Iran News Round Up

Politics

• Commenting on Ahmadinejad's outreach to Iranian expatriates, Parliamentarian Daryoush Ghanbari urges the government to prevent brain drain and migration of the elites, journalists and capital from Iran.
• Parsineh releases biographical information about Farid al-Din Haddad Adel, son of a former speaker of the Iranian parliament.  
• Ahmadinejad "discloses the scenario of those who forced the poison chalice on the Imam [Khomeini]" and warns that "some of those who forced the poison chalice upon him are also active today."

Diplomacy

• Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast:
  • "American military officials’ statements cannot be substantiated. We see a great deal of uncalculated statements. The reason behind such statements is their continuous failure to achieve objectives.”
  • "In my opinion, the Zionist regime under present circumstances is too weak to wage a war against countries. And should it engage in such foolishness, it will surely repent badly..."
  • "The Americans have been changing their [military] posture over the past 20 to 30 years [in the Persian Gulf]. Don't take it too seriously..."
  • In reply to a question about Israel’s attempts to assassinate Ahmadinejad: "The goal and intent of the Zionist forces are clear; they have a governmental license to assassinate personalities. They have pursued this strategy so far. Indeed, the president [Ahmadinejad] is one of the personalities in the Islamic world who is the greatest enemy of the criminal nature of the Zionist regime.
• [E] Afghan President Hamid Karzai is scheduled to participate in a trilateral summit of the three Persian-language countries—Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan—in Tehran later this week.
• [E] The White House rejected Ahmadinejad’s call for face-to-face talks with Obama: "We have always said that we'd be willing to sit down and discuss Iran's illicit nuclear program, if Iran is serious about doing that….To date, that seriousness has not been there.”

Military and Security

• Iran says an explosion near Ahmadinejad’s convoy was only fireworks, denying earlier reports of assassination attempts on the life of the president.
  • [E] Iran's presidential office has rejected reports of a grenade attack on Ahmadinejad in the western city of Hamedan.
• Commander Hossein Chitforoush, the deputy head of the Iranian Army Air Force: "The Air Force demands its bombers from the United States [purchased 31 years ago.]
• Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar says a number of individuals involved in the latest terrorist act in Zahedan have been arrested.
  • According to Shi'a News, Molavi Abd al-Hamid, religious head of the Sunni community in Sistan and Baluchestan province, has been barred from leaving Iran "following his recently overt support to the Rigi terrorist group, which has led to the martyrdom of a great number of Shi'as in this province."
• [E] Iran and Oman signed a defense cooperation agreement Wednesday that includes provisions for the holding of joint military war games.

Economy

• Parliamentarian Peyman Forouzesh criticizes the government for not informing the parliament about the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
• Mohammad Nahavandian, Iran Industry and Mines Chamber of Commerce director, begs the government to assist those parts of the private sector "endangered by the sanctions regime."
• Isfahan Chamber of Commerce establishes a Committee to Minimize the Effects of the Sanctions.
• [E] Iran plans to form an airline consortium with Turkey as part of its broader goal of boosting cooperation with the airlines of the neighboring states, an Iranian official announced Tuesday.
• [E] Iranian Deputy Oil Minister announced that upcoming talks between Iran and Venezuela will focus on the establishment of a joint oil shipping company.
• [E] Iranian Oil Minister will travel to Beijing Wednesday to discuss with Chinese officials further investment in Iran's energy sector.
  • [E] According to the Oil Ministry's website, SHANA, Iran and China have already jointly invested $15 billion to develop Iran’s oil and gas fields.

Trade

• [E] Sanctions imposed against Iran over its peaceful nuclear plans will cost Russia up to $13 billion in losses from its arms deals with Tehran, a Russian think tank says.

Religion, Society and Culture

• According to Reza Taghiyar, Owghaf and charitable organizations director, says there are 8,500 holy mausoleums in Iran annually attracting 100 million pilgrims.
• Musician Mehdi Vojdani plans to conduct "symphony of emergence of the Imam of the Era" in Tehran in a few weeks.
• Shi'a News slams Saudi authorities’ "attack against the Shi'as on the occasion of the anniversary of the birth of the Imam of the Era."
• Bahraini Shi'a leader Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Ahmad Qasem warns against the influx of Western culture in society.

Nuclear Issue

• [E] Ahmadinejad: “We have announced to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that we are ready for the fuel swap and will be ready for talks in the midst of the holy month of Ramadan [late August] but on the basis of justice and [to discuss] the issues proposed by Iran.”

Human Rights

• [E] Ahead of the 20^th anniversary of the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam (CDHRI), Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki slammed the West for spreading “Islamophobia” to mask its “own bleak record”:
  • [E] "[After the CDHRI] Western theoreticians proposed that [the West] would need a new focal point for confrontation and hostility in order to maintain their expansionist policies.”
  • [E] "Instilling Islamophobia,…unreservedly insulting Islamic sanctities, as well as accusing Muslim nations of their own human rights violations, is part of a new chain of actions effectively organized [by the West] in the past two decades.”

Photos of the Day

• Burning of unauthorized music CDs in Lorestan.