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 receive this daily newsletter, please subscribe online.
 
(E) = Article in English

Politics

• Newly appointed Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi selects Amir-Hamed Sohrabi his chief of staff. 
• Rafsanjani addresses the employees of the Expediency Council while breaking the fast: 
  • "This month [of Ramadan] is a good opportunity for us. If we have committed mistakes, we should correct it... Recognizing mistakes and faults is something from which no class and group is exempted, especially those who have public responsibilities. In case they have committed mistakes and faults... they should consider the path of correcting themselves." 

Diplomacy

• Rafsanjani: "Without exaggeration, one can say that the Islamic revolution of Iran is the role model for the people in the region when it comes to fighting without much bloodshed and with minimal cost. However, we have unfortunately behaved in such a way in our foreign policy that the revolutionaries of the region do not desire to recognize this." 
• Denmark, Hungry, the Vatican, Georgia, Armenia and Russia purchase television series of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. 
• According to the Financial Website, the people of Georgia learn English through books printed in Iran. 

Military and Security

• Revolutionary Guards Chief Mohammad-Ali Aziz Jafari discusses the economic activities of the Guards at Rostam Qassemi's farewell ceremony: "At the last meeting that we had in the presence of the gentlemen Ahmadinejad and Qassemi, many discussions took place. We were concerned about the state of affairs of the [Khatam al-Anbia Construction] Base [of the Revolutionary Guards] and the president was concerned about the Oil Ministry. Of course, due to the decisive role of the Khatam al-Anbia Base in reconstruction of the country, the president too was concerned about the situation of the base... However, because of the sensitivity of the situation and the political moves which must take place in the Oil Ministry, it was finally decided that Qassemi should go to this ministry and God willing it will be the source of many blessings to the sacred regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran... The speed and high quality of the projects of the Khatam Base attracted the trust of the regime and the government. Qassemi has used his entire effort during the past years in this regard. And by signing contracts, he had accepted risks to the degree that at some points when the regime and the government were facing budgetary crises, the Construction Base accepted those projects. The net result of all this was that the performance of the Khatam al-Anbia Construction Base was praised by the entire regime... At a time when we were engaged in soft warfare against the enemy and the greatest sanctions were enacted against our country the Khatam Base shined in such a way that all the authorities confess that if the Khatam network was not there we would have faced serious problems... The Guards entering the realm of reconstruction began with the establishment of the Khatam al-Anbia Construction Base. This activity of the Guards is the jihadi [holy struggle] realm of the Islamic revolution. Also, it was decided that it should merge with the Construction Jihad..." 
• According to Hamid Ahmadian, Maku governor, five members of the Law Enforcement Forces were killed by "terrorists" in Chaldoran area in North Western Iran.

Economy

• Nematollah Torki, Tehran Municipality planning deputy, says rising prices of meat and fruit are people’s primary concern. 

Trade

• According to Mehr News, two years after the signing of a $5 billion development project of the 11th phase of the South Pars oil and gas field with the Chinese CNPCI company, this gas project has not yet begun. 
• [E] Ahmadinejad blasted the US and Zionists' dominance over global financial and oil markets and flow of money in the world, and called on the international community to establish rival markets.

Human Rights

• Gholam-Hossein Esmaili, head of the Islamic Republic's Prison Organization, dismisses accusations of torture in Iranian prisons as "lies." 
• [E] A senior Iranian legislator called on David Cameron's government to stop using violent methods against the country's protestors, and said London should respect the rights of the British people. "We advise the monarchical regime of Britain to respect the rights of its people by avoiding savage behaviors," Rapporteur of the parliament's Human Rights Commission Seyed Hossein Naqavi told FNA on Tuesday. 

Iran in the Afghan Media

• Officials in Afghanistan’s western Herat Province say Iran has deported 30,000 Afghan refugees over the past three months.

Photo of the Day

• Inauguration ceremony of newly appointed Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi.