Iran News Round Up

A selection of the latest news stories and editorials published in Iranian news outlets, compiled by the AEI Critical Threats Project's Iran research team. To receive this daily newsletter, please subscribe online. 

(E) = Article in English

Excerpts of these translations may only be used with the expressed consent of the authors

Politics

• Tehran Interim Friday Prayer Leader Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Movahedi Kermani discussed nuclear negotiations and cultural issues:
  • “The negotiations team must note that in the doctrine of [First Shi’a] Imam Ali we have peace with the enemy but not reconciliation.”
  • “God grant it that the Great Satan [US] will not be successful in deceiving the Iranian delegation.”
  •  “Even when nothing has come to pass, Ms. Sherman says that all P5+1 members have the right to veto…You negotiate to reach an agreement and then say that you can veto whatever we agree on. It is because of these remarks that the Supreme Leader is not optimistic towards the negotiations, because the Americans are untrustworthy.”
  • “We have many plenty of capabilities inside the country and the Supreme Leader advised us to look inside; we must cut external hope. There are many capacities inside, but spiritual capacities are the most important.”
  • “The Supreme Leader stated that nuclear energy is an excuse. The main matter is the Revolution and Islam. They will let not go of us so long as we are committed to the Revolution. America is the same one that downed our civilian airplane. America is the same that betrays its friends and implements a spy program on them. If we retreat from the nuclear energy, America will have tens of more excuses.”
  • “We must be careful that the enemy does not enter its dangerous culture in this Islamic country. We request all cultural officials, especially the Islamic Culture and Guidance Minister, to make serious efforts in this regard and not take cultural programs lightly. God forbid that a perverted book received permit. The Guidance Minister should be more careful in the matter of film and book permits.” 
• Religious Seminaries Director Ayatollah Hashem Hosseini criticized social observance of hijab and said, “It seems that some hands at work and some have begun a race regarding lack of observing hijab in society, and we witness new fashion in the streets every day.” Bushehri called the Supreme Leader’s statements yesterday “The Revolution’s charter.” 
• Head of the Presidency Cultural Council Hojjat al-Eslam Reza Akrami urged officials to “Give an appropriate answer to the Supreme Leader’s cultural concerns.” He said culture is one of “the most important matters that the enemy has continuously placed a special emphasis on” and that “We must not allow them to program our youth.” 
• Kerman Friday Prayer Leader Hojjat al-Eslam Mohammad Ghassemizadeh said that Supreme Leader Khamenei’s address yesterday is “The system’s strategy.” 
• Assembly of Experts member Ayatollah Abbas Ka’bi stated, “It is cultural secularism for some to say cultural work is related to the religious seminaries and that the administration must be concerned with civil works.”
• Head of the Cultural Parliamentary Commission Hojjat al-Eslam Ahmad Salek Kashani announced that the commission will question Islamic Culture and Guidance Minister Ali Jannati regarding “The increase of insults to sanctities” in the media. 

Nuclear Issue

• Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif discussed the nuclear issue at a press conference with his Indonesian counterpart Marty Natalegewa:
  • “We are prepared to give the necessary confidence regarding the peaceful nature of our nuclear program. But the truth is that Iran possesses nuclear activities, peaceful nuclear activities. Iran has nuclear science and technology that is indigenous and no one can dismantle it.”
  • “The best path for Iran is to continue placing its peaceful nuclear program under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency and its instruments. We are prepared to discuss these instruments.” 
• International and Legal Affairs Deputy to the Foreign Minister and senior nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi stated, “Some confrontations and positioning regarding the nuclear negotiations stem from the political positions of some parties. We must pay attention that the nuclear matter has not been this administration’s achievement, rather it is a ‘national’ matter.”
• Foreign Minister Political and International Director and head of the Iranian experts nuclear negotiations team Hamid Baidinejad discussed the latest of round of negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 that ended earlier today: “All sides evaluate these meetings to be beneficial.”
  • The sides discussed enrichment, the Arak heavy water reactor and nuclear cooperation over three days.
  • The next round of high level talks between Iran and the P5+1 will take place from March 17-19 in Vienna.  
• EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton will arrive in Tehran tomorrow. She is scheduled to meet President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. 

Military and Security

• Head of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Public Affairs Brig. Gen. 2C Ramezan Sharif discussed the unique features  of the Islamic Republic and two important aspects of “resistance economy” policies:
  • “The IRGC is born with the Revolution and it will have its say at necessary times wherever it feels there are problems.”
  • “The events that we are observing in Ukraine these days are the result of the media capabilities of the West and the placement of these capabilities alongside defensive capability, achieved in the shadow of years of scientific work.”
  • “The fundamental difference between our system and the system of the Russians and the Americans…is that the culture of the Islamic system is based on the Qur’an, which is born of man’s creator. It addresses all the existential angels of humanity so it can take man to the point of human perfection.”
  • “Two important points in the resistance economy arena must be noted. The meaning of resistance economy is that while we seek to domestically produce high quality and cheap goods and are inclined to increase exports, we do not want to close the country’s door to the entire world.”
  • “One of the aspects of resistance economy is increasing exports. This is not an imaginative work rather is a precise calculation.” 

Economy

• Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh announced that Iranian oil refinery capacity must increase “By at least 1 million barrels per day within the next four to five year so that we can prevent crude oil sale.” 
• Political Deputy to the Interior Minister Kazem Mirvalad announced that “We have no choice but to make energy prices real in the second step of targeted subsidies. Therefore we must speak honestly with the people and justify in this regard.”

Photo of the Day

• Mehr News Agency photo essay: Yazd province historical sites.