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 subscribe to this daily newsletter, please visit this page, fill out the "New Subscribers" section, and check "Iran News Round Up" listed under "Projects." 
 
(E) = Article in English

Politics

• Correction: Mr. Hamid-Reza Forouzanfar is the grandson of the sister of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
• Ahmadinejad addresses the Provincial Strategic Council seminar: "Some friends came and said 'we are concerned about the future.' I said: 'Your future has been decided, go back to your work and you will reap the result.' He asked: 'Who will be the next [president]?' I asked: 'Don't you think God knows who the next person will be?' He said yes. I responded: 'Why do you grieve then?' The time has passed when they could fool the people and rule them through factionalism."

Diplomacy

• Ayatollah Jannati, temporary Tehran Friday prayer leader:
  • "The people of the region have reached the point of Islamic awakening and are not ready to live under foreign dominance. They despise authoritarianism and demand justice and Islam..."
  • "Thanks to divine providence this movement has started in some Islamic countries and is progressing and it will also pass the borders of the United States..."
  • "Whether the United States wants it or not, it is in decline but does not want to recognize it. But God is hitting it [the United States] in the head. May God increase their hardship..."
  • "The United States Secretary of State travels to Bahrain and Obama urges the Bahrainis to restrain themselves, but it is abundantly clear that this bloodshed is first and foremost due to the Americans."
• Demonstrators in Tehran condemn "killing and suppression of the popular revolution in Bahrain."

Military and Security

• Parliamentarian Hojjat al-Eslam Eslami calls for volunteers to defend the people of Bahrain.
• Anti-Saudi demonstrations in front of the Saudi consulate in Mashhad.

Religion, Society and Culture

• Ayatollah Vahid: "Claimants of human rights have betrayed humanity."
• According to Ali Baqerzadeh, head of the Education Jihad, 7.6 million are illiterate in Iran.

Photos of the Day

• Demonstration against "savage suppression of the popular revolution of Bahrain."