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 in Iran:
  • A website close to Tehran Mayor Qalibaf writes that Hojjat al-Eslam Abbas Amiri-Far, Friday prayer leader of the presidency, was Ahmadinejad's candidate for the Intelligence Ministry.
    • According to ISNA, Hojjat al-Eslam Amiri-Far was arrested on charges of complicity in production of the CD-Rom "Emergence [of the Imam of the Era] is Near."
    • According to Digarban, other individuals close to Ahmadineajd who have been arrested during the past few days include Abbas Qaffari, and Ali-Reza Sichani.
  • Parliamentarian Hossein Fadayi addresses members of the Basij of the Professors in Yazd province: "There is a deviant current saying: 'When you can get direct orders from the Imam of the Era, why do you need a Guardian Jurist?' Those who consider themselves Islamologists and not in need of a Guardian Jurist are deviants... There are also some other issues about the deviant current and the infiltrators. It is said that they council the evil spirits and the devil. Such things is beneath the dignity of devout Shia who emulate the line of the Guardianship."
  • Expediency Council member Morteza Nabavi warns against a "deviant current" within the Principalist camp. 
  • Ammariyon News launches a new round of attacks against Ahmadinejad.

Military and Security

• Air Defense Chief Farzad Esmaili says the "comprehensive air defense plan" will secure Iran's air space up to 80,000 feet.
• The Green Movement's analysts report increased rivalry between the Revolutionary Guards and the Intelligence Ministry:  
  • "Last month, Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi submitted a comprehensive report to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei" containing the following passages: 
  • "Following clerical criticism of Ahmadinejad's behavior and the policies of his government, Ahmadinejad supporters have pressured the theologians through the Counter Espionage Directorate of the Revolutionary Guards... By installing listening devices in their classes and their offices, they have tried to force them to cooperate with the government and approve of his [Ahmadinejad's] initiatives... In reaction, some theologians threatened to react and put the government in its place, which led the Revolutionary Guards to station special forces units in Qum to suppress any unpredictable movement... This has further angered the theologians." 
  • "Following the Office of the Supreme Leader's decision to transfer the main part of the oil revenue to a special account supervised by a three man group headed by Mojtaba Khamenei... Ahmadinejad used the first cabinet session following this decision to attack Mr. Khamenei and his entourage. He called this decision insulting and restriction of the cabinet's access to the oil revenue. He [Ahmadinejad] called the Supreme Leader 'ignorant' and a 'tool.'"
  • "Ahmadinejad has recently sent [Intelligence Minister] Heydar Moslehi the names of 45 senior Intelligence Ministry officials and has demanded their dismissal... Ahmadinejad had also said that according to the investigations of the Revolutionary Guards Counter Espionage Directorate, these individuals had not shown the necessary loyalty towards the cabinet and must be replaced with a number of individuals soon to be identified by the cabinet... Heydar Moslahi had in his report to Ayatollah Khamenei called 'acceptance of this demand' a 'serious blow to the body of the Intelligence Ministry.'"
  • "In Moslehi's report, there is also account of surfacing of a number of microphones in the wake of infiltration of the ministry by members of the Revolutionary Guards Counter Espionage units... According to the report, with Ahmadinejad's knowledge, the Office of the Supreme Leader too was tapped."
  • "In February, a group of internal security forces close to Ahmadinejad visited Dubai as a trade mission... They also met with two American political/military authorities in the United Arab Emirates. In the report, the Intelligence Ministry has strongly warned the Leader of the consequences of such deeds." 
  • "The Ministry of Industries has in a confidential report to the parliament - officially also submitted to the Intelligence Ministry - reported that it is not capable of explaining the oil and industrial agreements between Iran and China and Iran and Malaysia and is not aware of their content. The Ministry of Industries has also reported that it has not played any role in those activities. Following the disclosure of the report in the parliament, Ahmadinejad sarcastically tells the Industry Minister: 'This is why we have decided to dissolve the Ministry of Industries.'"
  • "The Oil Ministry has in a report to the parliamentary Energy Committee stressed that it is completely ignorant of the level of fuel exports through the tenth countrywide pipeline and is not willing to accept any responsibility in this regard since this pipeline is not at all under the ministry's control and its revenues are not sent to the government... The report also discloses that the Kish subsea pipeline - built by the Revolutionary Guards and Chinese companies - exports great amounts of fuel which has resulted in $3 billion discrepancy in the oil revenue, which the Oil Ministry no longer desires to be accountable for. According to the Intelligence Ministry, the 600 kilometers long Ahwaz-Dehgolan pipeline, has resulted in $580 million embezzlement by the Revolutionary Guards. The amount has been tracked to two personal accounts in Malaysia. There is also report of $2 billion embezzlement in the Neka-Jask pipeline. The amount has been traced to personal bank accounts - in China - of several senior Revolutionary Guards commanders."

Nuclear Issue

• Bultan News says Catherine Ashton, European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs, is trying to create a conflict between Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi and nuclear negotiator Said Jalili by communicating exclusively with Salehi.

Diplomacy

[E] Iranian Foreign Minister underlines Tehran's willingness to further expand ties and cooperation with Sudan.

[E] Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman says Bin Laden's death leaves the US and its allies with no excuse to stay in Afghanistan.

[E] Senior Iranian lawmaker raises doubts about the Bin Laden’s death, saying, “We are not sure how accurate the announcement made by the United States is as they have in the past claimed that Bin Laden has been killed.”

Photos of the Day

• Line to purchase gold.