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 

 Diplomacy

• Iranian leaders’ reaction to "Innocence of Muslims" film:
  • Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei:
    • "The evil hand of Islam’s enemies has once more demonstrated its deep enmity by insulting the Great Prophet... And with an insane and hateful action, it showed the wrath of evil Zionist networks against shinning Islam and Quran in today's world... Behind the scenes of this wicked move lie the hostile policies of Zionism, the United States and other heads of Global Arrogance, who falsely believe they can disrespect what is sacred in Islam in the eyes of the youth in the world of Islam... Had they not supported previous links of this wicked thread – meaning Salman Rushdie, the Danish caricaturist and the American priest who burned the Quran –and had they not ordered tens of anti-Islam movies at the agencies linked with Zionist capitalists, things would not have evolved to this great and inexcusable sin... The primary suspect in this crime is Zionism and the government of the United States. If American politicians are honest in their claim that they are not involved, they should punish the perpetrators of this hideous crime and their financial backers who have hurt the feelings of Muslim nations, with a punishment equal to this great crime." 
  • Digarban wonders why Ahmadinejad is totally silent about the controversial movie clip about the prophet Muhammad.
  • Sheikh Hassan Sanei, representative of the Supreme Leader to and the director of the 15th of Khordad Foundation, condemns the movie and increases the prize for the murder of British author Salman Rushdie to $3.3 million. In 1989, Khomeini issued death sentence for Rushdie because of The Satanic Verses.

Military and Security

• Mohammad-Ali Aziz Jafari, Revolutionary Guards commander, for the first time admits the presence of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards in Syria:
  • "Everyone knows that the Guards had and still has a so-called Islamic Movements unit, which was formed to assist the oppressed and export the Islamic revolution... Since the establishment of the Quds Force, this unit has aimed to support the oppressed, particularly Muslim nations. In the past, too, a number of Quds Force members were present in Syria, but this does not mean military presence in this country..."
  • "If we make a comparison [between Iran] and Arab and non-Arab states, we see that Iran has no such presence in Syria. We extend intellectual and consultancy support to Syria as a part of the resistance ring which the Supreme Leader also referred to, and Iran takes pride in this issue and the aid. The Guards extends any intellectual and even economic support, but has no military presence, while some countries have no restraints when it comes to supporting terrorism in this country. We of course strongly condemn this and do not accept it..."
  • "[Answering a question regarding the Islamic Republic's security agreement with Syria] This issue depends on the circumstances. In case there is a military attack against Syria, Iran too will extend military support. It is not clear, and it totally depends on the circumstances."
  • "From the past, there has been unity between Syria and Lebanon, and different conditions apply to [relations] between Iran, Syria, Iran and Lebanon... Decision-making of the resistance forces and Hezbollah's decision-making process is independent of us. Should they go to aid Syria or not depends on themselves... However, it is natural that since Syria's military forces until a few years ago were present in Lebanon in order to preserve the security of this country, the people and government of Lebanon come to their [Syria] aid after obtaining the necessary permits. But Iran has not had any intervention in this regard. Of course, it is our assessment that there is no need for external support in order to preserve the security in Syria, since 50,000 popular forces called Jaysh al-Sha'bi are fighting alongside the Syrian military against the coward attacks against Syria conducted by regional and extra-regional forces... Of course, we must know that the resistance front is formed by devout people in different countries. It is not dependent on states, and they will only enter the arena as a [religious] duty..."    
    • Discussing Iran’s responses to potential Israeli attacks against Iran:
      • "If the Zionist regime takes action against Iran there would be nothing left of Israel. And the geographic size of this country, its vulnerabilities and the volume of our missiles taken into consideration, I doubt any place in Israel would be left intact..."  
    • About the June 2013 presidential election:
      • "The Guards does not feel any threat to this election and does not see any reason to take any specific measure in this regard... The Guards may enlighten [the public], but the attention and vigilance of the public taken into consideration, there may not even be a need to do that."
      • "There are different levels of reformists. Some of them are radical, but of course, we see that these reformists have lately expressed their unhappiness and repentance concerning the radicalism of this group. Should the reformists abstain from radicalism, they can be present in the elections like the rest."
    • Comments on the Muslim rage against the United States and the West in the wake of release of a blasphemous video depicting the life of the Prophet of Islam:
      • "There is no justification for murder and it is not right. Under any circumstances, the sentiment of the Muslims has been hurt and the only thing they could do was to show their anger at the embassies. In the course of the protests violence has taken place, but the issue is that no one is aware of a Muslim insulting the faith of Jesus or His Holiness Jesus or the Jewish faith. They depict insults against Muslims as freedom of speech, but we are convinced that these acts are premeditated. They should know that such things would have negative effects..." 

Nuclear Issue

• Said Jalili, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, and Catherine Ashton, EU's foreign policy coordinator, meet Tuesday in Istanbul to continue the dialogue on Iran's nuclear program. 

Photo of the Day

• Revolutionary Guards Commander Mohammad-Ali Aziz Jafari at a press conference.