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

• According to Alef News, "the current of deviation" is planning to remove Interior Minister Mohammad-Mostafa Najjar prior to the parliamentary election.
• Najjar dismisses the rumors.
• Shafaf News looks at the 12 cabinet ministers dismissed by Ahmadinejad since 2005.
• As the parliamentary election approaches, Ali Larijani, parliamentary speaker, criticizes the increasing closeness of the reformists and Rafsanjani: "There was a time when they suddenly began mud-slinging by creating 'the Red Eminence' [the journalist Akbar Ganji's nickname for Rafsanjani whom Ganji accused of ordering assassinations  by the Intelligence Ministry]... Why have they now become comrades?"
• Guardian Council secretary Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati addressing clerical authorities from theological seminaries in Qom, Yazd, Kerman and Sistan va Balouchestan, warns against "attempts of certain individuals [Ahmadinejad] to change the path of the election contrary to the viewpoint of the Supreme Leader."
• Ahmadinejad addressing the governors defends Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei: "I have known Mashaei for the past 25 years. During all this time he has never abandoned his night prayers. He is innocent just like Beheshti the martyr, and I have no doubt that God will reward his innocence in a way that everyone will wonder."
• Ahmadinejad addresses crowds in Hamadan:
  • "I beg the scholars to excuse me: I do not believe that Muslim civilization was established in Andalusia. Had the Islamic civilization been established, this civilization would have never declined... How is it possible that someone who has with his spirit tasted the real Islamic civilization pursues other things..."
  • Fars News slams Ahmadinejad's foreign policy statements:
    • "[Ahmadinejad] should not feel compelled to make statements about things about which he is uncertain and ignorant... The president's position towards developments in certain Arab countries during the past months does not help to reveal the truth... and the positions have led to total passivity of the foreign policy... Ahmadinejad has no right in important issues to rely upon conclusions and sources of inspiration of unknown origin, and has no right to disregard the national interest... The second most important position in the country has no right to play a melody which only helps the enemy."

Diplomacy

• Kayhan slams Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi's meeting with Bahrain’s foreign minister.
• [E] Turkey's Ambassador to Iran Umit Yardim underlined that differences and disputes over a number of issues, including deployment of the NATO missile system in Turkey, cannot undermine Ankara's resolve to maintain and reinvigorate ties with Iran.
• [E] Ahmadinejad warned that the western countries are attempting to abort and derail popular uprisings in the region and the world in a bid to prevent empowerment of the US and Israel’s foes.

Military and Security

• Hojjat al-Eslam Hossein Ebrahimi, parliamentary National Security Committee member, says the idea of having a military hotline between Iran and the United States will only be realized when "the United States recognizes our rights."
• Revolutionary Guards Chief Mohammad Ali Jafari: "Due to the expansiveness of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and its attachment to the Basij, and the different fields in which the Islamic Revolution is enacted, the Guards are not only the strong and armed arm of the Leader, but they are also his strong unarmed arm... Defending the Islamic revolution as a living phenomenon which is in constant progress and development, requires preparedness of the Guards in political, cultural and ideological dimensions... As the Supreme Leader does not recognize any restrictions for the Guards in enactment of its duties in different dimensions of defense of the Islamic revolution, the Guards itself must today preserve its preparedness to defend the Islamic revolution and its achievements in all fields..."
• Yahya Rahim Safavi, former Revolutionary Guards chief and current military adviser to the Supreme Leader: "In my opinion, the Turks are moving in the wrong direction, which may have been decided for them by the Americans. The Turks have hitherto committed several strategic mistakes. One of them was Erdogan's recent visit to Egypt, where he talked about the secular model. This issue was unexpected and unimaginable for the people of Egypt, since the Egyptians are Muslim... Another strategic mistake of the Turks is allowing the missile defense of the United States on their soil. This issue could have a clear message to both Iran and Russia, but more than Russia, it has a clear message to Iran... Another strategic mistake of the Turks is to create mayhem in Syria along the same lines as the political pressures of the Americans, the Zionists, and Saudis. These issues are contrary to the slogans of the Turks, and shows they have dual [standards]. Therefore, the Turkish statesmen have not played a good role."
• Revolutionary Guards Chief Mohammad-Ali Jafari addresses 31,000 members of the Imam Ali internal security battalions which were established in the wake of the June 12, 2009 election unrest.
• Sobh-e Sadeq releases an interview with Ali Fadavi, Revolutionary Guards Navy chief:
  • "The military power of the United States is maritime. Naturally, the main battle field is the sea. When the sea is the main field of the battle, and the Revolutionary Guards Navy is the center of resisting and defending and safeguarding the Islamic revolution, it must be in good conditions. We are not in peace time. We are not even dealing with potential threats; rather, we are facing semi-actual threats. This means that we are in operational circumstances, and in operational circumstances, the [IRGC-N] Headquarters must be in the operational zone..."
  • "There is no shooting, which is due to the fact that we are at work. This is why the United States does not have the capability to attack us. For every year we have increased our capabilities, otherwise the enemy would have no second thoughts about attacking and annihilating us, but they can't. If they could, they would have done so until now. Let me say this, they know that if we are annihilated today, it is better than tomorrow, because we get stronger by the day. But they don't do anything because they can't. They are convinced that they can't, and this is a score for us..."
  • "There is a proclamation according to which the general responsibility of [safeguarding] the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf is the responsibility of the Revolutionary Guards’ Navy, and the [regular] Navy [is tasked with safeguarding] the Sea of Oman... This is no longer the case. In the eastern [parts of] of the Strait of Hormuz and the Sea of Oman, the [regular] Navy was positioned. In the Oman naval zone, the fourth Revolutionary Guards naval bases in Chahbahar and Jask [were established]. In peacetime, they operate as parts of the Revolutionary Guards Navy, and in war time they will operate in the service of the [regular] Army and will report to the Army... We have also a base in the Caspian Sea..."
• Hojjat al-Eslam Ali Saidi, representative of the Supreme Leader to the Revolutionary Guards, appoints Hojjat al-Eslam Abdollah Haji-Sadeqi as his deputy. Haji-Sadeqi has previously served as representative of the Supreme Leader at the Imam Hossein University, and has also been Qom Revolutionary Guards chief.
• Commander Ramazan Sharif, Revolutionary Guards public relations chief, says 21,000 journalists have been incorporated into the body of the Basij.

Religion, Society and Culture

• Students at Sharif University in Tehran commemorate the passing of Steve Jobs by offering dates to the mourners.
• According to Isa Hatefi, Bonab Law Enforcement chief, the police have discovered 13,000 satellite dishes during the past six months in the East Azerbaijan provincial city which has a population of less than 80,000.

Photos of the Day

• Old photo of Hezbollah leader Nasrallah.
• Ali-Akbar Salehi receives a delegation from Paraguay.