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

• Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei stressed the need for ideological preservation in confronting the West in a meeting with Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and other senior lawmakers:
  • “Those who want to promote compromise and submit to bullying powers, and accuse the Islamic establishment of warmongering are in fact committing treachery.”
  • “The reason behind the emphasis on the campaign is not the Islamic establishment’s warmongering, but wisdom and logic necessitates that equip oneself in order to pass through region swarming with pirates, and have the ability to defend oneself.”

• Ali Larijani was elected parliament speaker for the third consecutive year, receiving 187 out of 364 votes.

• Defense Minister and Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commander  Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehghan responsed to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel’s statement that Iran’s missile program should be included in the negotiations and said:
  • “Iran’s missile defense capacity is a conventional deterrent and is not negotiable.  If the missile defense capacity is brought up after a nuclear deal is made then the complete destruction of the Zionist regime’s nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons must be ordered in order to have a Middle East free of nuclear weapons.” 

• Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton in Istanbul on May 26-27 to review progress of the Iran and P5+1 talks.

• International and Legal Affairs Deputy to the Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi discussed the meeting between Zarif and Ashton in Istanbul:
  • “It has been decided that [negotiations] will be continued at two technical and political levels, if necessary, until the next round of talks between Iran and the P5+1.”
  • “The talks with the West have neither failed, nor reached a deadlock. Negotiations continue, although we have not reached tangible progress yet, which is not unusual.”
  • “In the course of the negotiations we seek to establish Iran’s right to enrichment and to eliminate the excuses for exerting more [sanctions] on Iran.”

• IRGC Air Force Commander Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Haji Zadeh said “We are not optimistic [about negotiations with the P5+1] but the [Rouhani] administration should continue the process.” He added:
  • “Iran’s defensive capabilities will not be on the agenda of any negotiations, but Iran will enhance its defense and missile capabilities.”
  •  "When we say that the Americans cannot commit any folly against Iran it is not just a slogan. Iran is aware of the capabilities and nature of itself and of the Americans and will emerge victorious in any war."

• Armed Forces General Staff Headquarters Chief Maj. Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi spoke about the conflict in Syria:
  • “The opponents and their military capabilities in Syria were defeated and it was proven that cooperation among them is not possible.”
  • “Under the current circumstances the terrorists in Syria only have two choices: first they can lay down their arms and surrender to the Syrian government, or they find a way to escape.”
  • “America has constructed a house on wind in Syria. American intervention in Syria has accomplished nothing except create hate between the Syrian people and other countries.”

• Former Head of the Fars Province Foundation for Martyrs and Self-Sacrifice Affairs Brig. Gen. Abdollah Eskandari was killed in Syria, according to reports. Eskandari managed the Fars Province Foundation for Martyrs and Self-Sacrifice Affairs until 2013; he then joined fighters ‘protecting the Seyyeda Zeinab shrine’ in Syria.

• Foreign Minister Zarif sent a congratulatory message to Hezbollah’s Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah commending the “Resistance” movement on the 14^th anniversary of the liberation of southern Lebanon. 
  • Zarif traveled to Algeria on Sunday to attend a Non-Aligned Movement ministerial conference in Algiers.

• IRGC Air Force Antonov plane caught on fire while landing in Yazd airport due to a reported technical malfunction. 

• Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) Deputy Commander Brig. Gen. Ahmad Reza Radan was appointed Head of the LEF Strategic Research Center. Former Head of LEF Intelligence and Security Brig. Gen. Hossein Ashtari replaced Radan as LEF Deputy Commander.