Iran's parliament this week moved ahead with a bill to sharply slash energy and food subsidies. State radio said one article of a draft law approved by lawmakers would gradually cut energy subsidies over five years, bringing the heavily discounted fuel prices more in line with international prices. "The plan would prevent an important part of excessive consumption" in Iranian society, state-run Press TV quoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (AP, Oct. 12)

Iran's parliament Sept. 3 approved President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's choice for the new defense minister, Ahmad Vahidi—wanted in Argentina in the bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish center that killed 85 people and wounded some 300 more 15 years ago. Vahidi, who led an elite unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guards known as the Quds Force at the time of the attack, is accused of "being a key participant in the planning, and of having made the decision to go ahead with the attack." Interpol issued a warrant for him in 2007. Israel and Argentina have condemned his promotion to the Iranian cabinet as an affront to the victims.

Our July issue featured the story "Selling Iran: Ahmadinejad, Privatization and a Bus Driver Who Said No" by Billy Wharton of Dissident Voice, on resistance to union-busting, austerity measures and sale of state assets by the Islamic Republic. Our multiple-choice July Exit Poll was: "What is your position on the election in Iran?" We received 7 votes. The results follow:

Trials began Aug. 1 of 100 protesters arrested following Iran's disputed June presidential election. For the first time since the 1979 Islamic revolution, dozens of senior officials, including former ministers, vice-presidents and lawmakers, have been put on trial. The official IRNA news agency quoted the indictment as saying the charges against the defendants include acting against national security by planning unrest, participating in an attempted "Velvet Revolution" and conspiring against the ruling system. The indictment names Gene Sharp and the Islamic Revolution Mojahedin Organization (IRMO) as masterminds of the unrest. (Tehran Times, Daily Times, Pakistan, Aug. 2)

Police fired tear gas to disperse opposition supporters who gathered for Friday prayers at Tehran University July 17. Presiding over the prayers was Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who took the occasion to call for the release of all those arrested in the recent protests. In his first Friday sermon since the vote, he also said large numbers of Iranians still doubted the election results. (BBC News, LAT, July 17) Meanwhile, Israel has sent two Saar-class missile ships through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea, in what Israeli media are calling a "message" to Tehran. (The Telegraph, July 16)

Iran executed 13 members of the Sunni militant group Jundallah in Zahedan, Sistan-Baluchistan province, July 14. Jundallah, which reportedly has up to 1,000 armed fighters, claims to fight against the Shi'ite regime's marginalization of Iran's 2 million ethnic Baluchis, who are mostly Sunni. Tehran blames the group for attacks including a mosque bombing in May that killed 25. Amnesty International had appealed for a stay of execution. (AFP, BBC News, July 14)

Some 300 protesters marched on Tehran University chanting "Death to the dictator!" before being dispersed by police who used tear gas and fired shots in the air. The march was held to commemorate the 10th anniversary of student protests that were put down by the Basij militia in 1999. The march was held in defiance of the threats from Tehran governor Morteza Tamaddon, who warned one day earlier: "If some individuals plan to have anti-security move through listening to a call by counter-revolutionary networks, they will be smashed under the feet of our aware people." (BBC News, AP, The Independent, July 9)

The Iranian government on July 1 prevented the publishing of the opposition Etemad-e-Melli newspaper in its latest move to quash anti-government reporting in the country. International journalists in the country have also been ordered to stay indoors. The newspaper is linked to opposition candidate Mehdi Karroubi. Both he and candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi have continued to criticize the government for both alleged election fraud and its harsh treatment of protesters and the press following the announcement that incumbent candidate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won the highly-disputed election. In reaction to Mousavi's increasing criticism of the government, some in the government and its Basij security forces have called for his arrest, calling him a threat to national security. (Jurist, July 2)