Iran News Round Up

A selection of the latest news stories and editorials published in Iranian news outlets, compiled by AEI Critical Threats Project Iran Analyst Will Fulton and Iran Intern Amir Toumaj. To receive this daily newsletter, please subscribe online.

Politics

• Presidential Budget Directorate Deputy Rahim Momabeini announced that the directorate will submit a revision of the “unrealistic revenues" and articles of the 2013-2014 budget to the President by next Wednesday, and President Hassan Rouhani will submit the budget revision to the Parliament by September 11, 2013. 
• Political activist Sadegh Ziba Kalam discussed relations between Parliament and President Rouhani and said, “[The process of ratifying ministers] demonstrates that a Principlist parliament is planning to have relations with the administration, and for this reason [one] can be hopeful of [a trend] of the executive and the legislative that is the exact opposite of the trend that has been observed in the past years, [and] they will cooperate with each other in a desirable and rational environment…. It is clear that extremists…have not heard the message of the [June 14, 2013] votes and still do not know that the people have turned their backs on them…. I am certain that with the [2015] elections, their position will be different in the Parliament and then they will notice what is the truth and reality.” 
• The Islamic Republic of Iran Sciences Academy has urged President Hassan Rouhani in an open letter to “end the security environment in universities." 

Regional Developments

• In a statement, the Syrian Army denied claims by opposition sources that chemical weapons were used in the vicinity of Damascus and called the news “a propaganda conspiracy against Damascus.” 
• Echoing the same message, Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zar’abi said, “We completely condemn using [chemical] weapons in Ghouta, near eastern Damascus.” 
• Lebanese President Michel Suleiman has reportedly stated that he will not authorize any cabinet that does not include Lebanese Hezbollah members. 

