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

• Presidential crisis:
  • Parliamentarian Mohammad-Reza Bahonar says "the deviant current" is excluded from the body of the conservative parliamentary candidates.
  • Hojjat al-Eslam Abbas Nabavi says "the deviant current will break its silence by attacking the honor of the [political] individuals."
• Ayatollah Mousavi Ardebili, former Judiciary chief, tells Mehdi Khazali that he was against mass killing of political prisoners in 1988.
• Reza Golpour accuses Mir-Hossein Mousavi and his wife of being "freemasons."

Diplomacy

• [E] Iran on Tuesday reiterated support for attempts to form a Palestinian state, but underlined that all Palestinian lands should be returned to their real owners and all Palestinian refugees should return to their homeland.
• [E] Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Karim Masimov hailed Iran's membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and said Tehran's presence enhances SCO's importance and position.
• [E] Ahmadinejad, who arrived in Astana earlier today to attend a summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, met with his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev this afternoon.
• [E] Ahmadinejad on Tuesday met with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao in the Kazakh city of Astana.

Military and Security

• Sobh-e Sadeq columnist Mohammad Hasher Yazdani:
  • "Exporting the Islamic revolution to the world was among the hopes of the founder of the revolution. His compassionate screams waking the sleeping Arab nations in order to join the wave of the Islamic revolution have been heard after 30 years. From its very beginning, the export of the revolution was not to the liking of some gray vanguards of the revolution... They [opponents of the export of the revolution] mockingly called the pure revolutionary forces 'extremist idealists,' 'the revolution in their own country has so many fundamental problems, but they want to export it!' But because of His Holiness the Imam and his firm opposition to such deviant thoughts, their breath was choked in their throats. Following the passing of His Holiness Imam Khomeini and the choice of His Highness Imam Khamenei, this so-called rationalist group, abused the magnanimity, high mindedness and isolation of Imam Khamenei and very quickly began replacing the revolutionary vocabulary with Western vocabulary in order to gradually change the illuminating work of the Islamic revolution and to restrict it to the geographic borders [of Iran]. Imam was changed into 'Leader,' 'Umma' [the Islamic community of believers] was replaced with 'mellat', [nation] 'Mostazaf' [downtrodden, meek] was changed into qeshr-e asib-pazir [vulnerable class] and the like. The Kargozaran [technocrats, reference to Rafsanjani] made a vocabulary, the reforms [reference to former president Mohammad Khatami] colored them and sold them to the public... But expediency is saving the revolutionary vocabulary... Therefore, we will return to our revolutionary vocabulary to export our revolution under the mantle of the leadership of Imam Khamenei."  
• Sobh-e Sadeq predicts that the ruling family of Bahrain has chosen "a costly way of achieving peace" and "will experience more difficulties" in the future. 
• Mohammad Abolhassani, Revolutionary Guards Human Resource Bureau deputy, discusses improvement of the work environment in the IRGC.
• Gholam-Ali Kaffash, Revolutionary Guards Qods Base chief medic, discusses the role of the IRGC in improvement of public health in Sistan va Balouchestan province.
• According to Rostam Qassemi, chief of the IRGC’s Khatam al-Anbia Construction Base, the IRGC is tasked with building "60 breakwater [structures] in 60 different places around the country."

Economy

• $1 = 12,500 rials.

Religion, Society and Culture

• Majid Abhari, parliamentary adviser in social affairs, says 60 percent of men and women in Tehran "don't abide the shari'a when it comes to their dress."

Human Rights

• [E] Supreme Leader pardoned or commuted prison terms of hundreds of convicts sentenced by various Iranian courts.

Photos of the Day

• Bad hijab in Qom, 32 years after the revolution.