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

• According to parliamentarian Fazel Mousavi, Ahmadinejad will not appear for a Q&A session at the parliament due to lack of quorum. Mousavi blames Ahmadinejad supporters for not maintaining a quorum.
  • Parliamentarian Mohammad Dehqan says no quorum is needed in order to invite the president for a questioning session in the parliament. 
  • Parliamentarian Mostafa Reza-Hosseini, one of the signatories to the request for questioning Ahmadinejad, says the president will be present at the parliament with "99% security."

Diplomacy

• Tabnak News urges parliamentarians to stop the Iranian government's plan to extend a $1.2 million loan to the Republic of Azerbaijan.
• Hossein Alvandi Behineh is appointed the Islamic Republic's Ambassador to Hanoi, Vietnam. 

Military and Security

• Bloggers close to Ahmadinejad openly criticize the Revolutionary Guards for intervening in parliamentary elections:
  • Mohammad-Hassan Rouzitalab, journalist close to the Islamic Steadfastness Front: "Groups which are not meant to intervene in politics... used public funds... by printing a fraudulent [candidate] list called 'qualified principled [candidates]'."
  • Ahmad Saidi, Shiraz University Islamic Student Association general secretary, slams the Revolutionary Guards' "illegal intervention in the recent parliamentary election."
  • Mehdi Tehrani, Student Basij head at the Tarbiat Modarres University, says he was dismissed from his position because of his support to the "Steadfastness Front."
• Hojjat al-Eslam Abdollah Haj-Sadeqi, deputy representative of the Supreme Leader to the Revolutionary Guards, officially declares the support of the Revolutionary Guards to the "Principled" [Osolugarayan] faction in Iran. Haj-Sadeqi continued: "The Guards will certainly intervene [against] political fronts opposed to the revolution. This is among the natural duties of the Revolutionary Guards..."
• Major General Qassem Suleimani: "Had it not been for the Guardianship of the Jurist, the Islamic Republic would have been over by now."

Economy

• Etemad publishes a backgrounder on instances where oil revenue has not been transferred to the treasury. 
• According to Iran Statistics unemployment has reached 13.5%.

Trade

• Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei visiting the Oil Industry Research Institute: "Spending the oil revenue to finance current expenses is unwise and a true loss... The oil revenue must be transformed into the reserve and inheritance of the country and the nation..."
• Baztab-e Emrouz, previously close to Mohsen Rezaei but now said to be run by Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani, claims "the government of China keeps the money for oil imports from Iran [in Chinese banks], is managing these funds itself, and can change it into different currencies." According to the report, the government of China "does not pay any interest rate for the Iranian deposits in China, nor does it accept any responsibility for losses in the process of exchange into other currencies..." Baztab-e Emrouz concludes that Iran is not allowed to use the $25 billion it has in Chinese banks.
  • The story is now censored from Baztab-e Emrouz' website. Reference to it can be found on Digarban's website.
  • Baztab-e Emrouz is filtered for "disturbing the public mind."
• Japan's Ambassador to Tehran says his country is interested in continuing oil imports from Iran. 
• Mahdodeh website reports on increased efforts of Western oil companies to "allure Iranian experts in the oil industry out of Iran."
• As Japan's Ambassador to the Islamic Republic visits the Assalouyeh Special Economic Development Zone, Iranian officials express interest in attracting Japanese investors. 
• Iran increases its wheat imports from Kazakhstan and the United States.

Media

• According to an unnamed Qatari source, Al Jazeera TV is planning to launch a Persian service. 

Human Rights

• Kayhan dismisses Ahmad Shahid's report on the state of human rights in Iran. 

Photos of the Day

• Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei visits the Oil Ministry's Research Institute.