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 Analysts Marie Donovan, Paul Bucala, and Caitlin Shayda Pendleton with contributors Shayan Enferadi and Hirad Yaldaei. To receive this daily newsletter, please subscribe online.

(E) = Article in English

Excerpts of these translations may only be used with the expressed consent of the authors.

Key takeaway: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called upon Islamic countries to “fundamentally reconsider” Saudi Arabia’s management of the Hajj pilgrimage, which is scheduled to begin on September 9.

Khamenei claimed that Saudi Arabia “martyred” those injured during the 2015 Hajj stampede instead of providing them with medical treatment. The 2015 Hajj stampede reportedly killed over 2,200 pilgrims, including more than 400 Iranians. Khamenei called Saudi Arabia’s rulers “small and puny satans who tremble for fear of jeopardizing the interests of the Great Satan,” and accused Saudi Arabia of “barring  Iranian pilgrims” from participating in this year’s Hajj. In response to Khamenei’s comments, Saudi Arabia's top cleric, Grand Mufti Abdulaziz Al Sheikh, claimed that Iranians are not “Muslims,” stating, “We must understand they are not Muslims... and their enmity toward Muslims, especially the Sunnis, is very old,” according to a translation published by the Associated Press. 

Conservative newspaper Kayhan published images of letters from Bank Mellat and Bank Sepah refusing business with entities connected to the IRGC Khatam ol Anbia Construction Base, the IRGC’s engineering wing. Kayhan claims that “some” Iranian banks have decided to “self-sanction” themselves due to concerns over international sanctions. In response to the article published byKayhan, Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Head Valiollah Seif issued a statement claiming that “Iranian financial institutions can have financial and business relations with any individual or institution, whether or not they are on the sanctions lists.”

Reuters reported that IRGC fast-attack craft “harassed” a U.S. Navy coastal patrol ship in the central Persian Gulf, marking the fourth reported incident between the U.S. Navy and the IRGC in the Gulf in less than a month.

AEI Must-Reads

• Marie Donovan analyzes how Russia’s use of an Iranian air base could improve Iran’s deterrence capabilities against the U.S. in “Russian Basing in Iran is about More than ISIS.”
   
• Christopher Harmer explains why international attention must turn to Moscow’s delivery of the S-300 surface-to-air missile system to Iran in “The Strategic Impact of the S-300 in Iran."

Regional Developments & Diplomacy

• Khamenei: Muslim world must “fundamentally reconsider” Saudi management of holy places. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a statement ahead of the annual Hajj pilgrimage, which will begin on September 9. Khamenei claimed that Saudi Arabia “martyred” those injured during the 2015 Hajj stampede at Mina rather than assisting them in a timely manner. Khamenei called Saudi Arabia’s rulers “small and puny satans who tremble for fear of jeopardizing the interests of the Great Satan,” or the U.S.Khamenei criticized Saudi Arabia for “barring Iranian pilgrims” from participating in this year’s Hajj and for failing to apologize for the Mina stampede. Khamenei argued that “because of these rulers’ oppressive behavior towards God’s guests, the world of Islam must fundamentally reconsider management of the holy places and the issue of the Hajj.” (Leader.ir) (E) (Fars News Agency)
  • Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to the Supreme Leader Ali Akbar Velayati stated that the Mina tragedy will “uproot” Saudi Arabia’s rulers during remarks commemorating the anniversary of the stampede. (Tasnim News Agency) (E) 
     
• Russian warships to dock at Iranian port. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghassemi confirmed reports that the Gepard-class frigate Tatarstan and the Buyan-class corvette Grad Sviyazhsk will dock at Iran’s Anzali port in the Caspian Sea in the near future. Ghassemi also announced that two Iranian warships will dock at a Russian port in the Caspian Sea in the near future. (Damadan)
   
• Iran, UK appoint ambassadors for the first time since 2011. Iran appointed Hamid Baeidinejad, the Foreign Ministry’s Director for Political and International Affairs, as ambassador to London while the UK appointed Nicholas Hopton, the current chargé d’affaires in Tehran, to the position of ambassador. The announcement comes more than a year since the UK re-opened its embassy in Tehran after it was stormed by protesters in 2011. Prominent Iranian hardliners voiced their opposition to the re-opening of the embassy at the time. Hamid Baeidinejad previously served as a senior negotiator on Iran’s nuclear negotiating team and has held several senior positions with Iran’s missions to the UN. (Asr Iran)
   
