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 Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, Ahmadinejad's chief of staff:
  • Mashaei praises Iranian poet Ferdowsi and proposes establishment of a joint academy of Persian language and literature by Iran, Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
    • Mashaei says he "dislikes" the Judiciary's ruling banning Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi from producing movies.
    • Mashaei adds "this was the Judiciary's ruling, not the viewpoint of Ahmadinejad."
    • Kayhan editorializes: "Are you [Mashaei] the chief of staff or judge?"
  • Mashaei calls for remaking the Revolution Day into a national day "for all those in favor of justice
  • Hamid-Reza Afrashteh, son-in-law of Parvin Ahmadinejad, the president's sister, who is also the head of "young provincial presidential advisers": "Mashaei has managed to provide the government with a model
  • Mahramaneh News: "The Revolutionary Guards has not criticized Mashaei's [theory of] school of Iran."
  • Academic Sadegh Zibakalam:
    • "Mashaei's discourse is a new school of thought independent of the two currents of principalism and reformist within the political atmosphere of Iran..."
    • "The ability to express iconoclastic ideas, solidarity and to choose the same path as that of the nation, and especially the young class of society, along with a non-violent interpretation of Islam inspired by the true spirit of Islam, as expressed by Mashaei, has made him unique..."
    • "In the political future of the country one can most certainly not imagine room for the reformist movement…”
    • In response to Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati's statement to disqualify Mashaei: "It is unlikely that such an issue will create trouble to Mashaei. The Guardian Council disqualified Dr. Moin, but he entered the electoral arena with a government decree [issued by Supreme Leader Khamenei] and Mashaei is not exempted from this principle."
• Mehdi Karrubi:
  • "When I listen to Ahmad Jannati's statements, I remember statements of the Shah... Instead of the crown, he wears a turban and he speaks from the tribune of the Friday prayer. What counts is people’s actions, not their wearing turban or crown and suit or mantle... At least, the Shah would not make religion his instrument, but unfortunately he is issuing orders dressed in clerical robes and from the position of the Friday prayer..."

Diplomacy

• Ahmadinejad addresses the Islamic Republic's diplomatic representatives: "There will come a day when seven billion people will learn Persian."
• Ghazanfar Roknabadi, the Islamic Republic's ambassador to Beirut, Lebanon: "Tehran desires unity and stability in Lebanon and supported the efforts of Syria and [Saudi] Arabia in this regard... Iran never intervenes in Lebanon's [internal] affairs, but desires cohesion, unity and agreement of the Lebanese among themselves..."

Military and Security

• [E] Iran says it has successfully tested an optimized version of mid-range hawk anti-aircraft missiles in an area close to a nuclear facility.

Nuclear Issue

• Mardomsalari slams Russia for not completing the Bushehr nuclear plant.
• Jomhouri-ye Eslami urges the West to gain Iran's trust in the nuclear issue.
• [E] Ahmadinejad underlined Iran's progress in the field of nuclear technology despite continued and growing western sanctions and pressures against Tehran in recent years, and said the western countries now have no other option but choosing the path of cooperation with Iran.

Iran-Afghanistan Relations

• Iran’s embassy in Kabul announces that fuel trucks have free access into Afghanistan.
• Afghan merchants stop Iranian trucks at the Afghan border.
• Mohammad Karami-Rad, Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Affairs Committee member, warns Afghan authorities against stopping Iranian trucks from entering Afghanistan.
•  [E] Afghan officials on Wednesday disputed a statement by Iran's ambassador to Kabul that only 160 fuel tankers were on their side of the border waiting to cross into Afghanistan.
• [E] Fuel prices remain high in northern Balkh province due to Iran's blockade of 1,800 tankers, Afghan traders and officials said on Wednesday.
• An Afghan journalist, Razaq Mamoon, on Wednesday accused Iran of being behind an acid attack that left him with burns to his face and hands.

Photo of the Day

• Mashaei leaves the tribune.