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

• Ahmadinejad urges "the Revolutionary Guards, the Army and other [state institutions]" to "sell land" and real estate they possess.
• Ahmadinejad discusses recent changes in the cabinet for the first time: "These changes took place in order to administer the affairs in a better way... [Merger of the Communications and Information Technology Ministry with the Roads and Urbanization Ministry] served the purpose of downsizing the government. The smaller the government, the better it is"
• According to Asr-e Iran, Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel, Ali-Akbar Velayati and Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf have formed a so called� "2+1 Committee," and they will carry out an opinion poll to discover which of them has the greatest popular appeal. The remaining two will support the most popular member of the committee to run for president.
• Mashregh News runs a backgrounder on potential presidential candidates.

Diplomacy

• The Islamic Republic officially protests against the Republic of Azerbaijan establishing a "Ministry of Southern Azerbaijan."
• Parliamentarian Morteza Agha-Tehrani expresses grief about "foreign theological students who have abandoned their own tribe and remain in Qom" rather than returning to their countries of origin to propagate Shiism.
  
  • According to the Bashgah-e Khabarnegaran-e Javan, 12,000 foreign theological students currently study in Qom.
• [E] Tehran's provisional Friday Prayers Leader Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami lashed out at Washington for recognizing the Syrian opposition, and said rendering support to 'terrorists' in Syria is a violation of human rights.

Military and Security

• Ali-Akbar Ahmadian, Revolutionary Guards Strategic Studies Center commander, addressing the Tenth Countrywide Seminar of the Khatam al-Anbia Construction Base commanders and managers, stresses the importance of the vocation of the Guards.
• Hojjat al-Eslam Mahmoud Dehqani, Supreme Leader's Representative to the Khatam al-Anbia Construction Base, says profit is not Khatam al-Anbia's goal: "Defending the high values of the regime of the Islamic Republic is."

Economy

• Mohsen Rezaei, former Revolutionary Guards commander and current secretary of the Expediency Council, speaking in Ahwaz says the "sanctions have had an impact... The enemy has identified the weak point of the Islamic Republic, and unfortunately people's life is affected by it. Youth unemployment is soaring."

Trade

• [E] The value of Iran's non-oil exports has witnessed a 32% growth during the first seven months of the current Iranian year (March 20 - October 21), an Iranian trade official announced.�

Photo of the Day

• Grand Ayatollah Sistani at the age of 14.