Iran News Round Up

A selection of the latest news stories and editorials published in Iranian news outlets, compiled by Ali Alfoneh and Ahmad Majidyar. To receive this daily newsletter, please subscribe online.

(E) = Article in English  

Politics

• Nikahang Kowsar, a US-based caricaturist, says his phone conversation with Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani was leaked by another source on the YouTube. Kowsar added that Mehdi Hashemi was interested in meeting individuals in the United States whom he could advise on crafting sanctions against Iran. Jahanshah Javid, editor of Iranian.com, interviews Kowsar. Video:
  • Rafsanjani dismisses the tape as a fabrication.
  • Farda News uses Kowsar's statements about Mehdi Rafsanjani's desire to advise the Americans on how to craft sanctions as evidence against Rafsanjani’s son who is in jail.
• According to Baztab-e Emrouz, "attempts by a number of parliamentarians to present a vote of no confidence against cabinet ministers were not approved by the Leader of the Revolution." According to Baztab-e Emrouz, Khamenei is not interested in dismissal of cabinet ministers towards the end of Ahmadinejad's tenure in office. 

Diplomacy

• Khamenei addresses the Professors at the Universities in the World of Islam and Islamic Awakening seminar:
  • "Liberation from the evil of the global hegemony is one of the goals of the Islamic awakening... This must be declared with perspicuity since any imagination concerning the Global Arrogance led by the United States making deals with Islamic movements is wrong... Wherever Islam and Islamists are, the United States will try its utmost to annihilate them. But of course it will pretend to smile [at Islamic movements coming to power]... We are not saying they [Islamists who have seized power in the Arab world] should wage war against the Arrogance, but if they don't keep their distance they will be deceived..."
  • "Bravo to the Palestinians, bravo to Hamas and Islamic Jihad and combatant brigades in Gaza who showed such bravery... I for my part thank all Palestinian combatants for their self sacrifice, struggle and patience... the war in Gaza showed that if they are all united and show patience in the face of hardships, the divine promise of victory and ease will materialize..."
  • "Unfortunately, regarding the Bahrain issue, we are witnessing the silence of the world of Islam which is because of a wrong view at it... Some look at the Bahrain issue from a sectarian angle and therefore defending a nation which has revolted against a corrupt regime is not allowed unless the viewer, like the people of Bahrain, is Shi'a."

Military and Security

• Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast dismisses foreign news stories on Iran's missile cooperation with North Korea.
• Ali-Reza Tangsiri, Revolutionary Guards Navy deputy, likens the nineteen Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf to "nineteen stationary and unsinkable aircraft carriers of the Islamic Republic of Iran." 
• Revolutionary Guards commentary on negotiations with the United States:
  • Hojjat al-Eslam Ali Saidi, Representative of the Supreme Leader to the Revolutionary Guards, addresses the Friday prayer leaders and commanders of the Basij in Qom:
    • "Sanctions and the economic situation should not make some people say: ‘The United States says negotiations, therefore you [the government of the Islamic Republic] should negotiate.'"
    • Saidi added: "The enemy is trying to make us join its cafe, but we have many strategic issues with the United States including Hezbollah, Palestine, Shi'a rule in Iraq and Bahrain - none of which could be solved through negotiations."
  • Hossein Karimi-Avval, Golestan Province Revolutionary Guards unit deputy says there are some principled ones, reformists and seditionists who demand negotiations with the United States in order to solve the problem of rising prices, but "the Islamic Republic giving concessions" does not mean an end to the economic problems. He adds: "They [the Americans] will not cease their psychological operation until we raise our hands [in capitulation] and until they have taken our religion and values from us. Such thoughts that some people have in this country are baseless, absurd and futile."
  • Hojjat al-Eslam Mohammad Sedaqat, Representative of the Supreme Leader to the Revolutionary Guards Navy: "Negotiating with the United States means siding with the usurper and turning our backs to the ideals of the revolution." Sedaqat too stresses that negotiations with the United States would not solve Iran's economic problems.

Trade

• According to Abd al-Nasser Hemmati, Sina Bank spokesman, the European Union has removed the bank from its list of sanctioned banks.
• South Korea reduces its oil imports from Iran.

Photo of the Day

• Rafsanjani and his brothers.