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

• Serat News reports the Islamic Steadfastness Front is trying to unseat parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani.
• Reactions to Ahmadineajd's speech in the parliament:

• Audio of the Q&A session.

• Alef News: "As we expected, the questioning session has embittered the relations between the president and the parliament..."  

• Asr-e Iran can the president's jokes bring bread to the homes of the people on the New Year evening?

• The Expediency Council accuses Ahmadinejad of lying about the Council's position on the Tehran Metro.

• Seven parliamentarians, Ahmad Tavakoli, Hossein Nejabat, Parviz Sarvari, Elias Naderan, Hossein Fadaei, Zohreh Elahian and Ali Zakani, issue a statement condemning Ahmadinejad’s ridiculing of the parliament. 

• Parliamentarian Hojjat al-Eslam Rouhollah Hosseinian says he was "convinced" by Ahmadinejad's explanations and warns against the "dictatorship of the parliament." 

• Parliamentarian Mohammad-Reza Khabaz: "Mr. Ahmadinejad's answers were undocumented. The parliament is not a place for jokes." 

• Parliamentarian Nader Qazipour: "The speaker of the parliament should have reacted to Ahmadinejad's insults against the parliament." 

• Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani says he will not allow the Constitutional Supervisory Committee, which was appointed by Ahmadinejad without consultation with Khamenei, to inspect the Judiciary.

Diplomacy

• Ayatollah Emami Kashani, temporary Tehran Friday prayer leader: "What can administer the world is the Quran. There is nothing in the Bible or the Torah. They burn the Quran in order to show their anger and mercilessness. We greet the Muslims and the Afghan nation for rebelling against the burning of Quran." 
• The office of Ayatollah Mohammad-Taqi Modaressi condemns an arsonist attack against the Imam Reza Mosque in Brussels in which Sheikh Abdullah al-Dahdouh al-Maghrebi was killed. The office of the ayatollah accuses the "Wahabis" of being behind the arson. 
  • Belgium's interior minister condemns the attacks, and says the arsonist who has been arrested belongs to an extremist group.

Military and Security

• Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi declares the Islamic Republic's readiness to help the military of Zimbabwe. 
• News stories concerning activities of the Khatam al-Anbia Construction Base:
  • Khatam al-Anbia Construction Base of the Revolutionary Guards is awarded with a $1.2 billion contract to build the second line of the Tabriz Metro.
  • Khatam al-Anbia fights against poverty in Kermanshah.
  • Khatam al-Anbia fights against poverty in Ardebil.
• Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi in an interview with Danish television: "Israel is so small that it would not even last a week in a real war... Should Israel decide for committing such a mistake, they would be deciding the hour of destruction of Tel Aviv and the Israelis are well aware of this... Israel's military strikes against Iran's nuclear installations will be countered effectively and with the entire force by the Islamic Republic."
• Mohsen Rezaei, former Revolutionary Guards commander: "The Mossad assassinated my son in Dubai."

Human Rights

• Mohammad-Javad Larijani, the Islamic Republic Judiciary's Human Rights Headquarters:
  • "The opposition in Iran, meaning the reformists, has forty representatives in parliament. Those who are imprisoned are not there because of their political beliefs. They act outside the framework of the law. In order to be engaged in civic activities one must respect the law, even if the laws are not to their liking. In Iran, should anyone dismiss the existence of God or be against the Islamic regime, why should he be able to participate in an election which entails the individual pledging service to the Islamic regime...?"
  • Euronews reporter: "Did [Mir-Hossein] Mousavi and [Mehdi] Karrubi challenge the existence of God?"
  • Mohammad-Javad Larijani: "I am saying that they, in the latest election, were involved in a coup against the regime. That was not electoral campaigning. They abused the electoral atmosphere, and in the end, even prior to the release of the result, they declared themselves winners and urged the people to go to the streets and topple the government and form a new government. This certainly is a coup and it is great crime."

Photos of the Day

• Ayatollah Emami Kashani leads the last Friday prayer of the Persian year 1390. 
• International Chess Tournament in Qazvin.