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

·         Presidential candidate and E'temad-e Melli Party General Secretary Mehdi Karrubi ridicules threats of assassination: "There were some who were planning to kidnap me, both in the air and on the ground, but they should know that we go wherever we please and are not afraid of anyone..."

o    Karrubi also adds neither he, nor Mir-Hossein Mousavi will leave the campaign. 

·         Mosharekat [Participation] Front General Secretary and reformist theoretician Mohsen Mirdamadi: "The Participation Party’s choice of a presidential candidate has followed a totally democratic trend from bottom to top. At a session of the thirty regional heads of the party all over the country with the central committee, an absolute majority - while respecting other candidates - chose Mr. Mir-Hossein Mousavi with regard to his managerial skills and crisis management [during the Iran/Iraq war]... In the 30 year history of the Islamic Republic, this is the first election where the executives and supervisors [of elections] belong to the same faction. The people and the candidates should cooperate in order to secure the health of the elections... We are worried about intervention of the military men and governmental institutions and partisanship of the Voice and Vision [of the Islamic Republic.] But we do have a logical and natural expectation that they will count the popular vote honestly."

o    Alef News Agency's analyst claims "Mir-Hossein Mousavi's insistence on the path of the Imam [Khomeini] and the discourse of the Islamic Revolution has led to destabilization of the support of the radical reformists and their cooperation with the Karrubi campaign." 

·         Mohsen Rezai says he has entered the arena of presidential elections "because of a sense of duty." Rezai adds: "Discussion about a national unity government is a theory accepted by most friends in the Principalist front and many Principalist friends are convinced that the country should be run by a team. When I declare my candidacy I'll speak more about the details of this issue...

o    (E) Secretary of Iran's Expediency Council Mohsen Rezai announced his decision to run in the upcoming presidential elections

·         (E) Mohammad Khatami said that between presidential candidates Karroubi and Mousavi, only one should run against current President Ahmadinejad

·         Ahmadinejad visits Shiraz.

o    Ahmadinejad showmanship during speech at a stadium in Shiraz: "Ahmadinejad: How long have you been here for?" The crowd: "Since 8 in the morning." Ahmadinajd: "Are you tired?" The crowd: "No!" Ahmadinejad: "Thirty years have passed since you started the revolution. Are you tired?" The crowd: "No!" Ahmadinejad: "Who is tired?" The crowd: "The enemy!" At this point the crowd bursts out shouting: "Re'is-jomhour-e ayandeh, Ahmadi-ye payandeh!" [Future president, Ahmadi the steadfast!]

o    Office of the Iranian President refutes The Guardian's claims that the Ahmadinejad campaign has stolen "Yes We Can" slogan from the Obama campaign, and accuses the Obama campaign of having stolen the idea from the Ahmadinejad campaign four years ago. A reader also comments that the slogan of "change" of the Obama campaign is stolen from the Ahmadinejad campaign!

o    Asr-e Iran releases a few chapters from "Son of the Nation," a conversation of Ali-Reza Ahmadinejad, the president's son about his father's simple and ascetic life style.

·         Ansar News Agency, mouthpiece of the Ansar-e Hezbollah vigilante organization, ridicules Mehdi Karrubi and Mir-Hossein Mousavi for canceling campaign trips due to medical conditions and fatigue. 

·         Fatemeh Rajabi, wife of government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham, opens her fifth website: www.fatemehrajabi.org.

·          (E) Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei urged Iranians to keep their spirits high for the upcoming election and warned those who would try to undermine them.

Diplomacy

·         Ali-Akbar Velayati, the Supreme Leader’s foreign policy advisor, delivers a major speech about the authenticity of the name of the Persian Gulf, accuses "British Imperialism" of "making up other names" in order to "plant the seed of discord among Iran and the Arabs."

·         Mosharekat [Participation] Front General Secretary Mohsen Mir-Damadi comments on prospects of Iran/U.S. relations should Mousavi win the presidential elections: Taking "Mr. Mousavi's good background in the Foreign Ministry into consideration and the prospect of cooperation with senior diplomats of the Foreign Ministry, [we] could solve or at least reduce the technical problems."

