0649 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Kalameh reports that Mehdi Khazali, the imprisoned physician and blogger who has been on hunger strike for 43 days, was removed from Taleghani Hospital at 2:00 a.m. this morning by agents and taken to an undisclosed location.
Activists said Khazali, serving a 14-year prison sentence, suffered heart complications this weekend because of his fast.
0644 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. In an interview with Deutsche Welle, Ahmad Montazeri, the son of the late Grand Ayatollah Montazeri, has complained about reformists who did not care 4 his brother when he was in jail. Montazeri also warned officials to reform the prison system, else they would face the possibility of regime change.
0640 GMT: Economy Watch. Kalemeh claims that the continuing weakness of the Iranian currency has led to a 10% rise in the price of housewares within a week.
0625 GMT: After a slow Saturday for news from Iran, we start today with this provocative line, "The Islamic Republic does not need a Supreme Leader."
That declaration reportedly did not come from a member of the Green Movement, from an opposition figure, or from Mir Hossein Mousavi or Mehdi Karroubi, both shut away in their strict house arrests. Instead, according to the opposition website Rah-e Sabz, the words were those of President Ahmadinejad last spring, after he and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei clashed over control of the Ministry of Intelligence.
Given the outlet for the report, and its unnamed sources, it is best to treat this as a rumour. Still, it's a reminder of the seriousness of the recent conflict between the President and the Supreme Leader --- Ahmadinejad boycotted his duties for 11 days in protest. And, even if the two men are not taking each other on directly at the moment, the story is a pointer to the intensity the political competition between their camps in the run-up to the Parliamentary elections on 2 March.
Posted via email from lissping
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