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

Politics

• Members of the parliament will present their complaints against Ahmadinejad next week.
• Ayatollah Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah Yazdi addresses an assembly of Revolutionary Guards commanders: "There are some people in this country whom we once loved and were interested in [Ahmadinejad]. But today we do not respect them because they themselves did away with their honor and detached themselves from the guardianship."
• Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi purges Oil Ministry officials, makes new appointments.

Diplomacy

• Ahmadinejad promises that the American hikers in Iran can be "bailed out in two days."
  • Jahan News and Shafaf News, mouthpieces of Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf, criticizes Ahmadinejad's announcement about the release of Americans. 
• According to Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, Ahmadinejad will visit Venezuela after his trip to the United Nations.

Military and Security

• Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei appoints Hojjat al-Eslam Ali Shirazi his representative to the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards. Shirazi, who previously was representative of the Supreme Leader to the Revolutionary Guards Navy, replaces Hojjat al-Eslam Esmail Sa'adat.
• Mashreq News documents that the Iranian press and mass media were prohibited from reporting on Ahmadinejad's visit to the Intelligence Ministry where he addressed the employees of the ministry.
• Hojjat al-Eslam Ali Saidi, representative of the Supreme Leader to the Revolutionary Guards, at a private meeting with the president: "You carried with you values and ideals which you could have saved so that your name would be remembered as a hero in the history of Iran. But unfortunately your path was changed."
• Mohammad-Mehdi Abd-e-Khodayi, former member of the Fadayian-e Eslam terrorist group, recalls the group's attempts to assassinate Ahmad Kasravi, a scholar killed by the group in 1946.
• [E] Senior Iranian Air Force commanders announced on Thursday that the country has successfully test-fired a home-made anti-radar smart missile, capable of destroying even mobile targets with 100 percent precision.

Photo of the Day

• Hojjat al-Eslam Ali Shirazi, representative of the Supreme Leader to the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards.