Iran News Round Up

Politics

• Parliamentarian Elias Naderan accuses Ahmadinejad’s aide Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei of meeting a former United States ambassador to Israel, at a meeting where men and women were dancing and alcoholic drinks were served. More, here.
  • Ahmadinejad's office refutes the remarks.
  • Alef News Agency condemns Mashaei for pursuing a "parallel foreign policy."
  • Hojjat al-Eslam Hossein Ebrahimi, parliamentary National Foreign Policy and Foreign Policy Committee member condemns Mashaei's "bypassing of an experienced diplomat like [Foreign Minister] Manouchehr Mottaki."
  • Hojjat al-Eslam Mojtaba Zolnour, deputy representative of the Supreme Leader to the Revolutionary Guards addresses university students in Qom: "The president had certain explanations with regard to the issue of Mr. Mashaei, but in my opinion the Mashaei story is one of the clearest mistakes of Ahmadinejad and can't be explained...But do not dismiss the golden track record of Ahmadinejad because of Mashaei."
• The Islamic Republic prepares for the Quds Day, the last Friday of the month of Ramadan.
  • Rafsanjani discusses the history of the QudsDay, and warns that "uncalculated statements" could "shatter the wall of hatred built against the Zionist regime."
  • [E] Rafsanjani has called for massive Muslim participation in the International Quds Day rallies.

Diplomacy

• Ramin Mehmanparast, Foreign Ministry spokesman, says Kayhan calling French first lady "a prostitute" is "inappropriate."
  • Kayhan has stepped up attack on Carla Bruni, the wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, calling her a “prostitute”.  
• [E] Supreme Leader Khamenei has asked the world Muslims to take immediate action to help the Pakistani people.

Military and Security

• Rafsanjani: "The imperialists’ present-day enmity towards Islam and the Quran resembles the infidels’ heavy pressures against the noble prophet of Islam... The fanatics and ignorant people of the Western world are today overtly expressing their hatred against the liberating teachings of Islam and the Quran using Islamic fanaticism and blind terror as excuses... Radical Islamic groups such as al Qaeda and the Taliban are the creatures of the espionage service of the United States and the West... The United States desired to stop the Islamic revolution by strengthening Islamic fanaticism and strengthening and establishing extremist groups. But thanks to the divine wisdom their own creatures have become their own worst enemies."
• [E] Iranian intelligence minister says foreign countries continue to support unrest in Iran, and that opposition leaders receive foreign aids through non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
• [E] Iran has called for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from the region, stressing that the wrong policies of foreign countries have just caused a massacre of the innocent people and continued tensions and insecurities in the region.
• [E] Palestinian Ambassador to Tehran Salah Zawawi has condemned Israel for its “brutal” approach and “crimes against the Palestinian people”, and stressed that occupied territories can be liberated merely through resistance.
• [E] "Undoubtedly, the fate of the fake and inhumane Zionist regime is nothing but destruction and annihilation," the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced in a statement on Tuesday.

Nuclear Issue

• Ali-Akbar Salehi, Iran Nuclear Energy Organization director, says Iran will produce enough enriched uranium within a year to fuel the Tehran research reactor.

Trade

• Iran plans to resume its natural gas exports to Turkey in 7 days.

Iran in the Afghan Media

• [E] An Iranian construction firm is awarded a contract to build the second and last phase of a road connecting central Maidan Wardak province to neighboring Bamyan province. The project is funded by Italy.
• Afghan senators express concern about bogus voting cards smuggled from Iran and Pakistan to Afghanistan in the run-up to the country’s parliamentary polls.

Photos of the Day

• Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei listening to Supreme Leader Khamanei.