Iran News Round Up

A selection of the latest news stories and editorials published in Iranian news outlets, compiled by Ali Alfoneh and Ahmad Majidyar. To receive this daily newsletter, please subscribe online.

(E) = Article in English   

 Economy

• Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei visits Bojnourd in North Khorasan province:
  • "The population control policy in early 1990's was correct, but continuing it by mid 1990's was wrong and the authorities of the state, including the leadership, are responsible for this mistake and must ask for God's forgiveness."
  • "Rising prices, and unemployment... are problems that all people are wrestling wit, but they are not impossible to solve, since the Islamic revolution has left problems greater than these behind in the course of the past thirty three years..."
  • "The sanctions issue is not new, and they have been there since the victory of the Islamic revolution, but the enemies are trying to depict them as greater than they are, and unfortunately there are those in the country who follow their line... The United States and some European countries are deceptively trying to connect these sanctions with the nuclear energy issue, but the sanctions began at the very beginning of the victory of the Islamic revolution, [at a time] when the issue of nuclear energy did not exist at all... They lie when they say 'if the Iranian nation abstains from nuclear energy, the sanctions will be removed.' The main reason behind these irrational sanctions - which can be considered as a form of savagery - is because of their hatred and malice against the Iranian nation... These sanctions are in reality a real war with an entire nation, but as the God prevails, the enemies will also be defeated in this war against the Iranian nation... Of course, the sanctions do create some problems, and imprudence [of some] may exacerbate these problems, but these problems are not issues that the Islamic Republic of Iran is incapable of solving."
  • "In the course of two to three hours there were some who sat fire a couple of trash cans in two streets of Tehran, after which some authorities of Western countries abandoning diplomatic sobriety expressed infantile happiness. One must ask them if the economic conditions in Iran are worse than the European countries which for the past year have been struggling with street level demonstrations...? Your economic problems are much more complicated than Iran's problems. Your economies have been locked..."

Photo of the Day

• Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei visits Bojnourd, North Khorasan province.