Iran News Round Up

The Iran News Round Up ran from February 2009-September 2018. Visit the Iran File for the latest analysis.

August 04, 2009

 

A selection of the latest news stories and editorials published in Iranian news outlets, compiled by Ali Alfoneh, Katherine Faley, Ahmad Majidyar, Brianna Rosen, and Michael Rubin.  To subscribe to this daily newsletter, e-mail [email protected].

(E) = Article in English

 

Supreme Leader endorses Ahmadinejad; Khamenei hails public trust in regime; Ahmadinejad pledges economic reforms; opposition leaders snub President’s inauguration; Supreme Leader’s brother praises Mousavi; opposition leaders blast Tehran trials; renewed demonstrations in Tehran to protest Ahmadinejad’s inauguration; Raja News quotes Iraqi police sources as accusing American tourists detained in Iran of being CIA agents

  

Politics

  • Supreme Leader Khamenei by decree declares Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to be president of the Islamic Republic of Iran:
    • "In the name of God the compassionate, the merciful...June 12, 2009 developed into a golden leaf in the book of destiny of Iran whose every paragraph is written by the Iranian nation's struggle and decisive resolve, alertness of mind and resistance..."
    • "85 percent participation in the ballot is a clear sign of the sense of solidarity and national honor of this ancient and honorable nation and its devotion towards its struggles for the past thirty years...”
    • "Decisive and unprecedented vote of the people to the Honorable President Elect is a vote to characteristics of the book of achievements of the government for the past four years...and a vote to the anti-imperialist discourse of the government and its resistance towards domineering powers in international politics. It is a vote in favor of the fight against poverty, corruption and discrimination and a vote in favor of the fight against aristocratic behavior, a vote in favor of ascetic lifestyle and closeness to the people and a vote in favor of the government's compassion with the people, the weak and the meek, and a vote in favor of constant work and struggle..."
    • "These are some of the most important demands of the people from their chosen ones and whenever someone is known to have such an orientation he receives the love and devotion of the nation and by using the blessing of freedom - which is the gift of the Islamic revolution to this nation - the nation gives him the chair of responsibility and leadership..."
    • "I congratulate His Excellency Mr. Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the tenth presidential election and following the great Iranian nation confirm their vote and appoint this brave, hardworking and intelligent man as the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran..."
  • The Supreme Leader compared a lack of popular participation in societal affairs before the revolution and popular participation after the revolution and also spoke about the conflicting debate about supremacy of the republican or Islamist character of the regime:
    •  "Republicanism and Islamism are not two separate entities since relying upon the people and respecting their demands and their vote is in the very heart of Islamism and relying upon divine commandments..."
    • "The people...trusted the regime and by casting their votes in great numbers they proved their interest in and recognition of their regime of choice and this reality shows that those who speak of lack of public trust either speak out of ill wishing or ignorance...
    • "The events of the election are a serious warning that the enemy is always preying and that even in the best of conditions not paying attention to this could prove very dangerous...The great experience of the June 12th election is that if we look at each other with pessimism and cynicism in the fields of politics and societal life and look at each other as enemies, if we don't think and lack insight, we will suffer in the hands of the real enemies...The majority of the nation, all the authorities and the leaders of different political inclinations, the lovers of the country and the regime should all be truly vigilant and awaken. Of course, the nation was awakened and did not allow the enemy to achieve its goals in the stormy atmosphere..."
    • "The enemy should know which nation and what kind of regime it is facing and it should not think it can force the nation on to its knees by simple acts...The enemies should not even dream of trying to duplicate the great presence of the nation in the glorious revolution of 1979 in a caricature of that great movement in an attempt at dealing blows to the Islamic regime since this powerful regime has deep roots and will not be defeated by such things..."
    • "With this election, some elites failed, and some young people who had entered the arena with sincerity and a healthy mind were mistaken in some issues..."
    • Khamenei also urged the government to embrace political opponents of the Ahmadinejad's government and distinguished between the "enemies of the regime" and the "critics of the government": "To balance the devotees of the government there are two other groups which must be taken into consideration and to whom one must pay attention. One group is the angry and wounded opponents who will continue their fight against the government during the next four years and [another group]. There are the critics who are not the enemies of the regime or the President and one must pay attention to their viewpoints and I hope this will be done..."
  • News coverage of the Supreme Leader's statement: "One can't fool the people with the  Mosque of Zerrar [A mosque from which harm arises] and emulating the Imam [Khomeini]":
