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

Larijani defends June 12 elections, blasts ‘U.S. hostile approach’; Khatami splitting from opposition movement; Iran mulling participation in London summit on Afghanistan; Ahmadinejad blames world powers for wars in Middle East; IRGC chief terms U.S. think tanks ‘directors of soft warfare against Iran’; Mottaki says nuclear exchange ‘still on the table’; Ahmadinejad approves plan to cut three zeros from currency; France refuses delivery of radar system to Iranian airports; China willing to develop ‘heavy’ oil fields in Iran; Islamabad finalizes pipeline deal with Tehran despite U.S. displeasure

Politics

• Ahmadinejad heads to Mashhad to inaugurate a steel factory.

• Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani in Khomein says no fraud has taken place in the June 12 presidential election and anyone who claims so is challenging the "republican element of the Islamic Republic."

• Former president Mohammad Khatami is distancing himself from Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karrubi politically. 

Diplomacy

• Sobh-e Sadegh provides a survey of the Islamic Republic's diplomatic efforts in Central Asia.

• [E] Iran is considering taking part in the conference on Afghanistan slated for January 28 in London. "If Iran's considerations on Afghanistan are completely taken into account in the final statement of the London conference, we will consider taking part in the gathering," Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said.

• [E] Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani lashed out at the U.S.'s ‘hostile approach’ against Iran, noting that Washington has not yet changed its strategy towards the country.

• [E] Qatari Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani has underlined his country's resolve to strengthen relations with Iran.

• [E] Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in a meeting with Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi stressed that Tehran was determined to continue its support for consolidation of democracy in Iraq.

• [E] Ahmadinejad blamed the ongoing wars in the Middle East on the world powers. "There are people who intend to dominate the region's resources, (so) they are seeking to provoke wars and conflicts among the countries," Ahmadinejad said at a meeting with the Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo.

• [E] Supreme Leader has stressed that the “greatest injustice to the international community is the dominance (sought) by powerful countries... and (their effort in) dividing nations into oppressive ones and submissive ones.” Khamenei made the remarks in a Thursday meeting with Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo in Tehran. “That is why the policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran has always been based on opposing the order of domination,” he noted. 

Military and Security

• Basij' share of the national budget is four trillion rials, but during the past two years the Basij has had access to greater funds.

• Yadollah Javani, Revolutionary Guards Political Bureau Chief, in a lead article in Sobh-e Sadegh depicts American Enterprise Institute and other think tanks based in the United States as "directors of the soft warfare against Iran."

• Parviz Fattah, Ansar al-Mojahedin Bank Executive Director (owned by the Revolutionary Guards Cooperative Foundation) says his bank should serve as a role model for other financial institutions in Iran.

• Hossein Ghadyani replaces Reza Seraj as Student Basij Chief.

• An unnamed student of Azad University belonging to an undisclosed "religious minority" confesses to having burned a photo of Khomeini.

Nuclear Issue

• Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki says Iran's offer for exchange of enriched uranium in exchange for nuclear fuel is still on the table.

Economy

• Finance Minister Shams al-Din Hosseini says, at the very minimum, "70 percent of the people will receive subsidies."

• The Deputy Finance Minister says Iranian banks must establish specialized units to combat money laundering.

• [E] Ahmadinejad has announced that a plan to lop three zeros off Iran's national currency, rial, has been finalized. "We are supposed to remove zeros from the currency... as for some reasons the rial has depreciated during recent years," Ahmadinejad told reporters on Wednesday. "We have to restore its true real value to the one existing in law."

Trade

• France refuses delivery of radar systems to airports in Iran.

• China expresses interest in developing "heavy" oil fields in Iran.

• Long-term contract on natural gas imports from Azerbaijan to Iran to be signed in three months.

• The Islamic Republic opens a commercial center in South Africa.

• [E] Pakistani Federal Minister for Petroleum Naveed Qamar has announced that Iran and Pakistan will sign an accord on the Peace Pipeline next week. The Pakistani minister's remarks came as the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke had earlier urged Islamabad to avoid the deal with Iran. 

Human Rights

• Ali Reza Beheshti suffers a heart attack at Evin Prison.

Media

• Tehran-e Emrouz, Bahar, Tose'eh, Rouzan, Jahan-e Eghtesad, Ettela'at, E'temad, Asrar, Jahan-e San'at, Mardomsalari, Arman-e Ravabet-e Omoumi, Jomhouri, Poul, Farhikhtegan and Afarinesh receive warnings from the censorship authorities after they quote Hojjat al-Eslam Hassan Rowhani saying Iran's atmosphere as tense.

Religion, Society and Culture

• Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi warns against spread of superstition in society.

Photo of the Day

• Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi as a young man