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].  

Politics

• Commander Yadollah Javani, Revolutionary Guards Political Bureau Chief, says the Judiciary's call for a fight against corruption is a sign of "the beginning of the end of aristocracy."
• Mohsen Rezai says he may "have been mistaken" in inviting Mir-Hossein Mousavi to attend the Friday prayers in Tehran, and says he has had no relationship with him since the height of the post election crisis.

Military and Security

• Sobh-e Sadegh's editorial explains the necessity of Revolutionary Guards war games in the Persian Gulf: "The authorities and especially the armed forces must in calculated measures demonstrate the strength  [of the state] in order to assure the public that they are fully prepared to deter threats and defend the security of the country...War games demonstrate the preparedness of the entire body of the armed forces...For years, Iran has attempted - through its show of force and military might - to explain to regional states that the security of the region must be guaranteed by countries in the region and that the countries can through engagement achieve this...To the enemy...it sends the message that no power should pursue 'selective security' in the region of the Persian Gulf."
  • Sobh-e Sadegh depicts the latest Revolutionary Guards war game in the Persian Gulf as a show of Iran's ability to produce "rapid and hard response" to aggression.
• Hojjat al-Eslam Ali Saidi, Representative of the Supreme Leader to the Revolutionary Guards, evaluates the role of political/ideological indoctrination in the Revolutionary Guards.
• Commander Yadollah Javani, Revolutionary Guards Political Bureau Chief, also explains why the Revolutionary Guards have been subjected to criticism by certain political factions: "During the past 31 years, there has been constant character assassination against the Guards, but those activities have at times been weak and at other times strong. Those who attack the Guards and the Basij can be divided into three groups.
  • The first group is external enemies centered on the United States. The Americans, Zionists and some European countries and their media outlets create an atmosphere against the Guards and try to slander the Guards. Last year, Mrs. Hillary Clinton, secretary of state of the United States, during her Middle East trip overtly attacked the Guards. In the parliament of some European countries, the issue of sanctioning the Guards is being discussed.
  • The second group is that of well-known counter revolutionaries, from the very beginning of the revolution until today.
  • The third group is that of the repentant revolutionaries tired of fighting. All three groups oppose the Guards because they consider it a great obstacle on their path... Domestic parties and groups inside the country which were engaged in discord and attempts at misleading the public opinion in order to achieve their evil goals most naturally do not tolerate disclosures and enlightening activities of the Political Bureau of the Guards."  
• Colonel Abdollah Darouzani, Political Guidance Bureau Chief of the Revolutionary Guards, explains the necessity of establishing a network of political guides within the force.
• Commander Mahmoud Chaharbaghi, Revolutionary Guards' Artillery and Missile Chief, explains establishment of his organization during the Iran/Iraq war.
• Sobh-e Sadegh's analyst writes that the issue of Syria allowing transfer of Scud missiles to Hezbollah is only an attempt to intimidate and pressure Syria.
• [E] Iranian Law Enforcement Police Squads seized 373 kg of illicit drugs in 24 hours of operations in Iran's eastern province of Southern Khorasan.
• [E] Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said on Tuesday that freedom of Iran's abducted diplomat in Pakistan showed Tehran's strong might and all-around dominance in the realm of intelligence.
• [E] Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi reiterated on Tuesday that Tehran has the required potentials and capacities to serve as the key player in securing energy supply at the global level.

Human Rights

• JARAS releases the names of the "labor martyrs" of the Green Movement on the occasion of May 1st International Labor Day.

Nuclear Issue

• [E] A prominent Iranian political figure said that materialization of the objectives envisioned in the recently released policy document on the US nuclear posture will not be an easy task and will be faced with numerous challenges.
•  [E] Amid a US-led drive to vie support for slapping tougher UN sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, Russia says it may vote for more punitive measures.
• [E] As the US pushes for tougher punitive measures against Iran's nuclear work, Washington urges a swift sanctions resolution within the UN Security Council.
• [E] Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim voiced his country's opposition to further sanctions against Iran, underlining that the move would yield no fruit for the West.
• [E] Iran says its strategic gasoline reserves have climbed by a billion liters, reiterating that sanctions on gasoline sales to Iran will never materialize.

Iran in the Afghan Media

• Afghan officials complain that Iranian border guards occasionally open fire at Afghan farmers in border regions.
• An editorial in Hasht-e Sobh criticizes Iran’s double game in Afghanistan and calls on the Afghan government not to allow Iranian officials to define Afghanistan as an “occupied territory” like Palestine.
  • Despite long-standing historical and cultural ties between Iran and Afghanistan, the editorial says, there is a lack of trust between the two countries as a result of Iran’s double-standard policies towards Afghanistan.
  • Citing forced repatriation of Afghan refugees in the past and recent reports that Iran has executed 45 Afghan citizens, the author says Iran is using Afghan refugees as a political bargaining chip against the Afghan government. 
  • Quoting Iranian cleric Mohammad Ali Taskhiri, secretary general of the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought, as saying that “people from different religions must unite against the occupation of Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan…,” the author says the Afghan government must not let Iranian officials define Afghanistan an occupied territory like Palestine, and also must not allow them to issue a fatwa (religious pronouncement) for jihad against Afghanistan’s strategic allies.

Photo of the Day

• Funeral of Martyr Mustafa Mousavi in Tabriz