Iran News Round Up

A selection of the latest news stories and editorials published in Iranian news outlets, compiled by Ali Alfoneh, Katherine Faley, Ahmad Majidyar and Michael Rubin.  To subscribe to this daily newsletter, e-mail [email protected].

(E) = Article in English

Rafsanjani to lead Friday prayers; Mousavi reportedly to form political party; Ahmadinejad blames Germany for murder of Egyptian woman; Iran’s Foreign Minister calls for creation of new world system to resolve global affairs; Iran executes 13 Sunni rebels; Russia described as real winner of Iran’s nuclear issue; Iranian clerics slam Chinese government for ‘suppressing’ Muslims

Politics    

• Iran predicts a harsh reaction to Rafsanjani’s leading the upcoming Friday’s prayers.
  • Reports on vast participation of Mousavi supporters at Friday prayers in Tehran.
  • Rumors on participation of Mousavi and Mohammad Khatami in Friday Prayers.
• Student organizations close to the Ahmadinejad government in an open letter to Rafsanjani demand he "declare" his "loyalty towards the revolution", distance himself from "rioters who planted discord among the community of believers under the mantle of the Rafsanjani household", support “the government's fight against economic corruption" and distance himself from "aristocratic behavior."
• Law Professor Firouz Aslani suggests that members of the Expediency Council, including the Chairman, should be able to hold only one public post.  
• Ahmadineajd travels to Mashhad.
• Rumors on Mousavi forming a political party.
• Rumors that Hojjat al-Eslam Sadegh Larijani will reshuffle the Judiciary personnel upon taking the Judiciary Chief position.
• (E) Discussing potential changes to Ahmadinejad’s cabinet, MP Reza Abdollahi stated that the Majlis will only consider candidates with the necessary qualifications and experience.
  • MP Mohammad-Reza Mir-Tajoddini stated that “We hope that more competent forces are added to the tenth cabinet in economic, cultural, and social sections.”

Media

• (E) According to PressTV, Iran has proposed a new media law “to ensure that any criticism of state affairs will not stray from objectivity in the future.”
• According to E'temad, 1,200 people have been blacklisted by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting since the presidential election.
• Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani, brother of former president Rafsanjani, files an official complaint against Iran and Raja News for publishing reports accusing him of accepting bribes from the Norwegian Statoil company and of being the mastermind behind the post-election violence in Iran.
  • Three of Rafsanjani's sons and daughters file complaints against Iran.
  • Ali-Reza Beheshti, son of the late Ayatollah Beheshti, files a complaint against Kayhan for accusing him of being an American agent.

Diplomacy  

• German authorities refute Ahmadineajd's claim that the murdered Egyptian woman in Germany was a "martyr of the veil" and a "victim of a premeditated conspiracy".  
  • Female Basij members demonstrate in front of the German Embassy in Tehran protesting against the murder of the Egyptian woman.
  • (E) Iranian Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Shahroudi blamed German judicial authorities for the fatal stabbing of Egyptian Marwa el-Sherbini and added: “Not only did the German court fail to ensure Marwa's safety, but to make matters wors[e], security guards opened fire on her husband, who had [come] to her defense.”
  • (E) Outraged at the murder of Egyptian Marwa el-Sherbini in Germany, Iran's Permanent Ambassador to UNESCO Mohammad-Reza Majidi “slammed the violation of Muslim rights and the desecration of Islamic values in European countries" in a letter to UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura.
• Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki participates in Non-Aligned Movement's summit in Sharm al-Sheikh, Egypt.
  • (E) At the summit, Iranian Foreign Minister Mottaki called for the establishment of a new world order through the reform of international institutions like the US Security Council.
• Tabnak News criticizes the allegedly "weak performance of the Iran lobby" in the Republic of Azerbaijan.
• (E) Iranian Ambassador to Iraq Qomi stated that the kidnapping of Iranian diplomats in Iraq “was the result of the [US] failure in Iraq,” adding that “Americans accused Iran of being behind their defeat and said IRI supports terrorist groups,” yet they “could not produce any document in this regard and Iraqi public opinion never accepted their lies.”

Military and Security

• Sistan va Balouchestan Prosecutor General Hojjat al-Eslam Ebrahim Hamidi says 13 members of the Jundallah terrorist group have been hanged. The execution of Abdolhamid Rigi, brother of Jundallah leader Abdolmalek Rigi, has been postponed for a few days.
  • (E) Iran executed 13 ‘Jundallah terrorists’.
• Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam, the chief of the Law Enforcement Forces, says it is not the Police which has arrested Mohsen Hajjarian, the son of Said Hajjarian, Intelligence Ministry co-founder and reformist theoretician.
  • According to Tabnak News, Mohsen Hajjarian is freed.
• Fakhr al-Sadat Mohtashami-Pour publishes an open letter on the occasion of the fourth week of the arrest of her husband Mostafa Tajzadeh, reformist theoretician.

Nuclear Issue  

• Tabnak's analyst considers Russia the main winner of Iran's nuclear issue.

Economy  

• Chief Inspectorate Hojjat al-Eslam Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi criticizes government withdrawals from the foreign exchange reserve.
• (E) Iran’s first solar and thermal power plant will be unveiled this week.

Trade  

• Asr-e Iran criticizes failure of Iran’s diplomacy in participating in NABUCCO natural gas project.
• So does Tabnak News.
• ECO ambassadors convene in Qeshm Island to discuss investment in Iran's economic development zones.
• (E) By 2014, Iran and India will jointly invest 5 billion dollars in the Hormozgan Steel, Hormozal Aluminum, and Jonoob Steel projects located in the Persian Gulf zone.

Religion, Society and Culture  

• Grand Ayatollah Yousef Sanei attacks "authoritarian leaders of China" who "violate the rights of defenseless people and accuse foreigners of staging protests."
  • Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, temporary leader of Tehran Friday Prayer, says that "massacre of Muslims should be condemned at this Friday's prayers."
  • Grand Ayatollah Sobhani urges the Organization of Islamic Countries to live up to its duties towards China.
  • (E) Two Iranian clerics have separately condemned the ethno-religious violence in Xianjiang. Ayatollah Hamedani stated: “We not only strongly condemn this crime, but we also ask all Muslims and liberal persons around the world to express their strong protest over this crime.” Ayatollah Sanei reproached the Chinese government’s “inhumane and harsh” treatment of Muslims and called the violent acts against Muslims an “unforgivable sin.”
• (E) Iran will host an international poetry conference in October attended by 30 poets from 30 different countries.