Iran News Round Up

A selection of the latest news stories and editorials published in Iranian news outlets, compiled by Ali Alfoneh, Ahmad Majidyar and Michael Rubin.  To subscribe to this daily newsletter, please visit this page, fill out the "New Subscribers" section, and check "Iran News Round Up" listed under "Projects." 
 
(E) = Article in English

Politics

• Ahmadinejad talks of the greatness of the Iranian nation in an address in Iranian Kurdistan.
• News stories related to Ahmadinejad's attempt to sack Intelligence Minister Hojjat al-Eslam Heydar Moslehi:
  • Mahramaneh News, close to Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, writes that Supreme Leader Khamenei's letter to Moslehi is not a "decree" but "a letter of counsel."
  • According to parliamentarian Ahmad Tavakoli, the Supreme Leader's Office had submitted Khamenei's letter to Moslehi to the Office of the President on Sunday night.
  • Ali-Asghar Zarei, parliamentarian, says Ahmadinejad is obedient to the Guardianship and will in the future cooperate with Moslehi.
  • Tabnak News Agency interviews Judiciary Spokesman and former Intelligence Minister Hojjat al-Eslam Gholam-Hossein Ezhehi:
    • "When they want to dismiss a cabinet minister, certain preparations must be made... In this context they should act in such a way not to deal blows to the intelligence system of the country and there should be a minimum time [to prepare] the person who will replace [the intelligence minister]..."
    • "Dismissing the cabinet ministers is among the prerogatives of the president, but the behavior concerning dismissal of the intelligence minister is not acceptable...."
    • "I and Saffar Harandi [former minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance] were removed with only two weeks left of our tenure. Even if you think we are bad people, this behavior was not right...Even we did not understand why and how they dismissed us... Many authorities were not aware of my dismissal... I am not aware if the Supreme Leader knew about my dismissal, but he was not aware of dismissal of Mr. Moslehi."
    • "I was on my way to my office, but one of my deputies hurriedly came to me, told me about my dismissal and said he was offered the job as acting Intelligence Minister."
    • "Sometimes they force us to resign, but in this regard nothing was told to us... We tried to let as if we were unaware of the dismissal. When I took my car to go to the cabinet meeting my driver said: 'Mr. Ezhehi, they have said that you should not go to the cabinet meeting. Go to the Presidency...' When we went to the Presidency, Mr. Sheikh al-Eslami, then chief of staff, told us that I and Mr. Saffar Harandi were dismissed... Finally I told the chief of staff: 'No problem, we will go to the cabinet meeting so we can at the very least say goodbye to friends with whom we had been throughout four years, but he said 'No, don't go!' The president's chief of staff said that he was asked to prevent me from attending the cabinet meeting."
  • Ayatollah Emami Kashani, temporary Tehran Friday prayer leader:
    • "You should know that when the Commander of the Muslims express a view in the regime of the Islamic Republic, everyone will obey it and all pillars of the regime are religiously and legally obliged to obey... The president is obedient in this regard..."
• News stories about Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei:
  • According to Tabnak, Mashaei is hospitalized in Tehran.
    • An individual close to Mashaei refutes.
  • Hojjat al-Eslam Abbas Amiri-Far, Cultural Affairs head at the Office of the President, says Mashaei is the future president.
• Ayatollah Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah Yazdi warns against "an anti-clerical current."
• News stories about Rafsanjani:
  • Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani: "This country is run by thugs!"
  • The Expediency Council's website is hacked, displayed anti-Rafsanjani slogans.

Diplomacy

• Parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee is considering closing Iran’s Embassy in Bahrain.
• The Islamic Republic and Egypt sign an agreement to exchange tourists.

Military and Security

• Revolutionary Guards Chief Mohammad-Ali Jafari gives an interview to Fars News Agency on the occasion of the Day of the Guards:
  • "According to [Article 150 of] the Constitution, the Guards are tasked with safeguarding the Islamic revolution and its achievements. This gives an expansive mission to the Guards which is not limited... His Lordship said it is correct that the nature of the Guards is military, but the Guards are not only a military organization. The Guards are a security, cultural, ideological, political and military organization. This means that the Guards should safeguard the revolution and its achievements in the fields of culture, politics, economy, societal and intelligence... "
  • "Day and night the world imperialism struggles to deal blows the revolution by various threats. This is why the Guards must be fully prepared to counter any threat at any time."
  • "Opposition against the Islamic Revolution and its goals are not only the reserve of the foreign enemy, we have also such enemies in the domestic arena. Returning to the testament of His Holiness the Imam [Khomeini], we see that the main concern and worry of His Holiness the Imam was not foreign enemies such as the United States and Israel. Rather, his entire concern was about domestic enemies and opponents of the Islamic revolution inside [the country]...
  • "The Guards is fiercely engaged with fighting cyber threats...The Internet was the main instrument of the sedition..."
  • "Israel and all American bases in the region are within the reach of our missiles..."
  • "Extra regional enemies are very vulnerable in the Persian Gulf.... Not even enemy vessels in the Indian Ocean will be safe."
• Shahab Mahmoudi, a "well known villain" and two of his men killed by the Revolutionary Guards in Kerman.
• The Intelligence Ministry reports arrest of 8 Al-Ahwazi separatist group members.

Iran in the Afghan Media

•  Iranian diplomat in Afghanistan expresses opposition to possible U.S. permanent bases in Afghanistan.
• Afghanistan assures Iran that strategic pact with the United States will not be used against Iran.
• Iran’s annual exports to Afghanistan have surpassed $1 billion. But Afghan officials say Iran’s exports have now reached up to $10 billion a year, and that the rise in Iranian exports to Afghanistan has caused Afghan businesses in western provinces to shut down.

Photos of the Day

• Mashaei and Moslehi absent from the cabinet meeting in Kurdistan.