Iran News Round Up

Politics

• Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karrubi was attacked by angry mob as he tried to participate in a funeral service at the Nour Mosque in Tehran.

Diplomacy

• Supreme Leader Khamenei receives the presidents of Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Iran: "Iran is ready to share with Tajikistan and Afghanistan its experience and progress in various scientific fields... What has been agreed upon at today's session in Tehran must be implemented as soon as possible so as to have clear results at the next session... Most certainly, such cooperation has opponents who struggle to disrupt cooperation between the three countries, but one must resist them in an intelligent way."
• Ahmadinejad hosting his Tajik and Afghan counterparts in Tehran says "the destiny of Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Iran is tied together."
• Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki comments about Obama's willingness to negotiate with Iran: "In the long term, the Americans can't follow the path of contradictions... If the Americans want to act realistically, they should not make things more difficult. It is not we who are asking for negotiations. And we are not begging anyone to negotiate with us. We are continuing our legal nuclear activities."
• [E] Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani: "Saudi Arabia is an influential country in the region and the Arab and Muslim World.  Bilateral ties between Iran and the Arab state will benefit the Muslim world.”
• [E] Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister and Indian Foreign Secretary agreed to "counter the threat of Taliban's resurgence in Afghanistan" and boost their economic and energy ties.

Trade

• Ahmadinejad proposes linking Iran to China by railroad through Afghanistan and Tajikistan.
• Turkey increases gasoline exports to Iran.
• [E] Iran announced that it has exported $7.7 billion of non-oil products during the first three months of the current Iranian year (started on March 21), representing a 31% increase compared with the same period last year.
• [E] Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki at the tripartite summit of Persian-speaking heads of states announced a project to “[link] the railroads of Tajikistan to Iran via Afghanistan.  Thus the Silk Road will be revived as China is to link its railroad to Tajikistan through Kazakhstan.”
• [E] Iran has tentatively proposed the creation of an international forum for exporters of petrochemical products.  Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Russia, Qatar, and Turkey are potential members in the Petrochemical Exporting Countries Forum (PECF).

Religion, Society and Culture

• Shi'a News condemns Ahmadinejad's chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei's statement that the Iranian revolution is first and foremost Iranian and not Islamic.

Nuclear Issue

• [E] An Iranian lawmaker explains that the country's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) has the authority to decide whether to conduct negotiations with the U.S.  Khamenei must then approve the decision.

Iran in the Afghan Media

• At a trilateral summit in Tehran with the presidents of Afghanistan and Tajikistan, Ahmadinejad has called for the withdrawal of American and NATO troops from Afghanistan. “Humanitarian and cultural solutions are the best way to resolve regional problems. The presence of foreigners in the region not only cannot address the issues, but will further complicate them and create more problems for the nations,” he added. Afghanpaper says Ahmadinejad wanted to indicate that when foreign troops leave Afghanistan, regional countries can replace NATO forces.
  • Ahmadinejad voices support for “broad-based, strong” Afghanistan. 

Photos of the Day

• The presidents of Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Iran meet Khamenei.