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

• Ahmadinejad appoints a Constitutional Supervisory Committee without consulting Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
• Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati's Friday prayer sermon:
  • “One must kiss the hands of these people. Every vote was a hard slap in the face of the enemy. We must thank for this high participation which has blinded the eyes of the enemy. They have lost hope and the schemes of the seditionists who were trying to reduce public participation were neutralized... The seditionists talk about the people, but the people demonstrated that they were not supporting the seditionists... Today, our people have reached political maturity and can't be deceived again…” 

Diplomacy

•  Jannati's sermon:
  • "The issue of Bahrain is one of our sorrows. The United States has not yet understood that it has lost its power and wants to preserve its power by force. The crime of the people of Bahrain is that they want every man to have one vote and the Americans deceivingly chant the slogan of democracy... They kill the people of Bahrain and torture them. May God curse them! In the end, the power of the United States will collapse." 
• An American airliner from Doha to Istanbul makes emergency landing in Tehran to refuel. All passengers remained on board while the airliner refueled.

Military and Security

• Salah Bardawil, Hamas Political Bureau member in Gaza, says his organization will not intervene in "any type of war which may occur between Iran and Israel." Bardawil adds Hamas has never declared its "permanent loyalty" to the Islamic Republic, and that the relationship between the two has been based upon "mutual interests."

Nuclear Issue

• Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani: "Should they want to follow the failed track of pressure, force and threats, it will not bring them any results since one can't get anything from Iran."

Economy

• 124 out of 197 parliamentarians present vote for the "The Oil Ministry's Responsibilities and Authorities," which reduces the powers of the National Iranian Oil Company and increases the Oil Ministry's powers. The changes will affect policymaking, supervision, executive issues, investments and securing financial sources, human resource, science and technology and international affairs. More importantly, in the future the oil minister rather than the president will be the head of the National Iranian Oil Company General Assembly. 
• Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi criticizes the government for failure to address inflation.

Trade

• The Islamic Republic and Syria are finalizing a bilateral free trade agreement.