·         Ahmadinejad, speaking in Shiraz, recalls his speech in Geneva:

o    "The Zionists and their masters know that they are among the most hated people among the nations of the world... They want to remove all sensitivities against themselves. In Geneva, they attempted to delete all mention [equating the Zionist regime with racism] during the private meetings and communicate [the revised document] to the nations of the world... The Zionists wanted to operate like stealth during the recent Geneva summit, but when they saw that the Islamic Republic government wants to participate in this summit, they made a lot of noise in order to dissuade us from participating at the summit…

o    Ban Ki Moon asked me, what are you going to say? We have excluded the statement on racism of the Zionist regime. I answered: Do you want me not to speak about the people of Palestine, invasion of Lebanon and displacement of five million Palestinians? The U.N. General Secretary answered that I should speak about it. I answered that very these issues are the roots of racism which must be eradicated...God is my witness. For a moment I thought how unhappy and wretched they are! One must tell them how stupid are you who try to intimidate the representative of the people of Iran by throwing plastic objects at him...For a moment I thought, and I said, Imam of the Era, push their nose to the ground. They are so wretched that they think the Iranian nation leaves the arena because they throw things at it...2500 people were present at the venue and only 25 individuals left it. Those who for the past fifty years have spoken of freedom of speech...relying very this method they insulted our prophet and our nation and showed the ugliest behaviors. How come freedom of speech only applies to them…?"

·         (E) Ahmadinejad urges major powers to avoid former US President Bush’s tactics in dealing with Iran (E) Iran calls for Persian Gulf unity to ensure security in the region.

·         (E) Iran’s Oil Minister is traveling to Germany to discuss energy issues, including Iran’s participation in the Nabucco project.

·         (E) Pakistan’s Foreign Minister says that relations between Pakistan and Iran have improved.

·         (E) Iran’s and Russia’s ministers discuss ways to expand cooperation. 

Military and Security

·         Defense Minister Mohammad Najjar visits Venezuela's defense industries during an official visit and comments: "There are good potentials to expand and deepen defense relations between the two countries...Iran and Venezuela cooperated with each other in order to deter potential threats and in order to strengthen peace and stability..." 

·         An "informed source in the Armed Forces" refutes news of missile attack of a U.S. "or Israeli ship" against a military Iranian vessel.

·         (E) Iranian forces arrested arms smugglers in the southern province of Khuzestan.

·         (E) Tehran vows to find those responsible for the deadly bomb attacks in Iraq that killed Iranian pilgrims.

Nuclear Issue

·         Mosharekat [Participation] Front General Secretary Mohsen Mir-Damadi comments on Mir-Hossein Mousavi's positions on enrichment of uranium and says Iran's enrichment of uranium will not stop, but adds future governments must engage in confidence building measures with the world.

·         (E) The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is pushing for a new sanctions resolution to cut off Iran’s gas supply.

·         (E) Israel claims it wants to put to an end Iran’s nuclear program through a “heroic operation”.

·         (E) Iran sees US threats of tougher sanctions as not in line with the Obama Administration’s desire for a new beginning with Tehran.

·         (E) Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has called for the Iran nuclear issue to be dropped from the UN Security Council. 

Trade

·         Central Bank Director General Bahmani speaking in the World Bank refutes U.S. allegations of money laundering in Iran and adds: "Such allegations are totally baseless and are expressed because of certain political goals. The United States wants to dilute international attention from illegal activities of its banks and therefore accuses Islamic Republic of Iran banking system of engaging in money laundering, despite the fact that the banking regulations of the Islamic Republic do not allow such illegal activities...The U.S. measures have not managed to create any greater problem in our monetary or economic system and we have always continued our economic path." 

o    (E) Chief of Iran’s Central Bank rejected American accusations that some Iranian banks have been engaging in money laundering.

·         Deputy head of the Iran-China Chamber of Commerce says 80 Chinese companies are on their way to Tehran to expand trade relations with Iran.

Economy

·         (E) President Ahmadinejad offered a plan for a recession-free Middle East.

Religion, Society, and Culture

·         Internet application process for marriage loans to begin operations in Isfahan, Southern Khorasan, Khouzestan, Qom, Gilan and Markazi through the portal ve.cbi.ir. 

Human Rights and Labor

·         (E) Deputy Head of the Iranian prosecutor's office said that Roxana Saberi may have her sentence  reduced .

Iran in the Afghan Media

§  Foreign Ministers of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan met in Kabul to call for greater economic cooperation and reaffirm their joint struggle against terrorism and drugs trade. The three countries agreed to enhance trilateral economic cooperation, especially construction of a gas pipeline. Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the U.S. policies in Afghanistan have an effect on relations between Tehran and Washington.

§  Article in the Afghanpaper slams Iran’s harsh treatment of Afghan refugees and urges the Afghans to repatriate to Afghanistan and refuse to accept humiliation by the Iranian authorities.

Photo of the Day

·         Ahmadinejad kissing (or scaring?) babies in Shiraz