Iran News Round Up

A selection of the latest news stories and editorials published in Iranian news outlets, compiled by the AEI Critical Threats Project's Iran research team. To receive this daily newsletter, please subscribe online. 

(E) = Article in English

Excerpts of these translations may only be used with the expressed consent of the authors

Nuclear Issue

• Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced that nuclear negotiations this week will focus on addressing the most important issues for Iran and the P5+1 so that “we can begin the next [and final] round of co-writing” the comprehensive agreement. Following a dinner with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, he said the drafting period would begin in May. 
• International and Legal Affairs Deputy to the Foreign Minister and senior nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi and European Union Deputy Secretary Helga Maria Schmid chaired the afternoon session of talks between Iran and P5+1. Araghchi met separately with his Russian and Chinese counterparts. 

Economy

• National Iranian Oil Company Managing Director Rokneddin Javadi announced that talks with Russia regarding the oil-for-goods deal have taken a “serious” tone, adding “We are engaged in negotiations with the Russian side on reverse crude swap…The negotiations are continued seriously, but the time for the start of the swap operation have not been finalized yet.” 
• Head of the Central Bank Valiollah Seif traveled to the U.S. to participate in the spring meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Military and Security

• Defense Minister Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehghan announced that the defense ministry plans to manufacture more powerful surface-to-surface missile systems this calendar year.
• The 29^th deployment of Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (IRI-N) ships docked in the port of Djibouti.IRI-N forces also held join naval exercises with Pakistani naval forces in the Strait of Hormuz. 

Politics

• President Hassan Rouhani met with high-ranking judicial officials and discussed corruption and trust-building: “In the fight against corruption every power and authority should deal with it and we should all do our part to help the government to eliminate corruption and rent seeking.”
• Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani urged cooperation between the executive office and parliament and voiced opposition to the government’s inspection of people’s financial.
• National Security Foreign Policy Parliamentary Commission Member Mansour Haghighatpour said that former senior IRGC commander and current MP Esmail Kowsari was “responsible” for tracking and facilitating the freedom of the kidnapped Iranian border guards.

Diplomacy

• A delegation of Iranian parliamentarians has called off trip to Europe in protest of the European Parliament’s human rights resolutions  condemning Iran.

Photo of the Day

• Iran and the P5+1 begin nuclear talks in Vienna.