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

• Spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi announced that Iran will not convert Arak into a light water reactor: “The Arak heavy water reactor is unalterable and will remain a heavy water reactor.” Kamalvandi added that Iran does not plan to “shut down or change any facility.”

?

• Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani discussed the upcoming nuclear talks with a group of senior clerics in Qom. He acknowledged that there are “some concerns along the course of the nuclear talks,” but that “Fortunately, the course…is desirable and the negotiating team is in the final stage of talks.”

• Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Maj. Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, the Senior Military Advisor to the Supreme Leader, touted Iran’s arc of influence across the broader Middle East: “The West fears Iran’s growing influence in the region…[Iran’s] defensive line has reached the border between Southern Lebanon and occupied Palestine and the country’s strategic depth has extended from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea.” Safavi added that the West’s strategy in Syria has been an “undeniable failure.”

• Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (IRIN) deployed four naval ships and a submarine to Pakistanfor a five-day “goodwill” mission. IRIN Cap. Ali Jahanbaksh, the commanding officer of the mission, said “The objective of our visit is to enhance cooperation with regional countries, especially Pakistan in the defense sector.”

?

• Interim Friday prayer leader in Tehran  Ayatollah Ahmad Janati blamed the Ukraine crisis on the US and said “The Americans should now understand that actions against nations and revolutions will not always benefit them and that they should not unseat a popular ruler to install their own stooge.” Janati warned that America will suffer “adverse consequences” if it chooses to “meddle” in other countries’ internal affairs.

• Head of Research and Self-Sufficiency Organization of the Iranian Army Brig. Gen. Reza Zavarei announced the Army’s plan to develop a new missile system: “When we acquire the missile-production know-how, it means we can manufacture surface-to-surface missiles, anti-tank missiles as well as other types of missiles.”