• Zarif attends Uzbek president’s funeral. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif led a diplomatic delegation to attend the funeral of Uzbek President Islam Karimov in Samarkand. The Uzbek government confirmed Karimov’s death on September 2 after his reported hospitalization on August 28. (Mehr News Agency)
   
• Intelligence minister meets with German intelligence officials. Hojjat ol Eslam Mahmoud Alavi, the head of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), met with German intelligence officials in Berlin, Germany, on September 6. (Tasnim News Agency) (E)
   
• French delegation travels to Tehran. Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani met with president of France’s National Assembly Claude Bartolone in Tehran to discuss regional developments and increasing bilateral economic relations. President Hassan Rouhani also met with Bartolone and stressed the importance of all parties involved in the nuclear agreement to fulfill their obligations quickly. Bartolone is leading a French parliamentary delegation on a two-day visit to Iran. (Tasnim News Agency) (E) (Tasnim News Agency) (E)

Economy

• Kayhan: Top Iranian banks are refusing to do business on behalf of Khatam ol Anbia.Conservative newspaper Kayhan published images of letters from Bank Mellat and Bank Sepah refusing business with entities connected to the IRGC Khatam ol Anbia Construction Base, the IRGC’s engineering wing, due to sanction concerns. Kayhan claims that “some” Iranian banks have decided to “self-sanction” themselves in order to comply with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) regulations. In June, the FATF suspended some of its restrictions against Iran for a year to allow Tehran to implement an anti-money laundering and terrorism finance action plan. If Iran is able to meet its commitments under the plan, FATF has claimed that it will consider “next steps” with regards to its regulations against Iran. (Kayhan)
   
• CBI head: International sanctions cannot be a pretext for refusing banking services to Iranian entities. Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Head Valiollah Seif issued a statement to the senior managers of Iranian financial institutions, stipulating that “Iranian financial institutions can have financial and business relations with any individual or institution, whether or not they are on the sanctions lists. There are no limitations [on financial transactions] inside the country arising from sanctions.” (CBI)
  • Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghassemi, meanwhile, told reporters that the Foreign Ministry “has concerns” over the FATF regulations. Ghassemi stressed that the “FATF issue has no relationship to the nuclear deal” and added that the “FATF issue” will be reviewed by the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).  (Entekhab)
     
• Three Iranian banks to open branches in Germany. Iranian news outlets reported that Middle East Bank, Parsian Bank, and Sina Bank are planning on setting up branches in Munich. They have reportedly received approval from both German and Iranian officials for the move, which is aimed at strengthening Iranian-European banking co-operation. (Donya-e Eqtesad)
   
• Zanganeh: $55 per barrel is appropriate price of oil. Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said that “$55 [per barrel of] oil is appropriate and favored by the majority of OPEC members” following a meeting with new OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo in Tehran on September 6. Zanganeh added that this price is beneficial to OPEC members and allows them to “increase revenue while competitors cannot increase production.” Zanganeh added that Iran would support any move by OPEC that would stabilize oil prices. OPEC member countries are scheduled to hold a meeting on the sidelines of the 15th International Energy Forum in Algeria on September 26-28. (Fars News Agency) (E) (Mehr News Agency)

Domestic Politics

• Influential hardliner: The principlists have made no decision regarding the 2017 presidential elections. Former parliamentarian Gholam Ali Haddad Adel announced that Iran’s hardline conservatives, or principlists, “have not yet made a decision [on a candidate] for the 2017 presidential elections.” He also noted that negotiations are underway to “form a new [Principlist Coalition] council with a new structure so that all can participate.” A lack of unity among principlists has caused them to suffer in the past several election cycles. Haddad Adel was a candidate for president in the 2013 presidential race but withdrew his candidacy before the elections took place. (Nameh News)

Military & Security

• ICT minister points to possible rift between Rouhani and Judiciary over Internet censorship. Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mahmoud Vaezi addressed the recent censorship of a number of Iranian news sites during a conference, claiming that the Rouhani administration “has not filtered any site” and actually “opposes filtering.” Vaezi clarified that the Judiciary was responsible for “the blocking of several websites in recent days.” (Mehr News Agency)