    • Fars News Agency discusses the coded message of the Supreme Leader "those who speak of the Imam [Khomeini] and shout ‘God is Great’ pray at the Mosque of Zerrar" - a mosque which the Prophet Muhammad ordered to be burned down since he considered it to be a source of discord. Also here.
    • Assembly of Experts member Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami: "There were some whose conspiracies during the latest election included shouting 'God is Great' from the roof tops. They were repeating the affair of the Mosque of Zerrar...God made a revelation that this mosque was erected in order to deal blows to the Muslims and in order to plant discord and propagate infidelity which could serve as a cell for the enemies of Islam among them. Therefore the Prophet sent a group to destroy this mosque and this mosque was transformed into a garbage dump."
  • Ahmadinejad's speech at the inauguration ceremony: "In contrast to Western democracies, in a religious democracy, wealth, political parties, widespread propaganda and complex media campaigns don't play a role... The vigilant people of Iran ignored the psychological operations of the enemies and once again chose the discourse of the blessed Imam [Khomeini]..."
    • Ahmadinejad promised hasty reconstruction of the economic structures of Iran including reform of the banking sector, the taxation system, the wealth distribution system, improving the value of the national currency and improving the subsidies system.
  • Absent at Ahmadinejad’s inauguration were Rafsanjani, Khatami, Mousavi and Karrubi, but present were guests such as Football Federation Deputy Mehdi Taj, National Football Team Coach Afshin Qotbi, SAIPA Football Team Coach Mohammad Mayeli-Kohan, Sepahan Football Team Coach Mohammad-Reza Saket, National Weight Lifting Team Coach Hossein Rezazadeh, War Veterans and War Disabled Federation Coach Mahmoud Khosravi-Vafa, and other sports personalities.
    • Guardian Council Spokesman Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei commenting on the "lack of presence of the personalities" - says "presentation of the presidential decree is not dependent on presence of the personalities...the fundamental is that the Supreme Leader confirms the President by his decree and reconfirms the choice of the people, but presence of the personalities is no fundamental or legal precondition."
  • Coverage of the presidential inauguration ceremony:
  • Ahmadinejad to be sworn in at the Parliament Wednesday August 5, 2009.
  • Reactions to former Vice President Mohammad-Ali Abtahi's confessions at the Tehran trials:
    • Video clips from Abtahi's confessions.
    • Judge’s opening statement.
    • Asr-e Iran editorializes: "The train of the revolution is throwing out some of its passengers...Khatami, Mousavi and Karrubi the next ones to present their confessions."
    • Jomhouri-ye Eslami editorializes:
      • "There are those who write 'evidence of this and that person's treason has been disclosed.' Another says: 'Now we have this confession, but prosecute the central person.'  A third person says 'One must not waste time, go for the chiefs and bring them to court since they are instigators of corruption on earth.'
      • This coin has been produced in the factory of purge and marginalization...The idea is that anyone who opposed a certain candidate and all those who did not vote for him must be isolated and their leaders must be purged...Must one really call the veterans of the revolution and arms of Imam Khomeini spreaders of corruption on earth only because they protest against certain things…? Should people who have had no share in the revolution and formation of the Islamic Republic regime and did not know the Imam [Khomeini] and the Imam [Khomeini] did not know them administer all the affairs of the country? How would the country develop then?!..."
    • Sarmayeh editorializes against the legal proceedings against reformist politicians: "If spies had leaked information to you about a velvet revolution, why did the Guardian Council in the first place allow Mousavi to run for president?"
    • Mosharekat [Participation] Front condemns the trials as a "revolting show trial."
    • Iranian satirist Ebrahim Nabavi delivers confessions playing the role of Mohammad-Ali Abtahi. Video,
    • Hojjat al-Eslam Qasem Ravan-Bakhsh, political editor of Partov-e Sokhan weekly, commenting on Abtahi's confessions to Raja News:
      • "Hashemi Rafsanjani was the first chief of the unrest and his letter to the Supreme Leader was a demonstration of this. Therefore, all these individuals have to be prosecuted..."
      • "We also do remember that Mr. Ahmadinejad [said that Hashemi, Khatami and Nateq Nouri are united in a common front against me, and he even said that Hashemi [Rafsanjani] is the show master..."
      • "From the very beginning it was obvious that they were not interested in the elections as such. Eight to nine months before the election Hashemi [Rafsanjani] began talking about fraud to which the Supreme Leader answered that in this country we have had healthy elections for the past thirty years and in such a way attacked those speaking of electoral fraud...Despite such facts these people continued speaking about electoral fraud and convened a committee headed by Behzad Nabavi in defense of the vote with presence of a representative from Hashemi [Rafsanjani], two representatives from Mousavi, two representatives of Karrubi and two representatives of Rezai...They said we have started this committee because we are convinced that there will be fraud and in such a way they affected the public opinion. And on the day of election they claimed there had been fraud. Mousavi declared himself the winner and [Mohammad] Khatami congratulated him and the foreign press called Mousavi president elect. They were all in it together in the process and there is no difference between Abtahi and Mir-Hossein Mousavi..."
