. And he has continued to consider those points while other US reporters --- most of whom have not noticed the key points at issue in the talks --- have moved on.

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The Latest from Iran (28 December): One Execution Delayed but Two Carried Out

2230 GMT: A Cleric and the Law. Ayatollah Vahid Khorassani has said that the confessions of those in prison are worth nothing.

2220 GMT: Subsidy Cuts, Fuel, and Ahmadinejad. A correspondent from Tehran summarises official statistics that show consumption of diesel fuel, gasoline, fuel oil, and kerosene has dropped 38% since the start of subsidy cuts on 19 December.

Consumption of diesel fuel initially fell 73% but has risen again, thank in parts to the government's partial restitution of subsidies for fuel for transportation.

President Ahmadinejad, speaking in Karaj on Tuesday, declared, "I announce with pride that in the past ten days, since the implementation of this law, we have been witness to a 38 percent drop in consumption just in the diesel fuel and heating oil sector."

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The Latest from Iran (16 December): Today is Ashura

2125 GMT: Political Prison Watch. Rah-e-Sabz reports that Fatemeh Maleki, the wife of journalist/filmmaker, has been hospitalised after she was detained in front of Evin Prison.

Maleki was seized along with other relatives of Nourizad as well as Fatemeh Mohtashamipour, the wife of detained reformist leader Mostafa Tajzadeh. All were released after several hours, but Maleki was taken to hospital with a heart condition.

Earlier today (see 1710 GMT), the website supporting Nourizad said it was Mohtashamipour who had been hospitalised. However, Rah-e-Sabz features an interview with her about the day's events.

2115 GMT: Summarising Today. An EA reader writes, "Just reading your blog today re Ashura. I wonder if the huge number of security forces meant that the Islamic Republic could not show Tehran on TV. I mean, after all, 'Everything is under control, and everyone loves us!' But if they showed Tehran like a fortress it....".

And if they showed the capital with lots of security forces and very few people marching in support of the regime....

But I'm sure this is wild speculation.

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WikiLeaks and Iran 2007: "The President is a Puppet of the Leader"

In April 2007, an MP and senior member of the Islamic Iran Participation Front offers some provocative comments on Iranian politics to the US Consulate in Dubai.

Supreme Leader Khamenei aspires to become the "emperor" of the Islamic world and is willing to sacrifice Iranian national interests for this goal. He sees President Ahmadi-Nejad as merely a puppet of the Supreme Leader, under the leader's complete control. Ahmadi-Nejad, in turn, sees more pragmatic conservatives such as [Speaker of Parliament Ali] Larijani and [Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer] Qalibaf as his main rivals.

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The Latest from Iran (9 October): Threats and Two Responses

1725 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Several students at Amir Kabir University have received a total of 20 years of prison sentences.

Parvin Javadzadeh, arrested after an Ashura procession in December, has been released on $300,000 bail. 

Blogger Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki (Babak Khorammdin), sentenced this week to 15 years in prison, is reportedly in poor health because of a hunger strike. 

1720 GMT: Economy Warning. In advanced of planned subsidy cuts, Mehr warns that prices will rise in Aban (October/November) for seven energy items: gasoline, gasoil, white oil, blast-furnace gas, liquid gas, natural gas, and electricity.

On another front, Mohammad Atarodian, secretary general of employer's association, has said the official figure on unemployment of 14.6% is surely too low, because it counts people as "employed" if they work one hour per week.

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