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

• Presidential crisis:  
  • Because of Ahmadinejad’s decision to merge the ministries of Road and Housing, Welfare and Labor, Industries and Commerce, and Oil and Energy without parliament’s approval, ministers Mir-Kazemi, Mahsouli, and Mehrabian did not participate in Wednesday's cabinet meeting.
  • Ahmadinejad attacks the parliament, especially parliament’s speaker Ali Larijani for opposing the merger of the ministries: "Unfortunately, some believe they should decide on the execution of the law... The cabinet is executing the law and the president is entitled to shuffle cabinet ministers and act as the leader. The honorable speaker of the parliament thinks he is the law. This is not a correct interpretation and one must be careful and not pollute the atmosphere of the country for any reasons..."  
  • Parliamentarian Ahmad Tavakoli criticizes Ahmadinejad's decision: 
    • "Mr. Ahmadinejad has a spirit which subjects the law to his personal judgment. And whatever he considers expedient he considers it the law. Otherwise he bypasses or breaks the law. This authoritarian spirit is contrary to the long-term goals of the Islamic revolution and is to the detriment of the country. It also makes the parliament, which is at the helm of the affairs, defensive. The parliament has unfortunately not decisively dealt with the president. And this spirit of self-reliance has been strengthened. Even the latest events do not seem to have punished him." 
    • "If the parliament had lived up to its responsibilities in a timelier manner, I think the president would have had lesser opportunities to continue this behavior."
    • "The government has merged eight cabinet ministries and some of the cabinet ministers appear to have left the ministries. Here the national interest is endangered…”
  • Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani attacks "the deviant current," saying it embodies "all deviations by seditions of the past."
  • Ayatollah Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah Yazdi attacks Ahmadinejad's Messianism: "When they say that Imam of the Era administers the society it means that there is no need for middle men and a vice regent [Guardian Jurist]." Yazdi also warns against "emergence of a new Bab," referring to the founder of the Baha’i religion who claimed to be the twelfth Imam.   

Diplomacy

• Alef columnist Sadeq Koushaki criticizes the government for "passivity" and "inactivity" in the face of the "regional Islamic awakening."
• [E] Representative of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement in Tehran Nasser Abu Sharif called on Iran to open a mission in Gaza, and said this would be a natural move, considering the presence of Palestinian diplomats in Tehran.
• [E] A senior Iranian lawmaker rejected Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa's proposal for the resumption of friendship between his government and Iran, and said Tehran would never establish close relations with puppet regimes.

Photos of the Day

• Khamenei visits Tehran International Book Fair.
• A Yemeni protester raises the flag of the Islamic Republic.