      • "Mousavi and Karrubi must be prosecuted because of illegal activities before the election and because of directing the revolts after the election. They must be held responsible...The very persons of Mousavi and Karrubi are responsible for the bloodshed and for material damage and they must be prosecuted alongside other leaders of the revolt...Faezeh Hashemi [Rafsanjani] was engaged as street level commander of the revolt and even wife of Mr. Hashemi [Rafsanjani] urged the public to engage in unrest."
      • "A question is being shaped in the public mind. Why have individuals who were less involved been arrested, but those who were commanding the revolt safely remain in the periphery…? Mr. Rafsanjani started the unrest and chaos with his letter to the Supreme Leader. Therefore, Mr. Hashemi [Rafsanjani] and his sons - whose roles in the unrest were overt - must be held responsible in the court. This is the demand of the people. Why was Hashemi [Rafsanjani's] daughter arrested only for a few hours…? Kargozaran is a party formed during Mr. Hashemi [Rafsanjani's] era. He is the spiritual father of this party. He must not deflect responsibility and depict the Mosharekat Party and the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution as responsible and keep himself aside. These parties were aiming at toppling the regime and so was Mr. Hashemi [Rafsanjani's] party. Therefore the court must indict all these individuals..." Link available upon request.
  • Video of Atrianfar's confessions at the Tehran trials.
  • Announcement of confessions to be made at Tehran trials:
    • Fars News Agency claims forged documents have been found in the private home of veteran politician Behzad Nabavi whose confessions are awaited on Thursday.
    • Alef News Agency claims the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting will soon air confessions of Said Hajjarian, Intelligence Ministry co-founder and reformist theoretician.
  • Karrubi demands access for himself, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Mohsen Rezai and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to live television so they can debate the issue of election fraud and leave it to the Iranian public to judge the viewpoints of each participant. Karrubi also adds that Saturday's court in which leading reformist individuals made confessions has "no legal value" and stressed that "this is not the way out of the crisis, but provokes yet another crisis." Karrubi also stressed that the trial was a "show trial" which "the people are not going to belive."
  • Seyyed Hadi Khamenei, brother of the Supreme Leader, praises presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi and says "Mousavi presented the slogans and ideals of the revolution."
  • Parliamentarian Daryoush Ghanbari claims Ahmadineajd's dismissal of Intelligence Minister Gholam-Hossein Ezheh-i was due to a fight which broke out in the cabinet over the Supreme Leader's letter to Ahmadinejad demanding ousting of Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei as First Vice President.
  • Fars News Agency reports that Karrubi "participated at an illegal demonstration today at the juncture of Beheshti Avenue and Vali-Asr Boulevard and in a speech incited the public to revolt." Fars News claims that Monday's demonstration had been directed by "foreign television networks including the BBC, the network of the Monafeqin [reference to Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization] and the monarchists." Fars News also claimed the demonstration, which only counted 100 participants, was dispersed by the Police and the Law Enforcement Forces. 
  • IRNA claims to have knowledge of Ahmadinejad's government composition:
    • Cooperatives: Pour-Mohammadi or Abbasi
    • Labor and Social Affairs: Sheikh al-Eslami or Dah-Mardeh
    • Health: Mrs. Lankarani or Vahid Dastjerdi
    • Higher Education, Research and Technology: Shoja-i-Far or Zahedi
    • Economy and Finance: Hosseini or Bahmani
    • Welfare and Social Security: Forouzandeh or Riaz
    • Justice: Bakhtiari or Ahmad-Ali-Zadeh
    • Defense and Armed Forces Logistics: Mahsouli, or Ahmadian or Bekayi
    • Roads and Transportation: Behbahani or Mehdi Hashemi
    • Housing and Urban Development: Nikzad or Saidi-Kia
    • Communications and Information Technology: Soleymani, or Mokhber, or Sadegh-Zabihi, or Khosravi, or Ghaffarian, or Kahzadi, or Kahzadi or Karam-Pour or Shirani
    • Petroleum: Mehrabian or Jashn-Saz
    • Energy: Ali-Abadi or Fattah
    • Agricultural Jihad: Bour-Bour, or Khalilian or Moghaddasi
    • Foreign: Davoudi or Seyyed Ahmad Mousavi
    • Interior: Najjar, or Seyyed Hassan Mousavi or Daneshjou
    • Industry and Mining: Ghal-e-Bani or Jahangard.
  • (E) Two reformist figures who are currently on trial for their role in the post-election protests rejected claims that their confessions were forced.
  • (E) Former President Khatami said the mass trial of election protestors “was against the Constitution, regular laws and rights of the citizens.”
  • (E) Mir-Hossein Mousavi issued a statement calling the proceedings “forced, un-Islamic and a sham," adding: “From a court that is fraudulent from top to bottom, the authorities expect to prove the absence of fraud in the election.”
  • (E) On Monday, Supreme Leader Khamenei officially endorsed President Ahmadinejad in preparation for his inauguration ceremony on Wednesday.
  • (E) President Ahmadinejad told Western nations in an address after the endorsement ceremony: “Gone is the era of bullying; you can no longer impose your will on the world nations. I recommend you turn back to the path of justice and shy away from meddling in others' affairs… You did wrong to our nation both through and after the election and exploited your political and financial potentials in favor of your own interests.”

