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

Diplomacy

• Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, temporary Tehran Friday prayer leader:
  • "Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah [leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah] has revealed that the tribunal which the United States and Israel have established is a show trial incapable of bringing about justice. It is just revenge for the defeat of the 33-day war... The United States should know that this tribunal will not achieve anything since Hezbollah is mighty and invincible... Americans, dressed in the uniform of Saudi soldiers, imprison the people of Bahrain, and expel them from work, university and even hospitals. But at the same time they speak of one man one vote."
• According to Fars News' analyst, Egypt is on the verge of "a second revolution."
• [E] A senior Iranian military commander says that regional uprisings, especially the revolution in Bahrain, have intimidated the Saudi officials very deeply since rulers in Riyadh feel that popular unrests in the neighboring Arab states may soon spread to their own country.

Military and Security

• Abbas Agha-Zamani, also known as Abou-Sharif and the former Revolutionary Guards chief, gives an interview to Fars News on his return from Pakistan after more than two decades:
  • "The movement created in Iran by Imam Khomeini was because of the will of God and is not limited to one country. It can become universal in all Islamic countries of the world. Imperialism created obstacles in the path of the popular movement, but we saw that similar restrictions were made during the era of the prophet of Islam. They started wars and he managed to establish his Islamic government in Mecca and Medina after twenty three years... This is why we see that after the victory of the Islamic revolution of Iran, certain movements emerged in Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, and the like. The people have risen and revolted in order to establish a divine and Islamic rule. They want to put the stooges of the West back in their place… A way should be sought to expand the leadership beyond Iran's borders and to the world of Islam and the world of human beings, since this is the only divine leadership which follows the way of the prophets and is based upon the verses and rulings of the divine book."
    • Video of the interview.   
• Mohammad Hejazi, General Staff Preparedness, Logistics and Industrial Research chief:
  • "Great Prophet VI war game was meant to improve the defensive capacities, preparedness of the forces, and testing and preparing the new air and space technologies of the Guards. It had no offensive dimension... These [war games] show that the Islamic Republic is capable of preserving regional security with them [Iran's neighbors]... without the need for foreign presence... The enemies and extra regional powers should know that if they do anything against the Islamic Republic of Iran, all their assets in the region will be within the reach of our armed forces. And in the shortest time, we will make them regret their deed."  
• Ahmad-Reza Pourdastan, Revolutionary Guards Ground Forces chief inaugurates a new garrison in the suburbs of Mashhad.
• News stories about Mohammad-Reza Khatami's criticism of the Revolutionary Guards:
  • Sobh-e Sadeq to Mohammad-Reza Khatami: "Mr. Khatami, don't make threats! You are not in a position to do so!"
  • Parliamentarian Ahmad-Reza Dastgheib slams Mohammad-Reza Khatami's criticism of the Revolutionary Guards role in Iranian politics under Guards Chief Mohammad-Ali Jafari.
• Sobh-e Sadeq slams the underground rap music scene in Iran.
• News on the latest controversy over Revolutionary Guards intervention in politics:
  • Revolutionary Guards Chief Mohammad-Ali Jafari:
    • "It is natural that individuals from reformist currents who have not trespassed the redlines are allowed to take part in political rivalry. But how much Mr. Khatami can succeed depends on the positions he takes... Mr. Khatami did not pass the exam during the sedition. At any rate, he was among those following the heads of the sedition and supported them and defended them greatly. Under present conditions, he has not taken a position which distances him from those currents. If he wants to do some politics, I don't think that the people will forgive him. But there are others who have not trespassed the redlines in this field and can still actively participate in political rivalries..."
  • Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, temporary Tehran Friday prayer leader:
    • "The Supreme Leader has said: 'Be careful and don't enter into the conflicts.' Of course no one is allowed to broaden the conflicts, especially not the authorities, the Revolutionary Guards and other revolutionary institutions."
  • Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani: "Due to the constitutional responsibilities of the Revolutionary Guards, this institution is not merely a military force, and the mayhem that some made during the era of reforms [the Khatami presidency] that they are only a military force, is contrary to the constitution."  
  • Hojjat al-Eslam Mojtaba Zolnour, former deputy representative of the Supreme Leader to the Revolutionary Guards:
    • "It is not up to me to comment on his statements. He is the chief of the Revolutionary Guards. He knows what to say and not to say... It is not up to Commander Jafari and the Guards to decide who enters politics and who not. It is not that if the Guards or the chief of the Guards says 'you come and not someone else' the honorable Guardian Council acts upon their viewpoint... Commander Jafari is the chief of the Guards and the mission of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps is to defend the revolution and its achievements. Even if we don't look at him at this level, at the very minimum he is a citizen. He can make statements about the general political issues of the country, like many other people. What is prohibited is partisanship and being under the banner of political currents. Naturally, this statement by the Revolutionary Guards chief does not mean that Commander Jafari has supported this party or that political current. Understanding, analysis, science, and political concerns are not contrary to the statements of the Imam [Khomeini] and the Supreme Leader."
  • Parliamentarian Hojjat al-Eslam Hamid Rasaei:
    • "Mohammad-Reza Khatami used the expression 'threats' about the latest statements of the Revolutionary Guards chief. And one must say that it is true. But one must also know that the threats of the Guards during the past thirty two years have been against those active in the ranks of the enemy... Such threats have to do with the natural duties of the Revolutionary Guards and are not limited to the field of military issues. According to the law, the Guards is the defender of the revolution in all realms."
  • Esmail Kowsari, parliamentarian: "He [Mohammad-Reza Khatami] does not know the law. And fundamentally, the group to which Khatami belongs has never recognized the law of the land..."
• Commander Avaz Shahabi-Far, Kohgilouyeh va Boyer-Ahmad Revolutionary Guards unit chief, says anyone who makes statements contrary to the Supreme Leader is "an infiltrator."
• Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, Revolutionary Guards Air and Space Force chief: "The countdown has begun for the mission of the vessels of extraterritorial powers. Without any delay, they must send their ships out of the azure blue waters of the forever Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman."
• Ebrahim Hassan-Beygi, Supreme National Defense University chief, expresses his readiness to accept students from "friendly and neighboring countries."
• Hojjat al-Eslam Ali-Reza Arabpour, representative of the Supreme Leader to the Tharallah Revolutionary Guards unit in Kerman province, appoints Hojjat al-Eslam Mohammad Zangi-Abadi as the representative of the Supreme Leader to the Kerman Basij.

Economy

• Hamid-Reza Katouzian, parliamentary Energy Committee chairman, says the Ahmadinejad government has used the development projects of the cabinet ministries to finance cash handouts to the public.

Photos of the Day

·         The head of the Jewish community is given the signature Palestinian shawl of the Basij.

• Nomadic Olympics.