Military and Security

• Intelligence Minister Hojjat al-Eslam Mahmoud Alavi addressed political exiles of the 2009 post-election protest and said, “God willing, we will resolve baseless fears of all who have not committed any wrongdoing, and anyone who has not committed any wrongdoing, we will guarantee that they will not find any problems.” 
• Outgoing Oil Minister and former IRGC Khatam al-Anbia Construction Base Commander Rostam Ghasemi has been appointed Senior Advisor to the Minister of Defense. 
• Senior Military Advisor to the Supreme Leader MG Yahya Rahim Safavi addressed Basij members of Kerman province universities and discussed Syria, Iran’s geopolitical position and Iran’s economic weakness:
  • “The Syrian war, in reality, is an American and Zionist regime proxy war [executed by]  Arab countries and Turkey, and Israel’s military attack has manifested the true nature of this proxy [war] more than before.”
  • “Some Arab and even European countries have absorbed these mercenaries. They give them salary, training, weapons and good equipment, supplied by these Arab countries. These countries sent an approximately 40,000 mercenary force through the borders of Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey to Syria. Forces that al-Qaeda had trained in the Afghanistan War by Qatar and Saudi Arabia.”
  • “They sought to dissolve Syria, then the Nouri al-Maliki government in Iraq. It has been three years that Bashar Assad and the Syrian Army have been fighting them, and currently the terrorists are almost defeated from a military aspect and have lost most regions. They brought the mercenaries to Tripoli, Lebanon and they take Sunnis to Syria. Lebanese Hezbollah closed this region and operationalized its military forces because they struck Lebanon with a missile. The [border] of Jordan was also closed and only the [border] of Turkey is open.”
  • “Currently, more than 50,000 popular forces have been established in the form of neighborhood, city and provincial popular [groups]. These popular forces have come to the Syrian Army’s aid. Jubhat al-Nusrah, linked to al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood, have killed 10,000 from the Syrian Army's forces and, to this point, about 100,000 of the Syrian people have been killed. About three million of the Alawites have been displaced and in addition to migration to Damascus, they have migrated to Turkey, Jordan, Europe and Iraq.”
  • “Currently, mercenary and terrorist forces in Syria have been defeated from a military aspect, and have received heavy casualties and captives, and only Geneva 2 and their discussions have remained. On one side, America and Israel, and in Europe, France, England, and some Arab countries and Turkey have supported the opposition. Turkey, due to domestic discussions, has become aware of its strategic mistake and set itself aside and Saudi Arabia is busy with the Egypt project. Against this front, Russia, China and Iran aided Syria from a political and international aspect, and of course Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah are political and international supporters of Syria and support the return of stability, peace and security to the Syrian people.”
  • “After three years of civil war, the Bashar Assad government and resistant Syrian Army have now become totally dominant over the terrorists from a military and security point of view, and have retaken most regions from them. The [Syrian] people also did not support the terrorists and even the Muslim Brother separated from them due to the extreme violence and barbarity of al-Qaeda forces, including decapitating 1,000 people. Only the matter of the political front in Geneva 2 has remained [as the solution] that will determine their own fate with the help of Syria and China. In Syria’s military and political conflict, Iran, Syria, Russia and China are victorious and America and Israel are the losers. They thought that they could destroy Bashar Assad within a year, currently three years have passed and they have not been able to achieve their goals.”
  • “The smaller and less populated countries are overthrown sooner against foreign military threats, and the wider, more populated [countries] with intelligent, talented and courageous people who have wise leaders, they have more power.”
  • “From a geopolitical position, Iran is the link of three continents, Europe to Asia and Africa to Asia, and the axis of the North’s communication to the South and the East to the West. Any political, military, cultural, etc., events that occur in these three countries affect Iran and its internal security. The Iranian plateau is a special geographical unit in the Iranian land that connects the North to the South and the East to the West. If Iran’s railroad is connected to Basrah, [Iraq], Central Asian countries will be connected to open sea and Central Asian products can reach the Mediterranean by rail.”
  • “Due to this importance, Iran was occupied militarily during World War II, when it had not interfered in this war. Iran, from the north by the Russians and the south by the British, due to our country’s special geopolitical position was occupied, and at the end of World War II they nicknamed Iran ‘the Bridge of Victory’ while the Iranian Army at that time did not even resist for a day against the foreigners’ forces.”
  • “A significant percentage of Iranian trade takes place by sea. We have a powerful naval force in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman. Iran’s geographic position in the Persian Gulf, Caspian Sea and range of Iranian beaches are national sources of power for our country.”
  • “The Islamic Republic of Iran is a stable and powerful authority in the region. Iran has a population of 75 million and possesses powerful political and revolutionary leader, this is while the age of marginal Persian Gulf countries do not surpass 100 years. Our political geographers consider some Persian Gulf countries rootless governments that have not become a nation-state yet.”
  • “Iran’s cultural and ideological influence has spread to adjacent countries, such as Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan and even the Islamic world.”
  • “Our country’s population, 51% of which is under thirty, is like a double-edged sword. [We] must plan for this young population and create occupations so they can marry and have housing, education, and health. This will cause an increase in our national strength, and if there is a lack of planning for this population, many problems will occur in society.”
  • “If we do not attend to the youth’s cultural and intellectual matters, their desires will differ with the intellectual desires and ideals of the revolution.”
  • “When unstable systems form in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, and these governments cannot control their border, narcotics, instabilities, peripheral wars and the population of these countries enter Iran.”
  • “Single-product [participation] in the international economy is one of our weaknesses. We manage our country with oil sales, and if we cannot sell oil one day, we will have a problem.”
  • “We hope that the new administration can move within the path of the fifth five-year and twenty-year plans so these problems are alleviated.” 
• Head of the Basij Organization BG Mohammad Reza Naghdi announced that Basij “cultural bases” are active in forty areas of the Caspian Sea beaches and are engaged in amr-e be maroof va nahy az monkar [Ordering good and forbidding evil] in public areas. 
• Defense Minister BG Hossein Dehghan announced, “Inaugurating the Fateh submarine is part of the Defense Ministry’s [first] 100 day plans.” 
• In a statement, the IRGC praised defense industry achievements in the face of sanctions and said, “The defense industry arena, in the Supreme Leader’s clear ray of leadership, and obeying the strategies and directives of his eminence, is considered a strong and solid support for the Armed Forces in defending independence, integrity and precious achievements and values of the Islamic revolution and system. Today, despite oppressive and chained pressures and sanctions of the dominant system and Arrogance, [the industry] is at the apex of its strength and development in the path of efflorescence, progress and production of amazing power for the country.”

Economy

• Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh will file a recommendation to form an agency, the Oil and Oil Products Sales Special Agency, which “will utilize methods that will be different from the National Oil Company’s international affairs management … with attention to the current conditions, new strategies must be presented to sell oil and reforms must take place with the old methods.” 

Photo of the Day

• Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan, Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi and the President’s Media Advisor Mohammad Reza Sadegh after the administration’s meeting.