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

Ahmadinejad says execution of subsidy reform plan to eradicate poverty, unemployment in Iran; Tehran’s Friday prayer leader urges public to engage in ‘scientific debate rather than emotional sloganeering’; Supreme Leader’s representative to IRGC elaborates on prevailing discord in Iran; former IRGC chief Safavi says assassination of scientist ‘plot by enemies to depict Iran as unstable’; Ahmadinejad slams Saudi Arabia’s military offensive in Yemen; Iran accuses Britain, U.S., Canada of involvement in illicit drugs trade in Afghanistan

Politics

• Ahmadinejad says that the implementation of the controversial subsidy reform plan will enhance people’s living standards, but maintains that certain amendments to the bill brought about by the parliament have made the plan more complicated. “This country is huge. People must live in large villas," he said with optimism.   

  • Ahmadinejad adds: "Three years from now, there will be no single unemployed or poor person."

• Friday prayer sermons:

  • Tehran’s temporary Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Emami Kashani urges the public to engage in "scientific debate rather than emotional sloganeering," at times of disagreement.

  • Mashhad’s Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Ahmad Alam al-Hoda blasts Ahmadinejad's Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, accusing him of "attacking sacred religious issues," because of Mashaei’s claims that Prophet Noah allegedly did not manage to establish a just order among the Jewish tribes.

  • Hojjat al-Eslam Ali Saidi, Supreme Leader’s representative to the Revolutionary Guards, addresses the prayers at Tehran University:

    • "During the past thirty years, the revolution has faced discord, big and small, such as the liberal movement, the nationalists, the Iran Freedom Movement, the National Front, the imposed war, the discord of Bani-Sadr and the hypocrites, [Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization], the discord of the household of the successor-designate of leadership [Grand Ayatollah Montazeri] during the era of the blessed Imam [Khomeini], the secular/liberal discord during the era of reforms [Khatami presidency], and the latest discord which includes a combination of aristocracy and those seeking power..."

    • "It is the world imperialism which directs such discord..."

    • "Sometimes the discord is political, sometimes it is a security issue, and sometimes it is a societal one. Sometimes the discord is visible, such as the imposed war; sometimes semi-clandestine only detectable through investigation; and at other times the discord is complex and clandestine..."

    • "The Bani Isra’il [Israelites) and the Muslims at the early days of Islam failed to recognize [discords], and [their] revolution was led astray. Had the infallible Imams not been there, even the bones of Islam would have become like ashes in the wind..."

    • "Even when your child deviates from the commandments of God, the child is Gheir-e Khodi-ye Siyasi [politically alienated] and we must distance ourselves from the child..."

Military and Security

• Law Enforcement Forces Chief Esmail Ahmadimoghaddam comments on the recent assassination of the Iranian scientist:

  • "We were warned that an attack was imminent. We all knew and thought they wanted to attack a [nuclear] installation...But you saw that they chose blind terror and martyred this scientist. It is possible that they will engage in other deeds. Therefore, one must, in a preemptive move, both visibly and invisibly, protect the scientists more..."

  • Answering a question about SMS campaigns urging the people to engage in demonstrations Ahmadimoghaddam said: "Participation in illegal gatherings, rioting and insulting the sacred issues will be dealt with. After our warning the day after Ashura, we no longer show any tolerance. We and the Judiciary will act with harshness."

  • "Both e-mails and SMS are under our control. We know where they are sent from...Those directing the unrest commit a heavier crime..."

• Rahim Safavi, former Revolutionary Guards chief and current military adviser to Supreme Leader Khamenei, speaking in Isfahan:

  • "The tenth presidential election in Iran was one of the best since the revolution…

  • "Those behind the riot can be divided into three groups: Those seeking power, those fomenting discord and trying to topple the regime, and thirdly, those who either knowingly or unknowingly became an instrument in the hands of those seeking power or discord."

  • Safavi continued that the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization has been energized and actively participated in the post-election riot, but also made accusations against "the Zionists, who after defeat in war against the people of Lebanon and Palestine want vengeance from our nation."

  • Commenting on the recent assassination of the Iranian nuclear scientist, Safavi said: "Internal and external enemies are trying to depict Iran as unstable. Therefore, they plant a bomb in a motorcycle and assassinate an Iranian scientist."

  • "I was the chief of the Revolutionary Guards for ten years, and I know how decisive the Supreme Leader is when it comes to making decisions and dealing with the enemies."

• News about political prisoners:

  • Shapour Kazemi, brother of Zahra Rahnavard, the wife of Mir-Hossein Mousavi, is released from Evin Prison.

  • Hassan Abedi Ja'fari, former minister of commerce and a supporter of Mousavi, has been freed from prison.

  • Three members of the safeguarding of the vote committee are freed from prison.

  • [E] Iran's judiciary announced that it has forwarded the cases of sixteen individuals indicted in connection with frenzy in Ashoura day on December 27 to the Revolutionary Court.

• [E] Saudi Arabia has denied being involved in a military offensive against Houthi fighters in Northern Yemen after Ahmadinejad slammed the country over the issue. "Saudi Arabia was expected to mediate in Yemen's internal conflict as an older brother and restore peace to the Muslim states, rather than launching military strike[s] and pounding bombs on Muslim civilians in the north of Yemen," Ahmadinejad said recently.

• [E] Ahmadinejad says the West is seeking to occupy the Middle East under the pretext of establishing democracy in the region. "They are occupying Iraq and Afghanistan and interfering in Pakistan and Yemen under the pretext of establishing democracy," the Iranian president added. Ahmadinejad stressed that Iran would not let the Western "dream" of dominating the region materialize.

• [E] A senior commander of Iran's Anti-Drug Police Squad has accused the United States, Britain and Canada of assisting drug trade in Afghanistan. Speaking on the sidelines of an anti-drug conference in Tehran, Lieutenant Commander of Iran's Anti-Drug Police Squad Taha Taheri said: "According to our indisputable information, the presence of the United States, Britain and Canada has not reduced the drug trade and the three countries have had major roles in the distribution of drugs," IRIB quoted Taheri as saying on Thursday.

Trade

• Venezuela exports 20,000 barrels of gasoline to Iran.

• [E] Richard Holbrooke, U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan has told Pakistan's Energy Minister Naveed Qamar that Washington would help Islamabad secure liquefied natural gas supplies, should it abandon a planned gas deal with Iran.

Religion, Society and Culture

• Academic Hojjat al-Eslam Taeb says, "Those who say the Lord [Supreme Leader Khamenei] has left the path of justice don't know the meaning of justice...Assembly of Experts 'discovered' him [Khamenei], but did not give him competence. Competence comes from God."

Photos of the Day

• Makou Landscape.