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

• Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, Ahmadinejad's chief of staff, predicts: "In the next 50 years man will create 'a human being' which will engage in all acts of real humans such as reproduction and giving birth, love and poetry. Mashaei's predictions result in a storm of responses to him from angry readers who demand to know why the chief of staff of the president absolutely must make statements about Noah the prophet, the future of Islam and now robots.
• The Judiciary orders the Law Enforcement Forces to arrest Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani.
  • Hojjat al-Eslam Ghasem Ravanbakhsh, Partov editor, demands arrest of Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani in the same manner as arrest of Jundallah terrorist leader Abdulmalik Rigi.
• Rafsanjani releases the latest volume of his memoirs covering the end of the Iran/Iraq war with the title Defa'e va Siyasat [Defense and Politics].
• Kayhan editor Shariatmadari "discloses" that Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi as a foreign/Zionist agent.

Diplomacy

• The White House confirms having received a letter from Ahmadinejad.
• Former prime ministers of Canada and Sweden send a letter to Iranian authorities demanding Mohammad Khatami gets permission to leave Iran. Khatami was prevented from traveling to Japan last week.
  • Aftab-e Yazd publishes the speech which Khatami was meant to deliver in Japan.
• [E] An Iranian provincial official announced that Iran and Afghanistan are building a town along their shared borders in northeastern Iran.

Military and Security

• Ahmadinejad addresses the Islamic Republic of Iran Army on the occasion of the Army Day: "There is no need for foreign presence in order to secure the region. If they are so good, they should rule and secure their own country...It is clear that they must leave the region. This is not a wish or a plea. This is the order and will of the nations of the region. They must return to their own homes and countries and leave administration of the region to the nations of the region..."
• The Petroleum Ministry has decided to replace Turkish companies with Khatam al-Anbia Construction Base of the Revolutionary Guards, in case Turkey fails to engage in $7 billion worth development of the third phase of South Pars Gas Field.
• The Islamic Republic displays three generations of ballistic missiles on Army Day.
• The Islamic Republic of Iran Army is reportedly engaged in building an air defense system "similar to S-300."
• Marveh Sadagh, Jewish member of the parliament: "Coca Cola and Barbie are the gates of soft dominance over the world."
• [E] Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi on Monday underlined the Iranian Armed Forces' power to confront military threats against the country, saying that even enemies acknowledge Iran's might and power.

Nuclear Issue

• Message of Supreme Leader Khamenei to Tehran Disarmament Conference: "We consider use of such weapons [weapons of mass destruction] as haram[religiously prohibited] and consider struggle for immunity of mankind against this calamity the duty of all."
• Foreign Minister Mottaki urges the 5+1 Group to take "wise decisions" prior to the group's meeting about Iran.
• [E] Cuban Ambassador to Tehran William Carbo Ricardo strongly criticized Washington's double-standard approach and policies towards nuclear expansion and the US aids to Israel's military nuclearization program.
•  [E] The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) has prepared a statement to condemn Israel's military nuclear activities and its stockpile of atomic warheads, Iran's representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali Asqar Soltaniyeh announced on Monday.
• [E] Rapporteur of Majlis Commission on National Security and Foreign Policy, Kazem Jalali, said on Monday that the upcoming New York NPT review conference led by the US will be a scene of confrontation with countries which do not possess nuclear weapons.

Economy

• 61 million Iranians have applied for monthly 209,470 rial cash handouts to replace subsidies.
• Oil Minister Masoud Mir-Kazemi announces plans to establish a private bank called Bank-e Khosousi-ye San'at-e Naft [The Petroleum Industry's Private Bank].

Religion, Society and Culture

• Shoja al-Din Shafa, scholar and critic of religion, passes away in Paris.
• Parsine runs a history of the Chelo-Kabab.

Human Rights

• The Revolutionary Tribunal condemns reformist theoreticians Tajzadeh, Soleymani and Mirdamadi to long prison terms and prohibits them to engage in political and press activities for the next ten years.
• The Special Clergy Court defrocks Hojjat al-Eslam Ahmad-Reza Ahmadpour and condemns him to one year of imprisonment on charges of acting against national security.

Photo of the Day

• Hojjat al-Eslam Ahmadpour, defrocked by the Special Clerical Court.