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

Politics

• Former President Mohammad Khatami has been barred from leaving Iran for Japan.
• Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, addressing a conference in Bushehr: "They [the heads of the discord] wanted to weaken the guardian jurist. They said if they were defeated [in the election], they would create a mayhem and change the atmosphere of the election by questioning [its health]...During last year's election, the enemies planned to exploit the event in order to question the foundations of the Islamic Republic and the principle of the guardianship of the jurist...The plan of the enemy was clear to the leader of the revolution and he knew that the enemies were pursuing a soft policy of regime change..."
• Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi is reinstated as a head of the secretariat of the Assembly of Experts.
• Alireza Zakani, parliamentarian, demands prosecution of Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani.
• Ahmadinejad's office promises 25 to 50 percent salary increase for public servants willing to work and live outside Tehran.

Diplomacy

• Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi, Ahmadinejad's senior assistant, says he is unaware of the president's letter to Obama.
• [E] Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili held a meeting with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Rafea al-Issavi to discuss the latest developments in post-election Iraq.
• [E] A senior military advisor to the Iranian Supreme Leader reiterated that the Muslim countries enjoy high power and potentials which should be utilized for the progress and prosperity of their people.
• [E] Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa underlined that his country welcomes development of all-out ties and cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran
• [E] Iran's Deputy Permanent Envoy to the United Nations Eshaq Ale-Habib lambasted the western countries' continued support for the crimes committed by the Zionist regime against the oppressed Palestinian people.

Military and Security

• The destroyer Velayat joins the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy.
• According to JARAS, a building near Tehran University and the Peasant's Boulevard [formerly Queen Elizabeth II's Boulevard] belonging to the Construction Jihad is handed over to the Revolutionary Guards.

Nuclear Issue

• Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki addressing the Tehran Nuclear Conference says "[Nuclear] disarmament is a global demand today."
• [E] Sanctions and pressures against Iran over its peaceful nuclear program have had no effect on the country's oil sector, Iranian Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazzemi said.

Economy

• After Ahmadinejad promised near-zero percent inflation, Central Bank Director General Mahmoud Bahmani said he "can't make statements with regard to the inflationary effect of the subsidy reforms."
• Hamid-Reza Fouladgar, chairman of the privatization supervisory committee, questions Ahmadinejad's claims about the trend of privatization in Iran: "Only 30 percent of the privatization has been done through the stock exchange and less than 12 percent has been privatized to the real private sector or to the cooperatives...We believe that the state has not been downsized, since downsizing the state is not coupled with expansion of the budget. But the 2010-2011 budget is an expansive budget...Large factories have been privatized, but the management is still in the hands of the state and the real private sector has no presence in them..."
• [E] Ahmadinejad said Thursday that transfer of cheap energy is the key factor for the survival of the capitalist bloc.

Trade

• Assadollah Asgar-Owladi buys shares in two Chinese banks, and announces: "We will try to purchase more shares in the credit and financial institutes of that country since having twenty percent of the shares of a company or institution gives access to membership of the board of directors of those institutions..." According to JARAS, Asgar-Owladi's move comes as a way of circumventing United States' sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
• Iran and Brazil sign 20 memoranda of understanding.
• UNIPEK company, a part of the Chinese SINOPEK, exports 250,000 barrels of gasoline to the Persian Gulf region.
• The National Iranian Oil Company and SINOPEK of China develop Yadavaran oil field.

Media

• American journalist Barabara Slavin cancels her visit to Iran.

Religion, society and culture

• Ayatollah Amini, Qom temporary Friday prayer leader, complains of rising prices.
• Smoking water pipe is prohibited in public places.

Iran in the Afghan Media

• Afghan parliamentarians have expressed strong reaction to Ahmadinejad’s request to the United Nations to probe the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan. “Ahmadinejad lacks this right since foreign forces came to Afghanistan in 2001 in accordance with the decision of the U.N. Security Council, and the Iranian government backed the move,” said lawmaker Shukria Barakzai. Members of parliament criticized Karzai’s government for remaining silent in the face of Iran’s interference.
• Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry describes execution of Afghan citizens in Iran as “shocking”, and pledged to make an inquiry into the issue. An Afghan parliamentary delegation visiting Iran recently reported that 3,000 Afghan citizens jailed in Iran were facing death penalty. Also, a recent report that Iran last week hanged up to 45 Afghans has caused an outcry in the Afghan media and the country’s parliament.

Photo of the Day

• Exhibition: Glory of Ancient Iran at Iran-e Bastan Museum in Tehran.