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

• Reports on $3 billion embezzlement  in the banking sector:
  • Addressing people in Ardebil, Ahmadinejad said his government was the "purest government in history," and asked the judiciary to identify the elements involved in the embezzlement, regardless of "which group and current they may belong to."
  • Parliamentarian Mohammad Dehqani accuses Ahmadinejad's team of being corrupt at "historically unprecedented scale."
  • Parliamentarian Ali Mottahari says the judiciary's tactical retreats in all cases involving individuals protected by Ahmadinejad have led to the $3 billion embezzlement.
  • Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, temporary Tehran Friday prayer leader, comments on the $3 billion embezzlement in the banking sector:
    • "First, we praise those authorities who say they have discovered this corruption. But why must things come to this? Our problem is in the supervision system... One of the praiseworthy deeds in this field is the judiciary head's decision to ask Hojjat al-Eslam [Mohseni] Ezhehi, who is known for his decisiveness, to take over this case... This is what the people want... This case is a big case for the judiciary."   

Diplomacy

• Reports on "the Islamic awakening" in the region:
  • The Islamic Republic organizes the first "Islamic Awakening" conference to celebrate change in the Arab world.
  • Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei addresses the “Islamic Awakening" conference:
    • "The recent Islamic movements in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Bahrain and Yemen are divine blessings... Our position is to support and strengthen them and we hope that these Islamic movements will lead to total end to the domination of the main enemies, which are the Zionists and the United States... In addition to these advantages and potentials, one must also be watchful of threats and weaknesses including their attempts at instigating conflicts between different Islamic sects, particularly the Shi'a and Sunni... The world of arrogance has, in addition to the policy of Islamophobia, pursued a policy of Shi'a-phobia. And one must be vigilant in the face of such attempts... Islamic happiness, and particularly the happiness of the Shi'a, depends on unity amongst the Islamic community of believers..."
      • Foreign guests attending Khamenei's speech included Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah deputy secretary general, Sheikh Hassan Sultan from Bahrain, Hojjat al-Eslam Akbari from Afghanistan, Seyyed Amar Hakim, from Iraq, Hojjat al-Eslam Sheikh al-Omri from Saudi Arabia, and Ms. Hajar Hosseini from the United States.
  • Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, temporary Tehran Friday prayer leader:
    • "The fire of Islamic awakening was ignited eight months ago in the region and has led to many successes to the world of Islam, including the toppling of regional dictators, an anti-arrogance [anti-American] spirit, and seizure of the embassies of the bogus Zionist regime in Egypt and Jordan and their scandalous flight... The United States, which once had an agenda of Greater Middle East and [chanted the slogan of] 'From the Nile to Euphrates,' is today increasingly humiliated and the shouts of 'Death to America and Israel,' are resounding in the region. This is a message to the other nations of the region. They, too, can enter the arena and do away with the Zionist regime. The nations must give slaps in the mouths of collaborative governments which have built the embassies of this false regime in their countries... Another fruit of the Islamic awakening is the official announcements about their desire for Islam and religious democracy. This is the very thing that the arrogance has always feared and still fears..."  

Iran in the Afghan Media

• Afghan newspaper accuses the Iranian government of instigating sectarian violence in western Afghanistan.

Photos of the Day

• Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei at the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad.