The Latest from Iran (24 October): The "Normal" Tensions

1855 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Journalist and activist Heshmatollah Tabarzadi, serving a nine-year sentence, has written a letter asking exiled Iranian lawyers to make his case to international courts, asking for an investigation of the Supreme Leader in light of the activities of Iran's security forces and criminal justice system.

1830 GMT: Cracking Down on the Lawyers. Prominent human rights attorney Mohammad Dadkhah has appeared in court, accused of possession of a firearm.

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The Latest from Iran (15 October): Back to Tehran, Back to Reality

1715 GMT: Music and Politics. An EA reader tips us off to this nugget from a documentary on the musical legend Mohammad Reza Shajarian.

Asked why he became more vocal in his protests after the 2009 election, Shajarian says, "Some guy [Ahmadinejad] described the people as dirt and dust. In a typhoon, dust can blind you. I want to speak for that dust."

Then this. Q: "Are you not afraid?" Sharjarian: "What can they do to me?" Q: "They can arrest you" Shajarian: "I have no fear."

The exchange is in the last quarter of the documentary.

1700 GMT: Khatami's Appeal to Hezbollah. It has emerged that former President Mohammad Khatami wrote to Sayyid Hassan Nasrullah, the head of Hezbollah, about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's trip to Lebanon:

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