Iran News Round Up

A selection of the latest news stories and editorials published in Iranian news outlets, compiled by AEI Critical Threats Project Iran Analyst Will Fulton and Iran Intern Amir Toumaj. To receive this daily newsletter, please subscribe online.

Politics

• Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appointed Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Secretary and former IRGC and Artesh Navy Commander Maj. Gen. Ali Shamkhani as the Representative of the Supreme Leader to the SNSC for three years. 
• In a separate decree, the Supreme Leader appointed former SNSC Secretary and Presidential candidate Said Jalili to the Expediency Discernment Council. 
• National Security and Foreign Policy Parliamentary Commission (NSFP) Chairman Alaeddin Boroujerdi welcomed the evacuation of Mojahedin-e Khalgh (MEK)  members from Camp Ashraf, Iraq and said, “With the attention that we have given to 16 thousand [victims] martyred by the terrorist Hypocrite organization [MEK], we believe that Iran, in coordination with the Iraqi government, should send a team to review the base’s documents and status so that the depths of their crimes can be placed in the hands of global public opinion. With this investigation, America and Europe, as governments that removed this terrorist organization from the list of terrorist organizations, must answer public opinion based on international standards.” 
• NSFP Vice-Chairman MP Mansour Haghighat Pour echoed this sentiment and stated, “The Hypocrites must be pursued by revolutionaries…. I hope that the entire earth becomes cleansed of the Hypocrites’ filth because they are unclean elements.”

Regional Developments

• MEK members evacuated Camp Ashraf, Iraq, after a September 1 attack that left dozens dead and was claimed by Iranian media to be carried out by “Iraqi protestors.” Under UN supervision, members were relocated to Camp Liberty. An Iraqi source predicts that many documents regarding the group’s cooperation with Saddam Hussain to suppress Kurds in the early 1990’s and its measures against the Islamic Republic will now be available. 
• Tasnim News Agency claims that half of the Lebanese Hezbollah members fighting in Homs, Syria are “Sunni Muslims” numbering “in the hundreds.” 
• Sadr Movement Leader Muqtada al-Sadr announced today that he has foregone his resignation from politics and will return to Iraqi politics “based on the requests of his followers.” 

Diplomacy

• President Hassan Rouhani met with China Premier Xi Jinping and discussed bilateral relations and the Syrian crisis at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kazakhstan:
  • “There are many ways to expand Iranian and Chinese relations in bilateral, regional and international fields that the two countries must consider.”
  •  “Iran is prepared to begin cooperation and effective and constructive action with China in regional matters, particularly in resolving the Syrian crisis.” 
• President Rouhani is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin tomorrow to discuss the expansion of bilateral relations.
• Afghani President Hamid Karzai invited President Rouhani to visit the country. Rouhani considered “the presence of foreign forces in the region, especially Afghanistan, to be fostering extremism” and announced Iran’s commitment to Afghan security and stability.
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs formally thanked the Iraqi government for its efforts in closing Camp Ashraf.

Military and Security

• Minister of Intelligence Hojjat al-Eslam Mahmoud Alavi congratulated the “Iraqi and Iranian nations” on the MEK evacuation of Camp Ashraf and stated, “It must be said that those who were deceived by this group" can return to Iran "if their hands have not been tainted by blood.” 
• Head of the Basij Seminary Students Organization Hojjat al-Eslam Amir Hossein Shahani announced the readiness of hundreds of “Basiji seminary students” to go to Syria, and added, “In the case of America’s potential invasion of Syria, Basiji seminary students are eagerly prepared to stand against the enemies and this confrontation will doubtlessly be their honor. Just as they have during the eight years of the Sacred Defense [Iran-Iraq War], seminary students and clergyman will lead defensive combat.”
• Representative of the Supreme Leader to the IRGC Hojjat al-Eslam Ali Saidi said, “The Hypocrites evacuated Camp Ashraf last night in humiliation and went to a different location. Currently, America is seeking an abode for this current so it can support it.”
• Artesh Navy Deputy Commander Rear Admiral Gholam Reza Khadem Bi Gham said, “The Navy of the Islamic Republic's defensive and technological system is so advanced that we consider the Persian Gulf to be part of our soil. The Persian Gulf is not like the past, meaning that if we want to defend our interests in the Persian Gulf, we do not require advanced and overly complicated technology. Regardless, there are many good pieces of equipment available at the hands of the [IRGC] and our brothers in the [IRGC] are conducting their work appropriately and competently in this field.” 

Nuclear Issue

• The new Iranian representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reiterated his predecessor’s previous positions and said that Iran will “not let go of the right to enjoy peaceful nuclear energy.” He added that he looks forward to cooperating with the IAEA.

Economy

• Head of the Basij Organization Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Naghdi announced that the organization has a “big plan” to produce dairy and poultry products, alleging that the country possesses the capacity to feed “more than 200 million people.”

Photo of the Day

• President Hassan Rouhani meets with China Premier Xi Jinping in Kazakhstan.