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, e-mail [email protected].

(E) = Article in English

Top Iranian dissident cleric dies; Police, plainclothes agents clash with mourners at Montazeri’s burial ceremony; mourners chant slogans against government, Supreme Leader; Karrubi says ready for jail; Iran’s Parliament Speaker Larijani blames Saudi government for conflict in Yemen; Iran rules out closure of Fordo nuclear plant; Iran’s Judiciary admits death of protestors in jail; bin Laden’s son says family members jailed in Iran

Politics

• Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri passes away at the age of 87.

  • Will be buried in Qom.

  • Supreme Leader Khamenei's send a letter of condolences to the family and household of Montazeri . He calls him "Ayatollah" rather than "Grand Ayatollah" and writes: "During the final years of the blessed life of the Imam [Khomeini], [Montazeri] was subjected to a difficult and dangerous test, and I ask God to forgive and show his mercy upon him and consider this worldly punishments as atonement [of Montazeri's sins.]"

  • Parleman News reports that between five hundred thousand and one million people mourn the death of Grand Ayatollah Montazeri at his burial ceremony in Qom. It also reports clashes between the police and the mourners, in some of which the police and plainclothes agents fired warning shots at the mourners. The mourners chanted slogans against the Islamic Republic, especially Supreme Leader Khamenei.

  • Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance has ordered newspapers not to publish photos of the late Grand Ayatollah Montazeri.

  • Some 500 to 1,000 members of the Basij encircled Montazeri’s house.

  • Seyyed Hassan Khomeini, grandson of the founder of the Islamic Republic, extends his condolences to the Montazeri household.

  • Mohammad Khatami does not participate in the funeral procession of the late Grand Ayatollah Montazeri, but sends a representative.

• Karrubi says he is ready for imprisonment.

• Kayhan ridicules opposition for not "daring to go demonstrate" last Friday.

  • The opposition ridicules the government for not being able to mobilize the masses.

• Kayhan editor Hossein Shariatmadari slams Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karrubi while addressing members of the Basij with regard to Friday's demonstrations against insult against the photo of the late Grand Ayatollah Khomeini.

• Aliasghar Jahangiri, Counter Espionage Chief at the Judiciary, says he is not aware of any open case against Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani.

• Mohsen Rezai says "protest does not mean opposition to the regime."

Diplomacy

• Demonstrators following the Tehran Friday Prayer carried banners and placards with the following slogans: "We will follow the Guardian Jurist to the end," "O, Freeman and Leader, we are ready," "Death to Israel," "The only party is the party of Ali, the only Leader is Seyyed Ali [Khamenei]," "Death to America," "Death to the opponents of Guardian Jurist," and the like.

• Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, Ahmadineajd's Chief of Staff, says the Islamic Republic will establish "house of Iran" in different countries.

• [E] Lebanese Prime Minister Sa'ad Hariri is scheduled to pay a visit to Iran in the near future, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman announced. 

• [E] Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada underscored the importance of Iran's position for regional and global developments, urging the country to contribute a role in stabilizing security in East Asia.

• [E] Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani criticized Saudi Arabia for its role in Yemen's internal disputes. "In Yemen issue, we criticized our Saudi brothers not the Yemenis," Larijani told reporters in Cairo where he is attending a meeting of the Islamic Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)'s constitution review committee as well as a series of talks with Egyptian officials. "We are friends with the Yemeni government and highly respect them and we have had very close consultations in this regard," he added.

Military and Security

• Abd al-Rahman Bin Laden, one of al-Qaeda chief’s sons currently based in Syria, says one of his sisters, five of his brothers and one of his father’s wives have been imprisoned in Iran since 1997.

Nuclear Issue

• Aliakbar Salehi, Iran Nuclear Energy Organization director, says Iran will not stop the activities at Fordo nuclear site near Qom.

  • Salehi continues: "Exchange of 400 kilograms of uranium in Kish was a part of the negotiations from start and we announced that exchange of uranium must take place on Iranian soil... For the first time, the IAEA guarantees exchange of fuel...360 Megawatt Darkhoyn nuclear plant is going through its fundamental planning phase...Uranium exploration all over Iran is being considered by the Iran Nuclear Energy Organization...This may take 10 to 12 years...Uranium can also be explored from the sea, but it would prove more costly...For the time being we have a mine in Bandar Abbas to produce yellow cake and our next mine is being established in Saghand in Yazd...The UCF factory...is one of the parts of the nuclear fuel cycle...and is now going through its final phase of repair and reconstruction..."

Human Rights

• The Judiciary's Investigations' Committee investigating Kahrizak Detention Center concludes that irregularities have taken place at the center and that the Judicial Branch of the Armed Forces will deal with perpetrators of crime.

Economy

• Three million Iranian school children soon to be covered by "enhanced bread and milk plan" through which the government distributes food to schools in disadvantaged provinces and neighborhoods.

• Parvaresh, Homa Director General, says his company is ready to privatize Homa Hotels and Iran Tour Company.

Trade

• Economy and Finance Minister Hosseini says Iran will increase its investments in the Islamic Development Bank.

• Jashnsaz, National Oil Company Director General, says it was "Western sanctions which led to establishment of seven new refineries."

• [E] Iran and Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) agreed to establish a joint trade committee, Representative of the Kurdistan Patriotic Union in Tehran Nazem Dabbaq said on Monday.

Photos of the Day

• Rafsanjani's ID.

• Grand Ayatollah Montazeri's death mourned by women of his household.

• Iranians mourn the death of dissident Grand Ayatollah Montazeri.

• Reformist politicians pay their last respect to Montazeri.