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

Iranian authorities step up crackdown on protestors; Judiciary Chief Larijani pledges to deal decisively with ‘rioters’; Grand Ayatollah Sanei deprived of religious title; Mousavi unveils plan to restore order in Iran; hardliners call for strict punishment of reformist leaders; senior clerics demand execution of Ashura Day protestors; parliamentary committee voices objection to U.S. Senator Kerry’s potential visit to Iran

Politics

• Rumors that the late Khomeini’s family, including his grandson Hojjat al-Eslam Hassan Khomeini, have migrated to Najaf, Iraq to protest the "insults against the Hosseiniyeh [mosque] of Jamaran [next to the Khomeini residence]."

• Saeed Montazeri, son of the late Grand Ayatollah, in an interview with Der Spiegel proposes that Mousavi should replace Ahmadinejad as the president in order to restore order in the country.

• According to Jahan News, the name of Sardar-e Sazandegi [Commander of Reconstruction, a reference to Rafsanjani] Square in Rafsanjan has been changed to Imam Hossein Square.

• Mojtaba A'layi is appointed as Ilam Governor General.

• Judiciary Chief Sadegh Larijani promises to deal with ‘rioters’ in a decisive manner.

• Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karrubi meet to discuss Mousavi's five-point plan to solve the current political crisis in Iran.

• Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani urges election protestors to "distance themselves from the rioters."

• Kayhan editor Shariatmadari attacks Mohsen Rezai's attempts to mediate between Mousavi and the regime.

• Association of the Professors and Scholars at the Theological Seminary in Qom announces that Grand Ayatollah Sanei "lacks the necessary qualifications as a source of emulation."

  • Tehran’s temporary Friday prayer leader Ahmad Khatami says the decision to defrock Sanei was taken a month ago.

  • Grand Ayatollah Sanei's office in Qom says it will not react to the news before investigating about those who have voted to defrock the grand ayatollah.

• Fars News Agency releases statements by Supreme Leader Khamenei about ‘martyred’ Navvab Safavi's lasting influence on him.

• Mir-Hossein Mousavi's latest public announcement urges the government to show responsibility, and calls for free and transparent elections, freedom to political prisoners, freedom of press, and political rights to the public, including the right to establish political parties.

  • Mohsen Rezai commenting on Mousavi's announcement says Mousavi no longer questions the legitimacy of the Ahmadinejad government and urges the Supreme Leader to publicly provide Mousavi with an opportunity to return to the bosom of the revolution and preserve the unity.

  • Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, temporary Tehran Friday prayer leader, says there can be no unity with "those who spread corruption on earth," demands judges act now as decisively as in the first years after the revolution, when the corrupt were immediately executed.

  • Ayatollah Imani, Shiraz Friday Prayer Leader and Representative of the Supreme Leader to Fars Province, calls the opposition "a bunch of alcoholic, drugs-using strip-dancers and clowns," and "a gang which would resist the Imam of the Era had he emerged today," and who "desecrated the Ashura day of mourning."

  • Ayatollah Tabatabayinezhad, Isfahan Friday Prayer Leader, demands execution of Ashura Day protestors.

  • Hojjat al-Eslam Mohammadtaghi Sarafipour, Pol-e Dokhtar Friday Prayer Leader, says "had Khatami been defrocked we would not have witnessed such things today."

Diplomacy

• Hossein Ebrahimi, Parliamentary National Security Committee member, says his committee is against John Kerry’s potential visit to Iran.

• Javad Razavi, Imam Khomeini Aid and Relief Committee Director in Tajikistan, reports on Iran's charitable activities in the Central Asian country. 

• Lebanese source of emulation Fazlallah urges the Iranian government to negotiate a solution to the crisis with the opposition so as not to allow the “imperialist powers” to exploit the situation.

Military and Security

• Ministry of Higher Education plans to establish a passive defense university.

• According to Jahan News, 14 members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization, along with 16 members of the Bahai faith, have been arrested during the Ashura demonstrations last Sunday.

  • The Intelligence Ministry says the latest demonstrations were called for by "the Monarchists," and the individuals arrested include Marxists, Bahais and members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization.

• The long-awaited report by the Parliament’s National Security Committee about post- election unrest has turned out to be a five-page document discussing general issues with no references to specific cases.

• Commander Mohammad Javadzadeh Kamand, Military Service Chief of the Law Enforcement Forces, explains the new military service law to Sobh-e Sadegh's readers: "The structure of the armed forces necessitates a military service in our country, but how long this service should be depends on the needs of the time...Right now, the greatest criticism against the military service is that it is a waste of time. Therefore, we need to change the methods in a way that the military service is to the liking of the youth...The Revolutionary Guards is authorized to recruit a certain percentage of its soldiers among members of the Basij..."

