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

• Former parliamentarian Emad Afrough quoting the late Grand Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini on live television calls on the guardian jurist to respond to the popular demands and adds the public should have the right to criticize the guardian jurist.
  • Following attacks against Afrough, parliamentarian Ali Mottahari says critics should have the right to voice their criticism of the regime.
• Parliamentarian Ali Mottahari warns against the Islamic Republic moving towards the direction of authoritarianism. 

Military and Security

• Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani: "The Westerners should know that if assassination is allowed, there is no reason for Iran to avenge the blood of its youth and nuclear scientists. In that case, millions of Muslims all over the world will find their own path in the face of such assassinations."
• Admiral Farhad Amiri, Navy Research and Self Sufficiency Organization commander, says Iranian submarines are "preying" on United States aircraft careers in the Persian Gulf. 
• Raha Press, close to Ahmadinejad, warns against "ominous," "terrible," and "unfortunate" machinations of the Revolutionary Guards against Ahmadinejad and his government. According to Raha Press, the Guards has launched the Hadian-e Basir [Insightful Guides] scheme led by Hojjat al-Eslam Hossein Taeb, Revolutionary Guards Intelligence commander, which could "deviate the Guards from its goals." Raha Press also accuses the Revolutionary Guards Intelligence Organization of abusing intelligence to advance its own agenda.
• Reactions to Admiral Hossein Alaei's article in Ettela'at:
  • Parliamentarian Ali Mottahari defends Alaei.
  • Ayatollah Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah Yazdi condemning Hossein Alaei's article against Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei says "no deed of the enemy could have such an impact..."
  • Mohsen Rafiqdoust, former Revolutionary Guards minister, says his heart "ached" as he read Alaei's article.
  • Ettela'at apologizes for publishing Alaei's article.
  • Alaei responds to Kayhan's claim that the text of the article had been "dictated" to him: "I wrote this article and the enemy, or anyone else, did not dictate it to me. I am not one of those people who write down other people's dictates. Unfortunately, there are some who like to call anything which they do not like the work of the enemy or the counter revolution... It is better if the people's intelligence is respected and if people don't think like you and shouldn't be called enemy recruits."

Iran in the Afghan Media

• A delegation of 55 Iranian businessmen interested in participating in joint ventures with Afghan entrepreneurs visited Kabul on Tuesday. "The technology that Iran has can play an important role in developing industries in the fields of agriculture, processing of minerals, and packing of products in a professional way," Qurban Haqjo, head of the Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industries, said. 
• [E] A senior Iranian trade official announced that Afghanistan imports 27.6 of its multi-billion-dollar needs from Iran, and said the figure can still increase in future. 

Photos of the Day

• Velayat Wrestling Cup.