Religion, Culture and Society

  • Hojjat al-Eslam Ali-Reza Panahian, adviser to the Representative of the Supreme Leader in Universities: "If we had only 313 devout politicians, the Imam of the Era would have emerged." Link upon request. 
  • Parliamentarian Hossein-Ali Shahriari claims the Bahai faith is "more prevalent among the unemployed."
  • Fifth international conference on the doctrine of Mahdism convenes in Tehran.
  • (E) Engine failure forced the pilot of Iranian Saha Air’s Boeing 707 to make an emergency landing on Monday.

Diplomacy

Human Rights and Labor

  • Student activist Ali-Reza Davoudi, who was released from imprisonment two months ago, dies mysteriously because of heart failure.
  • Karrubi discloses that, last Thursday at the Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery outside Tehran, as his entourage attempted to get closer to Neda Agha-Soltan's grave, the riot police attacked his entourage - including his son - and beat them up. According to Karrubi, the demonstrators who had got together to commemorate those killed by the riot police in the post election unrest had shouted to Karrubi: "First they stole our vote and now they are beating us!"
  • 47-year-old Behzad Mohajer is latest victim of the post election unrest. He is buried without the family being allowed to see the body.
  • (E) Iranian Parliamentarian Boroujerdi said the Kahrizak detention center “was particularly built for thugs and ruffians. It is unacceptable to say that some of those arrested have been kept in the center due to lack of detention facilities,” rejecting reports that some detainees were held there.

Military and Security

  • BBC Persian reports widespread demonstrations against inauguration of Ahmadinejad. In Tehran the Riot Police attacked the demonstrators in Azadei [Freedom] Square and Vanak Square. In Vanak Square the Riot Police and plainclothes agents attacked the protesters with tear gas and used sticks in beating up the demonstrators.
  • Aftab News Agency reports heavy riot police presence all over Tehran Monday, during inauguration of Ahmadinejad.
  • Ali-Reza Eftekhari, Head of the Office of the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution, arrested on his way home.
  • Tabnak News Agency releases more information about three American citizens who were arrested by the Islamic Republic border police after crossing the Iran/Iraq border.
    • Raja News claims Iraqi Police sources have said that the American citizens arrested in Iran are "CIA agents." Link upon request.
  • (E) Addressing Afghan and Tajik foreign ministers, Iranian Foreign Minister Mottaki called for regional cooperation to halt the spread of extremism and terrorism, stating that “during the past few years, Afghanistan has been hit by extremism and this evil phenomenon has also spread to Pakistan with the aim of creating a crisis and jeopardizing regional security."

Trade

Economy

  • (E) 5.15 billion dollars of Iran’s telecommunications company will be privatized.

Photo of the Day

 

 

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