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   

Politics

• Jomhouri-e Eslami's editorial praises Supreme Leader Khamenei's expression of remorse about mistaken population control policies in the 1990's. It asks other politicians to follow the same path and admit their mistakes.
• Shabakeh-ye Iran, related to Iran, mouthpiece of the Ahmadinejad government, says Khamenei's reference to "hypocrites" and "secular clergy" was addressed to Rafsanjani. 
• Kazem Jalali, representing the Principled Followers of Guardianship parliamentary faction, says Ali Larijani is the faction's "potential candidate" for the 2013 presidential election.
• Son of Mohammad-Reza Bahonar marries the daughter of Ali-Akbar Mohtashamipour. 

Diplomacy

• Khamenei addresses the youth in North Khorasan Province:
  • "Some in semi-intellectual circles warn the Iranian nation against ideological slogans... They want to transfer their own fear and terror to the people. This is why they all the time say: 'Ideological sloganeering provokes trouble, sanction and threats.' Should we regard such statements from a positive perspective, one must say that such people are ignorant of history..."
  • "Some statements propagated have a religious look, but in their essence they pursue separation between religion and life..."

Military and Security

• An "informed source" tells Mashregh News that Lebanese Hezbollah will soon release photos of Dimona nuclear power plant taken by the Islamic Republic made drone.
• Revolutionary Guards Commander Mohammad-Ali Aziz Jafari, addressing the armed forces in North Khorasan province: "The Guards has reached a point of strategic deterrence." 
• Jamal al-Din Boroumand, Revolutionary Guards Coordination deputy, discusses the drone which was shot down by the Israeli Air Force: "This [the drone] may be the act of the Zionist regime, and a psychological operation... Besides, the Zionist regime has many enemies. Apart from this, despite the claims of this regime concerning the Iron Dome, and the capabilities of its defensive shield, presence of this drone - in case this is not a psychological operation [staged by Israel] - shows that the shield is not very effective..."
• Digarban, referring Asr-e Emrooz, reports the crash of one F4 fighter in Bandar Abbas. 

Nuclear Issue

• Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast accuses the United States of "creating obstacles to the advance of the nuclear negotiations."

Economy

• Currency crisis:
  • Kamal Seyyd-Ali, former Central Bank currency deputy:
    • "Internationally, when one speaks of independence of the Central Bank, independence refers to responsibilities of the Central Bank, such as monetary policies... Controlling the level of liquidity, monitoring the performance of the banks, and managing the foreign currency market are responsibilities of the Central Bank. But when the Central Bank is organizationally placed below the three branches of the government, it means lack of independence of the Central Bank... Should the president or the parliament desire to restrict the Central Bank's independence, problems such as the current ones with the currency and profit arise: When the Central Bank reports to the Economy Minister, it leads to mixing of monetary and financial policies..."
  • According to Yahya Al-e Eshaq, Tehran Chamber of Industry and Mines director, $150 million is "injected into the market" on a daily basis, and "one thousand private sector units apply to the official Exchange Bureau Center in order to get hold of foreign currency."
  • Mohammad-Reza Pour-Ebrahimi, parliamentary Economic Committee deputy, accuses the Central Bank of ignoring "the public exchanging its rial savings into foreign currency in the past months." He adds: "Closure of foreign currency accounts must mean withdrawals in foreign currency, and the interest rate too must be paid in foreign currency."
  • Mohsen Salehi-Nia, deputy Industry, Mines and Commerce minister, reports "possible reduction of [subsidized] foreign currency to the industrial sector."
  • Arsalan Fathipour, parliamentary Economics Committee chairman, warns against $5 billion false dollar bills in the Iranian market.
  • Abrar reports financial problems of the Iranian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia because of the collapse of the rial.
  • Zohreh Tabibzadeh Nouri, parliamentarian, wonders why the government has allowed import of $265 million luxury automobiles into Iran in the past five months.
  • Shafaf News reports serious crisis in the automobile market because of the fluctuations in the foreign currency market.

Trade

• The Islamic Republic and Turkey agree on increasing transportation through the Bazargan border.

Energy

• Hamid Chitchian, senior adviser to the Energy Ministry, warns against energy shortages because of increased use of natural gas in winter.

Photo of the Day

• Table shows increasing prices of Iran Khodro auto parts.