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:
  • Street clashes between Khamenei supporters and Ahmadinejad supporters:
    • Khamenei and Ahmadinejad supporters fight in the streets of Shiraz Saturday as Khamenei supporters attacked the new Shiraz governor appointed by Ahmadinejad.
    • Representative of the Supreme Leader to Shiraz attacks Ahmadinejad's "political" appointment of Farhad Sajadi as governor.
  • Clerical criticism of Ahmadinejad:
    • Ahmadinejad visits Qom without an official welcome or a public speech.
    • Hojjat al-Eslam Mohsen Qera'ati: "We have never accepted a matrimonial pact promising to spend the rest of our life with him. Any governmental authority who trespasses the boundary of monotheism, [prophetic] revelation and the boundary of the divine leadership must resign."
    • Members of the Basij of Theological Students in Qom write a letter of protest against Ahmadinejad's visit to Qom, protest against "the possibility of colorful presence of elements banished by the clergy and sources of emulation n this province."
    • Ammariyon News accuses Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei of "befriending the Wahabis," with reference to his meeting with the Sunni religious leaders Molavi Abd al-Hamid.
    • Hojjat al-Eslam Mahmoud Nabavian, a student of Ayatollah Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah Yazdi, addressing the people of Yazd accuses Ahmadinejad of "being a friend of the people of Israel." Audio: 
  • IRGC criticism of Ahmadinejad:
    • Said Qasemi mobilizes Revolutionary Guardsmen and Basij members against Ahmadinejad. Audio
    • Hassan Firouzabadi, chief of the General Staff: "Today there are some who are trying to establish deviant quarters detached from the clergy... We must be careful of institutions engaged in rivalry with or attempting to weaken the clergy."
    • According to Mojmal News, IRGC chief Mohammad-Ali Jafari has in an "unofficial meeting with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad" told him that the president's standing among "the people of the Guards and the Basij and the Hezbollahi class has been weakened. We are trying to control the Guards and the Basij, but we can't continue in all eternity."
  • Press criticism of Ahmadinejad:
    • Hamshahri-ye Eqtesad reports on economic and cultural underdevelopment in Ahmadinejad's home town of Aradan.
• Ali Larijani is reelected parliamentary speaker with 212 votes out of 244 total votes; 32 votes were blank.
• Mohsen Rezaei, former IRGC chief, calls opposition leaders Hojjat al-Eslam Mehdi Karrubi and Mir-Hossein Mousavi "servants and coolies of the United States."
• Health Minister Marziyeh Vahid Dastjerdi declines to participate at the Negah-e Yek [First Glance] TV program calling it too "critical" a program.

Diplomacy

• Abdul Rahman Yusuf, Egyptian poet, son of Yusuf al-Qaradawi, and a convert to Shi'ism, visits Iran at the helm of an Egyptian delegation.
• Egyptian authorities release an Iranian diplomat arrested for espionage but declare him persona non grata.
• [E] Former Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki warned of the attempts made by the US, British, Saudi and Bahraini governments to prevent materialization of people's demands and aspirations in the region, and said Washington is displeased with the democratic moves happening in the region.

Military and Security

• Ammariyon News starts registering volunteers for suicide terrorism against authorities in Bahrain.

Economy

• Tehran Stock Exchange experiences another round of sharp decline in value.

Trade

• [E] Iran stood atop the list of oil exporters to Turkey in the first quarter of 2011, the latest report of Turkey's Energy Market Regulatory Authority announced on Monday.
• [E] Head of Iran-South Korea Parliamentary Friendship Group Seyed Hassan Hashemi underlined the Iranian parliament's strong support for closer industrial ties between the two countries, especially in the power sector.

Religion, Society and Culture

• Grand Ayatollah Abdollah Javadi Amoli declares open kitchens "un-Islamic."

Photo of the Day

Mohsen Rezaei, former IRGC chief, speaks to a sparse audience in Mashhad