Iran News Round Up

Politics

• Supreme Leader Khamenei addressing students warns "those who do not accept the fundamentals and who are therefore no longer members of the circle of trust."
• Rafsanjani receiving clerics and Friday prayer leaders from Tehran and Qom:
  • "The people, the authorities and various classes of this country and this divine regime are going through difficult ordeals. We must all pass these tests with patience, hard work and cleansing of the self...".
  • "The most important victory for the regime, the revolution and the people of Iran under the current circumstances is prevailing in the test of unity, solidarity and cohesion of all classes of the society along with choosing wise policy options while facing domestic and international conspiracies against Islamic Iran."
• Parliamentarians are preparing a bill which gives the Guardian Council the authority to dismiss parliamentarians.

Diplomacy

• [E] Ahmadinejad is due to travel to Pakistan in the near future to visit the areas damaged or ruined by the devastating floods in the South Asian state.
• [E] Ahmadinejad says Iran is determined to consolidate relations with all Latin American states.

Military and Security

• Ahmadinejad addresses Arabs through Al-Jazeera Television to respond to Amb. John Bolton: "I believe that Mr. John Bolton is a fan of computer games. He sits by himself, imagines the war game in his mind and plays along. We on the other hand consider such an attack improbable. The Zionist regime is much smaller than daring to face Iran militarily. Apart from this, the statements of Bolton are not at all valid. When we want to consider the position of the United States, we only listen to the statements of the wise men of this country and not those who talk based upon complexes and hatred... Should Israel attack the Bushehr plant... Iran's answer will be so decisive and hard hitting that the invaders will repent having decided to attack our installations... We and the countries of the Persian Gulf are brethren and friends and our brethren in these countries will never allow their soil to be used for attack against Iran. The leaders of these countries are wiser than to do so. But the Zionist regime is not bold enough to do so. The aim of such threats is to dilute the public opinion in the region and internationally away from the main issues. Such threats are not serious... Don't you think there is a difference between Iran and Iraq and Afghanistan? Don't you think the situation of the Americans is different today compared with ten years ago? The condition of the Americans is today completely different than ten years ago.”
• Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi says Iran's reaction to a military strike will be "unpredictable."
• [E] Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmadi Vahidi says Tehran is capable of producing different kinds of electronic warfare systems to fight back against enemies' possible electronic war against Iran.
• [E] A top military aide to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution called on the Iranian Armed Forces to keep vigilant against potential US-Israeli military aggressions against Iran, and stressed that the country's forces should be able to hit enemy targets outside the region.
• [E] Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in a meeting with Pakistani Interior Minister A. Rehman Malik underlined Tehran's resolve to increase security measures to further control the bordering areas with Pakistan.

Nuclear Issue

• [E] Iranian official says the country's first nuclear power plant in Bushehr which was recently loaded with fuel, illustrates the failure of the western countries' policies against Iran.
• [E] Loading fuel into the Bushehr nuclear power plant symbolized the Iranian nation's resistance against the bullying powers, Iran's Vice-President for Parliamentary Affairs Hojjatoleslam Seyed Mohammad Reza Mir-Tajeddini said on Tuesday.
• [E] Tehran has invited all foreign firms and states to bid for nuclear power plant construction contracts with Iran.

Photos of the Day

• Latest Navy boats.