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

• Iran bans Mosharekat [Participation] reformist party.
  • Agahsazi, close to Rafsanjani, wants to know on what grounds the party was banned and who ordered the ban. 
• Supreme Leader Khamenei issues a decree on general administrative policies.
• Ahmadinejad on German RTL television channel addresses Chancellor Merkel: "The Europeans should not define themselves under the shadow of the United States. They should have an independent face so that they can impact international affairs in future...Why should Germany suffer for securing the interests of others and acting against Iran?..."
• Parsine's analyst says the Judiciary's call for the arrest of Rafsanjani’s son is the greatest challenge to the former president. 
  • Law Enforcement Forces Chief Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam says he has not been tasked to arrest Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani.
• Mohammad-Ali Abtahi, former vice president, hails Ahmadinejad's remarks against population control: "Sometimes Ahmadinejad makes statements in the name of religion which even the most traditional and the highest clerical authorities are unable to make.”

Diplomacy

• [E] Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Tuesday stressed Iran's effective and significant role in regional and international developments, and voiced Ankara's eagerness to boost consultations with Tehran over a wide range of issues.
  • [E] Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu arrived in Tehran Monday night to confer with Iranian officials on bilateral relations and international developments.

Military and Security

• Former IRGC commander Said Ghasemi in a speech in Qom warns reformist politicians: "The gentlemen should not think that their cases are closed. Thank God, Baba [father] Mahmoud has come, and now they must pay the price for their deeds." Ghasemi accused Mehdi Karrubi of "damaging the honor of Islam"; blasted Khatami for "going up and down the stairs of the Elysees palace like drunken donkeys"; and also criticized Rafsanjani's economic policies: "In the past years, you laid the so-called foundation of economic development. Didn't you know that in the end the gap between the rich and poor will be widened to the degree that regardless how much people struggle today they can’t feed their wives and kids?..."
  • Agahsazi, close to Rafsanjani, condemns Ghasemi's statements.
• According to Tehran-e Emrouz, imprisoned Jundallah ring leader Abd al-Malek Rigi's latest confessions regarding "the nature of his cooperation with Western intelligence services" will soon be released. Rigi's confessions are also expected to include "information about United States, Israel and NATO cooperation in the conduct of his terrorist operations."
• [E] Iran is a country which enjoys high and strong elements of security among the regional states, a senior Iranian legislator said on Tuesday.

Nuclear issue

• Rumors whether the Islamic Republic's envoy to the IAEA Ali-Asghar Soltanieh will remain in or leave his position after the end of his five-year tenure.
• Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi, Ahmadinejad's senior assistant, says Ahmadinejad has approved of a new nuclear site, and adds that Iran is still ready to continue negotiations on nuclear fuel exchange. 
• Foreign Minister Mottaki: "We have had and still have conversations with all the members of the [U.N.] Security Council regarding the nuclear issue evolving around the formula of exchange of [nuclear] fuel. In the coming ten days, we will pursue these conversations more coherently." Commenting on the possibility of military strikes against the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities, Mottaki said: "We don't consider it probable, meaning that we do not see such a capacity...a front extending from the borders of China to Palestine is under Iran's command and they must know that they have adopted wrong policies. If they have desired to enslave our region, they themselves have become the prisoners of the region."
• Iranian students demonstrate in front of the United Nations office in Tehran, shouting "Death to America!" in response to "United States' nuclear threats against Iran."
• Ahmadinejad on German RTL channel: "Iran's nuclear issue has become a repetitive political game. Also, nothing special will happen in this regard in future. The Iranian nation is a strong nation capable of administering its own affairs. Iran is not in need of others in any field...We, of course, are not happy with a situation where they are against Iran. We would like our relations to be friendly and constructive, but I believe that some European leaders don't know what they are doing and don't recognize their own and European interests...In Tehran, there is a reactor used for medical purposes which is in need of twenty percent [enriched uranium] fuel. We told the IAEA that we are in need of twenty percent [enriched] fuel. According to the regulations, states in possession of twenty percent [enriched] fuel are obliged to provide us with this fuel. The Agency announced that some of the countries are ready for this task, but they are demanding exchange although the regulations stress that the countries should be provided with needed fuel without any conditions. At any rate, we accepted that just to open the door of cooperation and engagement. But in return, they made preconditions which were unacceptable for us. Making preconditions is illegal, and we announced that we were ready for exchange without preconditions. But they prolonged the process and started a new political game thinking that they could gain political advantages out of this deal. So, we announced that we didn’t have much time and if they didn’t provide us with fuel we would make it ourselves and we began doing so. Today, we no longer need them in this issue. We produce twenty percent enriched fuel ourselves, but we still have not closed this path and we can have exchange [of fuel] but without preconditions. We are even ready to give 3.5 percent enriched uranium, but the exchange must take place simultaneously."
• [E] Iran on Tuesday reiterated its commitment to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) rules and regulations, stressing that it has and will always continue to inform the UN nuclear watchdog of any new nuclear activity in the country.
• [E] Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran's proposal on exchange of 3.5 percent enriched uranium with 20 percent enriched fuel needed by Tehran reactor still stands in the IAEA Governing Board.

Religion, Society and Culture

• Intelligence Minister Moslehi says the Intelligence Ministry has arrested "ladies who received money from well-known elements to appear inappropriately dressed in Qom."

Media

• Bahar is banned.

Iran in the Afghan Media

• [E] The bodies of two Afghans executed in Iran were transferred to the capital of western Nimroz province on Tuesday, their families said.
• [E] At least three Afghan nationals have been burnt to death in the Iranian province of Qazvin, says a report sent by an Afghan diplomat to the foreign ministry in Kabul. Mohammad Kabir Farahi, deputy minister of foreign affairs, who is currently in Tehran for talks with Iranian officials on the alleged execution of 45 Afghans, said in the document: "The killing and injuring of eight Afghans in Sistan and Balochistan provinces and burning of three others in Qazvin province were the issues discussed with the Iranian foreign ministry." Two months ago, a parliamentary delegation visited Iran and said there were more than 5, 630 Afghans in Iranian prisons, 3,000 of whom had been sentenced to death.

Photo of the Day

• Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi visits Hezbollah leader Nasrallah in Beirut.