1759 GMT: A Death in Detention.  Head of judiciary Sadegh Larijani has declared that he will deal "firmly" with anyone found guilty of abuse, torture, and/or wrongful behaviour in the case of blogger Sattar Beheshti, who died during interrogation in prison last week. 

1753 GMT: Health Watch.  Minister of Health Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, trying to stave off criticism and calls for her impeachment (see 0945 GMT), has declared that Iran has risen from 56th to 20th in the world in medical care in the last 10 years, and that the Islamic Republic is 14th in the world for pharmaceuticals. 

Sadegh Larijani, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ali Larijani2135 GMT: Nuclear Watch.  Earlier we noted the escalation of a statement by Mohammad-Hassan Asfari, a member of Parliament's National Security Committee, about a possible nuclear deal into a claim that Iran has unilaterally suspended enrichment of 20% uranium (see 1806 GMT). 

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". 

2039 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch.  Looks like the President did not heed the command of his officials, noted in our separate feature, to spread only "hope and joy" about the economy and sanctions....

Western media headline Ahmadinejad's statement in his interview, "There are some problems in selling oil and we are trying to manage it," and his effective admission of the impact of sanctions through his accusation that "the enemy" was using "psychological warfare". 

The President said the sanctions were "blocking off conduits... like the conduits of selling oil, foreign exchange, our banks and the central bank....We are working to bypass them day and night...[but] most of the time when an obstacle is created, it takes a long time to remove it." 

Ahmadinejad did finally find some hope: "We have oil and the world needs it," adding that his government was also running a "very rigid budget". 

Maya Neyestani illustrates the warning of Iran's Police Chief against films and television showing people eating chicken, as it encourages the poor "to stab the rich"

1720 GMT: Persian Gulf Watch.  A US military supply ship fired today at a small boat in the Persian Gulf after it came too close, apparently killing one person on board, American officials said. 

The USNS Rappahannock, a fuel resupply ship, fired on what the officials called a "small, white pleasure craft" 10 miles from the Dubai port of Jebel Ali. 

The Navy said in a statement, "In accordance with Navy force protection procedures, the sailors on the USNS Rappahannock...used a series of non-lethal, preplanned responses to warn the vessel before resorting to lethal force.  The U.S. crew repeatedly attempted to warn the vessel's operators to turn away from their deliberate approach.  When those efforts failed to deter the approaching vessel, the security team on the Rappahannock fired rounds from a .50-caliber machine gun." 

Mohammad Ali Kouzegar1330 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch (Elections Edition).  Tabnak reports that President Ahmadinejad has begun campaign meetings with his team including senior advisors Ali Akbar Javanfekr, Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi,and Abbas Amirifar; son-in-law Mehdi Khorshidi, and son Alireza Ahmadinejad.  A new oraganisation, Supporters of Government Front, has been created. 

Speaking to supporters yesterday, Ahmadinejad reportedly said, "Even if the pressures on the Government increase, the Government will not resign and back down.  I have many things about the next election that I will say in the next few weeks.” 

Meanwhile, others have started mobilising against Ahmadinejad.  The Supreme Leader's advisor Ali Akbar Velayati, in his speech to supporters (see 0735 GMT), advised principlists, “Based on the importance of election and the international pressures on Iran, unity among the people in charge and the principlists is necessary."  He said those who were silent toward the deviant and seditious currents --- read Ahmadinejad's camp and unrepentant reformists --- "are not part of our list". 

2200 GMT: And A Bit More of a Break.  Apologies to readers, but we are going to extend the holiday overnight.  We'll be back by 0700 GMT with a feisty opening to Friday's LiveBlog. 

1722 GMT: A Break from Propaganda.  We are on a holiday break at the moment --- all we are missing, we think, is another round of bluster about fake war from the Iranian media, "Iran Bombers Pound Mock Targets". 

1319 GMT: Sedition Watch.  One of the showpieces this week of the regime's "victory over sedition campaign", celebrating the 2nd anniversary of the counter-rally against the Green Movement, has been a report for Parliamentary outlining an attempt at "velvet revolution" involving the US, Israel, Britain, and Iranian politicians such as former President Mohammad Khatami and Mehdi Hashemi, the son of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani. 

There has been a glitch in the proceedings, however.  Conservative MP Ali Motahari, a staunch foe of President Ahmadinejad, has declared, "If we accept the Article 90 Commission's report on the 2009 elections, we have to accept the report of Ahmad Shaheed [the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights] as well." 

Tajzadeh, a former Deputy Minister of Interior, cited the need "to counter lies, corruption, and ineptitude" and "to prevent the establishment of an absolute dictatorship" as well "to control and eradicate poverty, unemployment, and crime".  Among reasons not to participate, he mentioned the June 2009 "election coup" putting President Ahmadinejad back in office, the re-appointment of Ayatollah Jannati as head of the Guardian Council supervising the elections, the "illegal involvement of military and security forces", "the illegal house arrest" of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, the suspension of reformist parties. 

1755 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch.  Ebrahim Yazdi, the 81-year-old former Foreign Minister, has been sentenced to eight years in prison. 

Yazdi, the head of the Freedom Movement of Iran, was arrested briefly after the disputed June 2009 Presidential election and again in September 2010 for an "illegal prayer meeting". 

2130 GMT: Elections Watch.  Leading reformist Ali Shakourirad has said it is too late for the regime to meet former President Khatami's conditions --- freeing of political prisoners, freedom for political parties and a free and fair electoral process, and adherence to the Constitution --- for reformists to participate in next March's Parliamentary elections.  They should instead inform people of their demands and objections to the current system. 

2030 GMT: Parliament v. President.  Looks like the Parliamentary challenge to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, declared over only a few days ago, is very much alive....

Mohammad Reza Bahonar, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, said the motion to interrogate Ahmadinejad now bears 74 signatures, one more than the minimum needed for consideration. 

Last week, Iranian media reported that a number of MPs had withdrawn their support for the motion, but some have now reconsidered their withdrawal and one new MP joined the petition. 

The motion will be sent to a Parliamentary commission for examination.  It cites 10 irregularities on which the president needs to be questioned, such as his alleged refusal to carry out legislation for funding of the Tehran subway and his disputes with the Supreme Leader over the reinstatement of Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi.