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

 Diplomacy

• Ahmadinejad meets the prime minister of Pakistan: "The enemies of the two nations and the nations of the region try to instigate insecurity and create obstacles in the path of development of the regional states, since their existence is dependent on creating discord and separation among the nations..."
• [E] Iranian mission denies report on Ahmadinejad's future visit to Columbia University.
• [E] Supreme Leader Khamenei announced that uprisings and movements in the Muslim countries serve as a prelude to greater developments and the rule of Islam over the world.

Military and Security

• Revolutionary Guards Chief Mohammad-Ali Aziz Jafari, addresses the funeral service of the martyrs killed in operations against PEJAK: "Operations of the Revolutionary Guards against the bandits, the counterrevolution and terrorist groups in northwestern parts of the country were among preventive moves of the Guards against the threats... Complete military preparedness is not to move against the enemy after they have materialized their threats. We must act in a way to deny the enemy the opportunity to enact its threats against us."
• Hossein Salami, Revolutionary Guards official, urges the PEJAK group to "seek the clemency of the Islamic regime," by laying down its arms.
• Abd al-Rahim Mousavi, army official, says the Devotees of the Realm of Guardianship war game is the most expansive air war game in Iran since the revolution of 1979.
  • According to spokesman Amir-Hossein Chitforoush, all the air force planes have participated in the war game.
• Ali Saidi, representative of the Supreme Leader to the Revolutionary Guards: "Most of the signs among the 1,200 signs of the emergence of the twelfth Imam have been realized. However, without change in the formation of the Middle East, the foundation for emergence will not be available." Saidi adds "personal, systemic, regional and international preparedness" are "the preconditions for the emergence." http://www.javanonline.ir/vdcjhyex8uqei8z.fsfu.txt
• Abbas Memarnezhad, Customs director, answers Ahmadinejad's accusations against the Revolutionary Guards' involvement in smuggling: "Since the president has said that we have unauthorized jetties, we certainly have them, but ask the Interior Ministry and the Law Enforcement Forces about their whereabouts."
• Fars News releases the biography of martyr Kazem Kazemi, Iran/Iraq war era Revolutionary Guards Intelligence Directorate chief.
• [E] The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) officially announced that the country's fighter jets have been equipped with anti-missile capability and are now able to detect and intercept any kind of incoming missiles.

Economy

• A Parliament's Research Center report condemns the government's use of funds from the National Development Fund to expand the Mehr Housing project as "illegal."
• Donya-ye Eqtesad welcomes "corrections" in the Iranian gold and foreign exchange market.

Trade

• Ali-Reza Zaghimi, National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company director, says the company has not managed to raise the $3.1 billion to build the Star of the Persian Gulf Refinery.
• Mousavi Pirouzi, Pars Energy Zone executive director, says a company from South Korea has signed a $20 million project with Iran to develop the Assalouyeh zone.

Iran in the Afghan media

• Afghan and Iranian border police traded fire in a disputed area in southwestern Nimroz province on Wednesday.

Photos of the Day

• Devotees of the Realm of Guardianship war game.