• Revolutionary Guards Political Bureau Chief Yadollah Javani analyzes the "conspiracy" of the Green Movement.

• Hojjat al-Eslam Ali Shirazi, the Supreme Leader's Representative to the Revolutionary Guards' Navy, demands decisive action against Mohammad Khatami, Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karrubi.

• Sobhe Sadegh condemns Mousavi's latest announcement proposing five ways to solve the current crisis in Iran.

• News about arrests of political and civil rights activists:

  • More than 25 students and followers of Ayatollah Dastgheib are arrested in Shiraz.

    • Ayatollah Dastgheib himself was prevented from leaving Shiraz to Tehran and was forced to leave the airplane after boarding.

    • A letter of anguish “Ranjnameh” by female members of Dastgheib’s family complains about attacks by plainclothes agents on their home.

  • Amir Khorram, Mohsen Mohagheghi and Sara Tavasolli, members of the Iran Freedom Movement are arrested.

  • Abdolreza Rahmani, Mohsen Pourrashidi, and Hossein Shahrashoub, political activists in Zarand, are arrested by the security forces.

  • Mohammad Yousef Rashidi, Amir Kabir University student arrested in Nowshahr, has gone on a hunger strike.

  • Rouzbeh Karimi and his wife Forough Mirzayi, both human rights activists, are arrested.

• Iraqi forces are in a state of alert following the Fakkeh oil field crisis between Iran and Iraq.

• Mohammad Rasoul-Allah Revolutionary Guards unit of Tehran in a public statement announces that the members of the Basij will suppress "the voice of the enemies."

• Emrouz reports sporadic clashes between the riot police and protestors in Tehran on December 31, 2009.

  • Emrouz also reports increased anti-riot police cars in Tehran.

• Atashiha Mosque and Abousaleh theological seminary in Shiraz were attacked once again by plainclothes agents.

• The Intelligence Ministry asks the public to send all their documentation and intelligence, including video footage and pictures, of "anarchists and those sewing discord" to the intelligence headquarters of the ministry. The Intelligence Ministry also warned that "some protesters cooperate with foreigners and counter revolutionary groupings" and urged the protesters "not to become and instrument in the hands of the foreigners as it has been the case until now."

• According to E'temad, Intelligence Minister Mohsen Ezheh'i has at an official meeting with the Supreme Prosecutor General discussed execution of three individuals arrested during the Ashura unrest.

• Latest news of crackdown on political and civil rights activists:

  • Political activists arrested in Gorgan: Hossein Raf'ati, former Gorgan governor, Ehsan Alayifar, youth branch member of the Mosharekat party, Ali Gholitabar, head of the Mojahedin of the Revolution organization in Golestan province, Morteza Izadi, member of the 1388 headquarters of Gorgan, Ali Shahini, student, Hamid Barchian and Dadvar, both war veterans, Moheb Hosseini, religious praise singer.

  • Seven members of the human rights reporters' committee.

  • Ali Hekmat, executive director at the banned Khordad, Ne'mat Ahmadi, lawyer, Mohammadreza Zohdi, editor of banned Aria, and Mahsa Hekmat, journalist at E'temad.

  • Former students of the late Grand Ayatollah Montazeri: Mohammad Taheri, son of Ayatollah Taheri, Mostafa Izadi, journalist, Mahmoud Dardkeshan, former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Morteza Amiri Jarghouyeh, preacher, Emadeddin Baghi, journalist and civil rights activist, Ahmad Ghabel, cleric.

  • Mohammadsadegh Javadihesar, E'temad-e Melli [National Trust] Central Committee member and head of the Mashhad branch of the party.

  • Maryam Zia, children's rights activist, is arrested in Tehran.

  • Some 210 students at Mashhad University, including Sadra Mirdamadi, a relative of Supreme Leader Khamenei who clashed with Ansar-e Hezbollah vigilante groups which attacked the university.

• According to Parleman News, 52,000 people have lost jobs in Asalouyeh.

Media

• According to JARAS News, a meeting at the Voice and Vision of the Islamic Republic has decided to wage a psychological war against the opposition by depicting them as members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization.

Iran in the Afghan Media

• Afghan border security forces have seized an ammunition depot in Herat Province along the borders with Iran.

• Iranian border guards shot dead an Afghan citizen trying to enter Iran. Gholam Dastagir Azad, the governor of Nimroz Province, slammed the firing by the Iranian security forces and demanded that they respect border protocols.

• The railway project linking the Afghan province of Herat to Iran’s border is yet again postponed, mainly due to lack of funding.

Photos of the Day

• Iran imports armored equipment from China to deal with anti-government protests.

• Pro-regime mob attack Atashi-ha Mosque in Shiraz and changes the name of the mosque to "Imam Khamenei Mosque."