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

Military and Security

• News stories related to a blast at a military base in Iran:
  • Fars News reports an explosion in the Revolutionary Guards' Martyr Moddares Garrison in Bidkaneh village, Malard district, in Alborz province.
  • Ramezan Sharif, Revolutionary Guards Public Relations commander, says the explosion had taken place in the Self Sufficiency Jihad Organization of the Guards, and that 27 Guardsmen had been killed, and 16 wounded. Sharif stresses that the explosion took place during "transfer of explosives from the storage to other activities," and urges the public "not to believe the rumors and strange [casualty] statistics circulating."
  • According to Mehr News, Sharif said: "This explosion has nothing to do with a nuclear test as reported by some foreign media." Correcting its previous report,
  • Fars News writes that "17" individuals were killed in the explosion.
  • Explosion shockwaves even felt in the eastern-most part of Tehran. 
  • Esmail Kowsari, parliamentary National Security Committee deputy, dismisses the possibility of "sabotage."
  • Farda News warns the public against cooperating with the BBC reporting on the explosion.
  • According to Mahmoud Mozaffar, Red Crescent chief, only 6 members of a rescue team were allowed to enter the garrison to look for survivors.
  • Mehr News says the press was prevented from entering the explosion site.
  • Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei participates at the funeral of those killed in the Malard blast. http://www.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=13900823000515
  • According to Fars News, Hassan Tehrani Moqaddam, Revolutionary Guards Self Sufficiency Organization commander, is among those killed in the explosion.
    • According to Alef News Tehrani Moqaddam was also a "war veteran" and a "researcher at Imam Hossein University."
    • The Revolutionary Guards issues an official statements on the occasion of the explosion in Malard: "There is no doubt that the sacred path of the proud martyred Major General Hassan [Tehrani] Moqaddam, Revolutionary Guards Self Sufficiency Organization and Industrial Research Center of the Guards, and founder of the Revolutionary Guards Artillery and Missile [Directorate] of the Guards during the honorable years of the sacred defense... will continue."
    • Major General Mostafa Izadi of the Revolutionary Guards provides biographical information about Hassan Moqaddam.
    • Commander Hossein Alaei: "Hassan Tehrani Moqaddam... lost his life while preparing to counter the latest threats..."
    • Farda News provides a list of some of the prominent individuals who visited Tehrani Moqaddam's family Saturday evening to pay their respects to the deceased commander's family: Ali Larijani, Said Jalili, Mohsen Rezaei, Hossein Salami, Hojjat al-Eslam Ali Saidi, Ali Fazli, hojjat al-Eslam Mousa Qorbani, and Qassem Suleimani.
    • Parsine releases the names of the prominent individuals visiting the Tehrani Moqaddam's family Sunday evening: Mohammad-Ali Jafari, Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, Mohammad-Reza Naqdi, Ali Abdollahi, Hamid-Reza Moqaddamfar, Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam and Ahmad-Reza Radan.
    • Asr-e Iran releases the names of the martyrs whose burial processions took place in Tehran: Hassan Tehrani-Moqaddam, Javad Salimi, Ali-Asghar Mansourian, Mehdi Dashtbanzadeh, Mohammad-Qassem Salagi, Mehdi Navab, Hossein Fardouni, and Meisam Jahangiri.
  • Asr-e Iran criticizes the "self censorship of the Iranian media" in the wake of the explosion.
• Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei addresses graduates of Imam Ali University:
  • "Anyone who is thinking of attacking the Islamic Republic of Iran should prepare himself for receiving hard slaps and the steel fists of the Army, the Guards, the Basij, and in one word, the great Iranian nation.
  • Ali-Mohammad Naeini, Imam Hossein University Cultural and Social Studies commander, comments on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's threats against the United States and Israel.
• Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi says Iran will launch the Fajr, Navid and Toloue satellites into orbit within a year.
• Army Ground Forces commander Ahmad-Reza Pourdastan says the United States and Israel are "not in a condition to attack Iran."
• Farda News releases a never-before-seen photo of Qods Force commander Qassem Suleimani,
• Iranian authorities arrest "two Kuwaiti spies" in Abadan.
• An Iraqi military delegation led by the Chief of the General Staff visits Mohammad Pakpour, the Revolutionary Guards Ground Forces commander.
• Ahmad Rezaei, son of former IRGC chief and current Expediency Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei, dies "under mysterious circumstances" in Gloria Hotel in Dubai.
  • Shafaf News accuses the CIA and Mossad of his murder.
  • Mashregh News said it was electrocution.
  • Ammariyoun News says the UAE police will deliver Rezaei's body to the United States Embassy.
• Ali-Naqi Hemmati, Semnan Revolutionary Guards commander, says the Guards are planning to build "resistance bases next to mosques."

Nuclear Issue

• [E] A senior member of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission described the latest report by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Chief Yukiya Amano on the Islamic Republic's nuclear capabilities as unreal and childish, and said the report lacks creditability.

Economy

• [E] Iranian Minister of Industry, Mine and Commerce Mehdi Qazanfari underscored Iran's ability to stand up to sanctions, saying that the country is too strong and too wise to be hurt by such moves.

Photo of the Day

• Explosion at Iranian military base.
• Qods Force chief Qassem Suleimani guides Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei at the Kerman War Museum in 2005.