Iran News Round Up

A selection of the latest news stories and editorials published in Iranian news outlets, compiled by Ali Alfoneh, Ahmad Majidyar and Michael Rubin.  To subscribe to this daily newsletter, please visit this page, fill out the "New Subscribers" section, and check "Iran News Round Up" listed under "Projects." 

(E) = Article in English

Politics

• Ahmadinejad sacks Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki:
  • Mottaki was informed through the cabinet about his dismissal while visiting Senegal. Ahmadinejad appointed Ali-Akbar Salehi, Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization director, as acting foreign minister.
  • Ala al-Din Boroujerdi, Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee chairman, says he had no previous knowledge of Mottaki's dismissal.
  • Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee chairman: "It is unconventional to dismiss someone who is on a mission as the official representative of the country…We are waiting for explanation from the president in this regard." 
  • Parliamentarian Ghodratollah Alikhani: "The entire world is laughing at us because of our behavior towards our own minister."
  • Raja News, editorializes:
    • "Three years ago, rumors about dismissing Mottaki for the first time circulated in the wake of a row between Mottaki and Iran’s ambassador to a European country..."
    • "Prior to forming the tenth cabinet and selecting the ministers, Mottaki was thought to be dismissed, but this speculation too proved wrong. The reason for not replacing the foreign minister was that the president was not satisfied with capabilities of other alternatives to administer the diplomatic machinery of the state..."
    • "Four months ago, the issue of changing the foreign minister made headlines. This happened as the president appointed his special representatives to different world regions. Manouchehr Mottaki threatened to resign, but his resignation did not materialize..."
    • "Diplomacy of the tenth cabinet was consistently an active and offensive one and the Leader of the Revolution had also stressed upon this. However, the methods, initiatives and speeches were the work of the very person of the president, and the Foreign Ministry did not perform in an acceptable manner in this field..."
    • "At certain unofficial meetings, the official policies of the government were refuted by Iranian diplomats..."
    • "It is unclear if Ali-Akbar Salehi... will be presented to the parliament as the final choice or not...For the time being, changing the head of the Iran Atomic Energy Organization... does not seem expedient." Link upon request.
  • Amir-Abbas Taghipour's interview with Mottaki which took place 42 hours before Mottaki's dismissal: Taghipour: "Are rumors about your dismissal false?" Mottaki: "You see, based upon the teaching of our grandees, we must act as if we are meant to serve many years in this field of responsibility. [Simultaneously] we must look at it as if we even don't have 10 days in office."  
  • One Asr-e Iran reader comments on Mottaki's dismissal: "This is what happens when you don't answer the greetings of Hillary Clinton!"
• As the Student Basij demonstrates in front of the British Embassy, Effat Marashi, Rafsanjani's wife, and Rafsanjani's grandson Emad Hashemi Rafsanjani, enter the embassy to apply for visa.

Diplomacy

• Falahatpisheh says "some members of the [Parliament’s] National Security Committee are working on downgrading relations with the United Arab Emirates."
• Ministry of Islamic Guidance and Culture expresses interest in purchasing a house in which Grand Ayatollah Khomeini was living when in exile in Bursa, Turkey.
• [E] Spokesman of Pakistani Foreign Office Abdul Basit voiced his deepest appreciations for Supreme Leader Khamenei's support for the people of Kashmir.
• [E] The death of US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard C. Holbrooke will cause major difficulties for implementation of Washington's strategy in the two countries, an Afghan analyst stressed on Tuesday.
• [E] Fars News Agency reports: The Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic resistance movement Hamas, in a statement on Tuesday underlined resistance against the Zionist regime until complete freedom of the Palestinian territories from Israeli occupation.
• [E] Parliament is seriously pursuing lowering of Iran's relations with Britain, especially after the recent allegations of the British ambassador to Tehran about human rights conditions in Iran, a legislator reiterated on Tuesday.  

Military and Security

• Former Revolutionary Guards chief Abbas Aghazamani, also known as Abou-Sharif, discusses the establishment of the Revolutionary Guards. Link upon request.
• Commander Ramezan Sharif, Revolutionary Guards Publications and Public Relations deputy: "The level of attacks against the Leadership during the past year equals the cumulative number of attacks against His Holiness Ayatollah Khamenei during the past 21 years."
• Alvand Destroyer of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy anchors in Sri Lanka.

Nuclear Issue

• According to Alef News, Mohammad Ghanadi Maraghehi is a strong candidate for replacing Ali-Akbar Salehi as Iran Atomic Energy Organization director.
• [E] Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi in a decree on Tuesday assigned Mohammad Ahmadian as his acting deputy.
• [E] The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman on Tuesday reiterated Tehran's clear and stable stance on talks with the six world powers after Ahmadinejad changed the country's foreign minister.
• [E] Iran plans to hold the 12th exhibition of its nuclear industry achievements next week, a spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) announced on Tuesday.

Photo of the Day

• Manouchehr Mottaki.