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

• Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, addressing students ahead of the anniversary of the Pupil's Day and the anniversary of the seizure of the US Embassy in Tehran, criticizes the United States for the ouster of Dr. Muhammad Mussadiq's government, and discusses public row within regime:
  • "The recent correspondence [between Ahmadinejad and Judiciary Chief Larijani] and issues discussed are not at all important, but such differences of opinion should not be related to the public and become pretexts for the foreign media and enemy abuse... Everyone must pay attention to his or her responsibilities under the present sensitive circumstances... From today until the [presidential] election day, anyone who tries to spread the conflict to the people in order to use public sentiments [for political purposes] has certainly betrayed the country."

Diplomacy

• Asr-e Iran columnist Jafar Mohammadi editorializes:
  • "A few days ago, one of the leaders of Canada's indigenous people was a guest of the Iranian government and had meetings with some of our country's authorities. It appears that following his visit to Iran, 'The Eternal Sisters' too will be the guests of our country. 'Eternal Sisters' is a native Canadian NGO investigating the destinies of missing native women of this country. As the leader of the indigenous Canadians has said, it is likely that a number of native Canadians will receive scholarships to study at Iranian universities, and international seminars concerning the rights of native Canadians will be arranged in Iran. This is of course not the first time that our government is hosting such individuals. Following the revolution in Egypt, for a long time the hotels in Iran were flooded by delegations representing different Egyptian groups who would come and go with the cost paid by our country. As if our authorities thought if they were invited to attend speeches [in Iran] and in the end were sent home to their country with gifts, Egypt and its revolution would be indebted to and inclined towards Iran (which did not happen!)."
  • "This is a long story, but no one imagined that one day, the native Canadians would share bread of Iranians! That the government of Canada, contrary to its democratic rules, has committed historical injustice towards the rights of the native people of this country and currently considers them as second class citizens is an issue confirmed by many. And it is therefore something to be condemned. However, the people of Iran are not the advocates of the [cause of] native Canadians, and should not pay for them from their pockets. Just like the government of Canada is not allowed to intervene [in internal affairs of Iran] on behalf of the Iranian people."
  • "Because of the special circumstances in which we find ourselves, the budget of many governmental, medical, educational centers, and the development budget and even the salaries of the public servants have decreased. Just today, Dr. Ali Larijani, parliamentary speaker, announced: 'Iran's 2013 budget is 430 trillion rial, 15 trillion of which is unlikely to finance... The current conditions of the country are not like previous years where we could provide various budgets to the provinces.' (Mehr News Agency]. Therefore, when we are in the midst of such problems, to the degree that on many occasions workers have not been paid for a long time, using money on others, including the recent [expenditures] on native Canadians, is absolutely no priority. And fundamentally, supporting the native Canadians is not among the demands of the Iranian people from their statesmen."
  • "Purchasing return tickets from and to Canada to the members of the 'Eternal Sisters' association, hosting them in Iran for a few days and afterwards inviting 'Eternal Brothers,' 'Kind Mothers,' and 'Steadfast Fathers' and the like among the midst of native Canadians, touring them around the country, giving their children scholarships at our universities, and providing them with other types of support will never be in line with the current economy of the country which is defined within the framework of 'Resistance Economics.'"
  • "It might be said that doing such things does not cost much. But regardless of the rial cost of such deeds, does the Iranian public in general approve of such things? Are there no more benevolent deeds to be done in this country, and no other priorities? Second, do such actions not have a negative impact on public psychology?"
  • "Such initiatives may be effective in the realm of politics, but they will only be beneficial when the necessities of the people are guaranteed. Not when the people are not paid their salaries for months, or envy a simple meal. Or when at the first day of the month find out that the government no longer pays them their extra work bonus, but at night watch on Channel One that the honorable native Canadians come and go to Iran at the cost of the Iranian nation, and may in the end deal a few insults to the government of Canada!"
    • The vast majority of the reader comments slam the regime for impoverishing the Iranian public while distributing Iran's oil and gas wealth among non Iranians for political purposes.
• [E] Iranian Minister of Communication and Information Technology Reza Taqipour on Wednesday categorically denied his ministry's alleged complicity in cyber attacks on the western countries' data and banking networks.
• [E] The Islamic Republic of Iran on Wednesday offered to provide the US with rescue and relief assistance hours after super storm Sandy battered the US East coast. 
• [E] Khamenei described the US administration as the most hated government in the world, saying that the White House has enslaved the American nation to Zionists. 

Military and Security

• Ayatollah Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani, head of the office of the Supreme Leader:
  • "I am convinced that should it be necessary one day and should the Commander in Chief decide so, the Sacred Defense will be repeated and the youth, men and women of this realm will not withhold the least in defense of the realm, the regime and their leader and will stay with the revolution to the very end."
• The Basij calls for applications for "full time positions" in the Basij.

Economy

• Temporary Tehran Friday prayer leader Hojjat al-Eslam Kazem Sediqi addressing the Basij members urges the public not to worry about the rising prices and economic problems and stressed: "The devout will not deviate from the path because of these ups and downs."
• Religious praise singer Mansour Arzi urges the public to tolerate the hardships "for the sake of the Leader."

Trade

• According to Press TV, the international sanctions regime is endangering Iranians in need of imported medicine.
  • According to Asr-e Iran, quoted by Digarban, the Iranian public is now purchasing medicine in Turkey.
  • Mehr News reports on medical aid activities of the Islamic Republic in Zimbabwe, Ghana, Kenya, Sierra Leone, the Ivory Coast and other African and Latin American countries.

Media

• Naeimeh Eshraghi, Grand Ayatollah Khomeini's granddaughter, talks about her affection for Facebook, which is filtered in Iran.
  • She became a public figure following her interview about the Hijab with the Jamaran website. 

Religion, Society and Culture

• Khamenei blesses a sugar cube to restore the sight of a blind child.

Photo of the Day

• Naeimeh Eshraghi's Facebook profile.