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 subscribe to this daily newsletter, please visit this page, fill out the "New Subscribers" section, and check "Iran News Round Up" listed under "Projects." 
 
(E) = Article in English
 

Politics

• News stories related to Rafsanjani:
  • Hojjat al-Eslam Nouri Shahroudi:
    • "Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani’s contesting the chairmanship of the Assembly of Experts may be decisive, but character assassination has never influenced the theologians of the Assembly of Experts. On the contrary, according to some of them, the negative press and character assassination will have reverse impact upon them."
  • Vigilante members attack the family members of Rafsanjani at the Hazrat-e Abdol-Azim shrine in Shahr-e Rayy.
  • Parliamentarian Ghodratollah Alikhani: "[Member of the parliament] Mr. [Mohammad-Reza] Bahonar, should retain the respect for those who have served the revolution [Rafsanjani] so he himself also will be respected in the future."
• News stories related to Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei:
  • Davoud Ahmadinejad, brother of the president, attacks Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei:
    • "Some members of the Hojjatiyeh Society who have now changed their name into the Path of Truth will create the next round of the sedition."
    • "There were some who said the prophet of God was Iranian. Should the prophet of Islam be Iranian, what problems of the Muslim people will be solved?  Such claims just create disunity..."
    • "In order to instigate deviation in the world, they say we have conquered the world in the path of the culture of Cyrus. We want to conquer the world."
  • Ahmadinejad adviser Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi: "What they say about Mashaei is wrong." 
• Parleman News reports a pro-Mohammad Khatami demonstration in Yazd.

Diplomacy

• The Foreign Ministry expresses surprise that Senegal has severed diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic.
• The parliamentary Legal Committee condemns "the crimes of usurpers in certain countries," especially in Libya, and expresses support for "freedom-loving nations."
• An Oil Ministry executive says "evacuation of Iranian oil workers from Libya has proved difficult."
• [E] Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is scheduled to visit Tehran tomorrow.
• [E] Iran’s Parliament censures Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and Morocco for violent responses against pro-democracy demonstrators.
• [E] Members of Iran’s Parliament visit New York to attend Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) meeting on women’s rights and status.

Military and Security

• Intelligence Minister Hojjat al-Eslam Heydar Moslehi:
• "February 15, 2011 was a pivotal point in the discourse of the line of sedition... Of course, our brothers were successful in this field and tracked down the hypocrites. The necessary measures were taken against them and legal cases will be discussed as well about which we shall inform [the public] in time..."
• The Intelligence Ministry celebrates its achievements at a seminar.
• Law Enforcement Forces Chief Esmail Ahmadi-Moghadam says Iran's borders are "controlled and monitored" from Tehran "with the help of modern technology."
• Video of Iranian destroyers pass through the Suez Canal.
• [E] Iranian Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi described the country's current situation as normal, without crisis.
• [E] Iranian warships to dock at Syrian port after entering Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal.

Economy

• Fararu warns against lack of budget discipline in next year's national budget.
• [E] Deputy Oil Minister says Iran is ready for massive surge in oil exports to Iraq.

Trade

• [E] Ukrainian and Iranian officials meet and call for increased trade and economic ties between countries.
• [E] Iran and Indonesia sign agreement on cooperation in agricultural and technological development at a ceremony in Jakarta.

Photos of the Day

• Fajr Music Festival.