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 subscribe to this daily newsletter, e-mail [email protected].

(E) = Article in English

Diplomacy

• (E) Senior Iranian, Pakistani, and Afghan officials began talks on Friday in Islamabad on ways to increase cooperation for peace in Afghanistan.
• (E) Iran and Japan agree to cooperate in guaranteeing security and stability in Afghanistan.

Politics

• Parliamentarian Rouhollah Hosseinian says Ahmadinejad is the final candidate of the Principalists. 

• Ahmadinejad in Isfahan: "Elections are the most important and most elevated arena of presence, decision-making and realization of the popular will. The presidential elections provide the nation with the possibility of pursuing realization of its ideals, goals and an opportunity to choose its path...Choice of a president is also choice of a certain path and program...From this podium, I invite all those elites and people with a view and an agenda and consider themselves capable of administering the country to enter the arena. Elections are not the privilege of an individual or certain groups and parties. Elections belong to the entire nation, and I and all members of the cabinet struggle to make them happen at a very high and magnificent level...In the coming elections all must be able of freely expressing their views in the public space and gatherings. Questions and answers must take place..."
• Following distribution of free potatoes prior to Ahmadinejad's provincial trip rallies, Ham-Mihan wonders where the potatoes come from.

• Agriculture Minister Eskandari says free potatoes are distributed because of production surplus, and are unrelated to the presidential campaign. 

• Ayatollahs Mousavi Ardebili, Makarem Shirazi, Sane'i, Javadi-Amoli, Nouri Hamadani and Grand Ayatollah Sistani's representative in Qom Ayatollah Shahrestani praise Mir-Hossein Mousavi. 

• Mojahedin of the Revolution faction declares its support for Mousavi.

• Mir-Hossein Mousavi, speaking to an assembly of Azeris in the Markazi province:

• "From 1988, I had no intention of entering the political arena at the level I have entered now… What forced me into the arena was the disorderly state of the rules. Should this continue, the country would suffer...In a country where there is no rule of law, there is no hope for salvation. Even if we want to improve the law we must follow the legal path. We must also pay attention to the fact that we have progressive principles enshrined in our Constitution. We have witnessed several cases of illegality and I felt that should this become a trend, the possibility of us solving our problems becomes less. I consider this [trend] - even should it be based upon the noblest of all intentions - a movement towards abyss...If we ignore all the structures, weaken planning centers and annihilate hundreds of councils for which thousands of hours have been used, it is unknown how we can reestablish them one by one...Existence of the councils result in more rational decision making and weakens the possibility of individual decision making. A single individual - regardless how talented - can not replace the councils. Is such behavior not return to the era of Nasir al-Din Shah?...Unfortunately, in this country we have reached a situation where not a single statistic is announced, not even with regard to the most basic issues and different statistics are presented which makes it impossible to take correct decisions or criticize in a just way...Lack of transparency is one of the greatest problems of the country and unfortunately there are a number of issues about which we are ignorant. An individual as a citizen of the Islamic Republic is entitled to correct statistics and accurate information so one can engage in criticism..."
  • Mousavi ended his talk in Azeri language which he masters. 

• Tehran Mayor Qalibaf turns down suggestions he run for president. 
• List of campaign staff for Mir-Hossein Mousavi.

• (E) Presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi criticized Iran’s moral police and that he hopes to solve many of Iran’s problems.

• (E) Presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi claims that the Reformists can win in the upcoming elections repeating their massive 1997 victory.
• (E) Reformist and Principalist candidates are clash over how oil revenues are spent.
• Shahram Jazayeri, accused of a billion dollar fraud, bailed out of jail.
• Kayhanfalsely reports the Combatant Clergy Association has withdrawn its support for Hojjat al-Eslam Hassan Rowhani. 
• Presidential candidate Mohsen Rezai says the purpose of a national unity government would be to stabilize the economy. 

• (E) Smugglers plunder ancient sites in southern Iran.

• Seyyed Shams al-Din Hosseini appointed Central Bank Executive Director. 
• Ham-Mihan reports "disappearance" of 23 trillion rials from the 2007 national budget and greater sums missing in the 2008 budget. The issue has led the Supreme Audit Court to challenge Ahmadinejad to participate in a debate at the parliament. 
• Bread, cooking oil, and sugar prices to rise. 

•  (E) Iran unveils plan to privatize its oil refineries.
• (E) Iran’s Science Minister said that solar energy is a top priority for his ministry’s agenda.
• (E) President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated Iran’s first double-decker highway.

• (E) The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced it had unveiled a Dutch media plot to overthrow the Iranian government.
• (E) Three people allegedly involved in the bombing of a mosque in Shiraz in 2008 were hanged Friday morning.
• Taraf, a Turkish ‘progressive’ newspaper, says a Turkish terrorist group was responsible for killing of transitional government labor minister Daryoush Forouhar and his wife. 

• (E) Iran is preparing to execute a 23-year-old painter convicted of committing murder when she was 17. Delara Darabi's lawyer told Radio Farda that her client has been in prison for five years.
• (E) Mehdi Zakerian, a member of Iran's Center for Scientific Research and Middle East Strategic Studies, has been prevented from leaving the country to attend a conference in Italy. His lawyer told Radio Farda that the conference was on transitional justice in Palestinian territories. Last year, Zakerian was detained and accused of being a spy.

• (E) Pakistan’s cabinet approved a formula for purchasing gas from Iran through the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline.

• Chess tournament.