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

• Ahmadinejad appoints four cabinet ministers:
  • Abd al-Reza Sheikh al-Eslami, minister of cooperatives, labor and social security; Mehdi Ghazanfari, minister of industry, mines and commerce; Rostam Qasemi, oil minister; and Mohammad Abbasi, minister of sport and youth. 
• Authorities prevent former president Mohammad Khatami from leaving Iran in order to visit his daughter. 

Military and Security

• Ali Fadavi, Revolutionary Guards Navy chief, explains the reasons behind Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's visit to Hormozgan province:
  • "Since the Guards Navy was transferred to Bandar Abbas... the guardsmen and their families... wanted to see the Leader of the Revolution in Tehran, but His Lordship said, 'I want to visit the families myself.'"
  • "Today, the frontline of the Islamic Republic is the sea. The Commander in Chief has stressed upon this. As our enemy, the United States has a military capacity at sea, and has for many years secured its hegemony by the means of its naval capacity. Should they desire to make a move, it would probably be from the sea. Therefore, it is natural that the Navy counters the enemy..."
  • "At the very first day I was appointed Revolutionary Guards Navy chief, I told them, 'We will not have a second meeting in Tehran. The guardsmen and their families are at the frontline, from Chabahar to Arvand-Roud." 
• According to an unidentified source, the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards has a base in an area of the Martyr Pazouki Garrison in Jalil-Abad of Varamin. The source also writes that the base may be a nuclear site since "the local population suffers from skin diseases..." 

Economy

• Former Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh criticizes the chaotic state of affairs in the oil ministry.

Trade

• Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Authorities in an official letter complain about "smuggling of natural gas from Turkmenistan to Iran."
• According to Diplomasi-ye Irani, China has offered to pay oil imports from Iran with yuan.

Photos of the Day

• Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi receives a delegation from Egypt.