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 blasts Judiciary for charges against associates; Iranian hardliners step up criticism of Rafsanjani; paper predicts seizure of British embassy unless Tehran downgrades relations with Britain; Iranian officials blame U.K. for increase of drugs trade in Afghanistan; Supreme Leader says world soon to witness annihilation of Zionist regime

Politics

• Ahmadinejad attacks the Judiciary for charges against associates and for banning Hemmat.

• Karrubi says he will never sell out of the rights of the Iranians.

  • Mohammad Taghi Karrubi, son of Mehdi: "Mr. Karrubi is a straight and brave man who will not try to get a few days [of success] in this world in exchange for the love of the nation or his after world. Had he wanted to make a deal and didn’t pay attention to all what has happened, he would not have endured seven months of insults, inhumane treatment or the threat of assassination. Be certain that if there is news about which Karrubi is informed, he will sincerely announce it. No deal has been made, and this is not because of intimidation...After the Guardian Council recognized the election and the Supreme Leader approved of it in accordance with the Point 110 [of the Constitution], Mr. Ahmadinejad became the head of government, whether we want it or not... But legitimacy presupposes certain conditions which the protesters do not believe have been met."

• Criticizing Rafsanjani:

  • Rafsanjani responding to Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi's criticism of him says Yazdi's statements "smell like a conspiracy."

  • Gholamhossein Elham, former Justice Minister of Ahmadinejad, says "Rafsanjani wanted to weaken the Leader... Khatami wanted to change the nature of the regime."

  • Hojjat al-Eslam Mehdi Taeb: "After eight years of imposed war, the enemy made its research and reached the conclusion that the reason behind its fiasco in Iran is because it had no infantry or leadership within our country. Therefore, they concentrated their efforts in this field... Infantry means people who assemble in the streets and say we don't want this regime. This preparation was very secretive. The second part was the economic part. The infantry needed support, and unfortunately, the model of thought of Hashemi Rafsanjani in his second term in office was in such way that it created the foundation for this. Of course, he did not know [that he was helping the enemy] but his [Rafsanjani's] way of thinking could be abused by the enemy..."

  • A certain Mehdi Hosseini from Qom says that Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi was an early proponent of normalization of relations with the United States, accuses him of trying to hid this fact by attacking Rafsanjani.

  • Agah-Sazi, one of Rafsanjani's mouthpieces, accuses Kayhan editor Hossein Shariatmadari of behaving like "a Jew pretending to be Muslim."

  • Ali Reza Zakani, parliamentarian, says legal proceedings against Faezeh and Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani are a test proving efficacy or inefficacy of the Judiciary.

• Mohammad Javad Larijani, Human Rights committee chairman of the Judiciary: "[Mehdi] Bazargan had a superficial understanding of Islam and had no good conception of theological decrees. He believed that one must find the reason behind the foundations of Islamic thought. Although I must add that Bazargan was a knowledgeable man in the field of mechanical engineering, we would finally reach either the Monafeghan [Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization] or the National Front if we follow his [Bazargan's] understanding of Islam... During the Ten Days of Dawn [Commemoration of the revolution] we must make the people merry, and the elites must also see to it that the people are not unhappy...The new line of hypocrisy refers to people who are proponents of secularism and believe we will be annihilated if we don't choose the path of liberalism."

• Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei says his source of emulation is "Mr. Shojouni."

Diplomacy

• Supreme Leader Khamenei accuses the United States of trying to "defeat the Islamic Republic" through the internet and said: "We will not pay protection money to anyone on our own behalf or the behalf of the Iranian nation...The enemies of the Iranian nation had for long masterminded plans to instigate unrest in Tehran...They have passed a budget with $45 million in order to defeat Iran through the internet...this shows the helplessness of the enemy..."

• Resalat predicts seizure of the British Embassy in Tehran if the government does not reduce the level of diplomatic relations with Britain.

• Mohammad Javad Larijani: "If the person residing in the White House had the slightest intelligence, he would not engage in this scandalous intervention in internal affairs of Iran. In our country many elections were held and there will also be elections in the future..."

• [E] A senior Iranian legislator took Britain responsible for an increase in the production and trafficking of illicit drugs in Afghanistan. "Britain, which has been tasked with fighting narcotics, has turned into a major cause of the spread of drugs in Afghanistan today," Head of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi.

  • [E] Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki lambasted the British government for its lack of action in fighting drug production in Afghanistan.

  • [E] Iranian First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi blasted the West's military approach towards terrorism in Afghanistan, saying that the ongoing crisis in the war-ravaged country would not be soothed through military solutions. "Those who used war on terrorism as an excuse to launch an attack on Afghanistan have made no achievement but expanding terrorism," Rahimi told reporters on the sidelines of a summit of Afghanistan's neighboring states in Istanbul on Tuesday.

• [E] Supreme Leader blasts Israel: "During the past 30 years, US administrations, the Zionist regime (of Israel) and worldwide Zionists have been the most hostile enemies of the Iranian nation and they are, in fact, the most hostile enemies of Iran today as well, and relying on these enemies is a big mistake."

  • [E] Khamenei said that the region would soon witness annihilation of the Zionist regime, stressing that Muslim countries can make such a happening even more imminent. "Certainly, the regional countries will witness the annihilation of the Zionist regime one day and its proximity in terms of time depends on the function of the Islamic countries and Muslim nations," Khamenei said in a meeting with Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz on Wednesday.

  • [E] Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar took the Zionist regime responsible for the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Masoud Ali Mohammadi, and termed such criminal acts futile in preventing Iran's technological progress. "The Israelis are naive to think that through committing such crimes they can curtail the country's achievements in science and technology," Najjar said on Tuesday.

• [E] Iranian First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi in a meeting with Turkish President Abdullah Gul in Turkey stressed the necessity for consolidation of ties between the two neighboring countries.

Military and Security

• The Islamic Republic issues new IDs.

• A bus transporting Iranian pilgrims to Iraq shot at by unknown perpetrators.

• Hojjat al-Eslam Mehdi Taeb: "In the middle of Khatami's presidency the Revolutionary Guards found out that the enemy is aware of the hiding place of our long distance rockets. They also discovered that Abbas Abdi had access to this intelligence, and he had given the intelligence to the Americans. Later, nuclear secrets were given to [Mohammadalil] Abtahi by Khatami and Abtahi gave this intelligence to the Americans. Khatami was told about this, but he said don't do anything about this. Therefore, Khatami dismissed Abtahi as his Chief of Staff and appointed him as Parliamentary Deputy." 

Trade

• Tidewater says it has not stopped its activities in Iran.

Photos of the Day

• Anti-America demonstrator's sign: "Melika is awake, hates America"

• Mohammad Ja'far Behdad, bows as he is appointed new IRNA editor.