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

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Larijani officially congratulates Ahmadinejad on re-election; Mousavi faces new wave of criticism; Supreme Leader warns foreigners against interfering in Iran's affairs; Iranian authorities continue curb on media; Rafsanjani criticizes management of election; IRGC chief emphasizes role in politics; Basij chief accuses Iranian groups of conspiring with foreigners against regime

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Politics

• Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani visits Ahmadinejad and officially congratulates him on his reelection.
• Fatemeh Rajabi, wife of government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham, says Abol-Hassan Bani-Sadr, the first president of the Islamic Republic who went into exile, had a sense of decency, but Mousavi has no shame.
  • Kayhan editor Hossein Shariatmadari discusses Mousavi's political behavior: "All this contradictory behavior ... can't be excused with any logical calculations.�It can be explained with two factors. The first is that Mr. Mousavi and his entourage has suddenly fallen ill and has lost the faculty of reason. The second possibility is that Mr. Mousavi and some members of his entourage have committed crimes. This possibility is so strong that it is almost impossible to imagine it wrong. Not only the proof and indication, but irrefutable evidence and documents depict it as a mission commissioned from abroad. In this regard one must only ask which of their deeds has not been in concordance with manuals and guidance announced by American authorities beforehand? And which of their demands differs from demands made by the United States and her allies during the past thirty years? Almost nothing!"�
  • In the midst of calls for prosecution of Mousavi, Ali-Reza Beheshti, son of the late Ayatollah Beheshti, says there must be "clever individuals in Iran who know what cost such a prosecution would entail."�
  • The Mousavi campaign's Committee for Defense of the Vote releases its complete report on election irregularities.
  • Rumors that Mousavi tries to form a political party.
  • Rumors on Hassan Khomeini, Rafsanjani and Mir-Hossein meeting to discuss further protests against the election result.�
• Rafsanjani, meeting family members of imprisoned political elites: "The people's presence in the arena of election was good and epic, but unfortunately the events afterward and problems made for some has left a bitter taste in the mouths and I don't think any wake conscious is happy with the present conditions... I hope that with wise and correct management of affairs, we in the coming days will witness improvement of the circumstances, and solving of the problems and calming of the pains of awaiting families... One must think of preserving the long term interests and expediency of the regime...by respecting the rights of all citizens we must preserve solidarity and unity, and by increasing public trust and prestige in public opinion, also deny the enemies opportunity to take advantage [of the events.]"
• Jomhouri-ye Eslami refutes rumors that Rafsanjani resigned his post as Friday Prayer leader in Tehran.
• Ahmadinejad says Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Mines Ministry will merge.
• Details from the Palizdar legal proceedings.�

Diplomacy

• Supreme Leader Khamenei speaking on the birthday of Imam Ali: "The enthusiastic election of June 12th, characterized by the unprecedented 85 percent popular participation, showed that the Islamic revolution after thirty years is capable of making the people participate in the arena. Therefore the enemies started instigating discord among the people, and they succeeded to some degree. But the people must neutralize this conspiracy... Occasionally, the rivalry within the family [of the Islamic Republic] may lead to anger, but this is nothing which the foreigners should engage in...
• There are some rules. Depicting the Iranian nation as a nation of rioters in the American and European media - which are controlled by the Zionists - is an insult towards the Iranian nation... Such governments must be careful of their hostile statements and behavior since the Iranian nation will react...We will calculate their meddling statements and behaviors and most certainly this will affect the future relations of the Islamic Republic with them... Even if the authorities of the Islamic Republic have some conflicts with each other, they are unified when facing the enemy and are of the same opinion when it comes to preservation of independence of the country.�
• All 27 European Union countries summon Iranian ambassadors to protest arrest of Iranian employees at the British Embassy in Tehran.�
  • Another employee of the British Embassy in Tehran is freed.�
• Larijani visits Qatar.�
  • Meeting the Emir, Larijani said the Islamic Republic has a strategic view with regard to Iran/Qatar relations and wants to expand relations with that country. Larijani also thanked Qatar for taking a stance against "invasion of the Zionist regime against Lebanon and Gaza."
  • Ahmadinejad speaking at the seminar of deans of medical faculties says "Iran's development can't be done without engagement with the world" but added "while engaging with the world, we must orient international relations towards justice and this is how we can manage to have an active and effective presence in the world."

Trade

• Direct flights from Isfahan to Kuwait City.�

Military and Security

• IRGC chief Ja'fari speaking to members of the IRGC Political Department and ideological/political indoctrination officers of the Guards: "We believe that the Guards while performing its mission, which is defense of the revolution, must play a decisive role in preservation and permanence of the revolution and this has absolutely nothing to do with intervention in politics... In these affairs many were unable to deliver a correct analysis, therefore, they engaged in nocturnal revolts and destruction." � More.
• Yadollah Javani, IRGC Political Department Chief: "Before the election, in an analytical report, we had predicted struggle of groups against the regime for a velvet revolution, along with vigilance of the people which would lead to failure of such conspiracies and their suffocation in vitrio... Another factor which led to their defeat was their ignorance of the role of the leadership and the Guardian Jurist. By starting a green wave, they wanted to pressure the leadership and the regime."
  • Javani also said some of the personalities were connected through intermediaries to conspirators outside Iran and added: "During the events the eye of the scheme was damaged but was not blinded. Now, the eye of the scheme must be totally blinded, it must be taken out of the head and blinding of the eye of the scheme is possible by shedding light upon events behind the scene..."
  • Javani also considered the post election events a "great blessing for the revolution and for the regime" and added: "The events have made the people know the movements and individuals involved in regime toppling and the political and cultural institutions of the regime have become more vigilant about the threat of soft regime change."�
• Hojjat al-Eslam Taeb, Basij Chief says "arrest of members of PEJAK, the Monarchist Association and members of the dissolved Tudeh Party during the recent unrests shows that a movement directed by foreigners but evolving around internal elements is taking place." Taeb also pointed his finger at the "Combatant Clergy Association" as one of those "internal elements."
• Abdollah Eraghi, Mohammad Rasoul-Allah Revolutionary Guards Force of Tehran, says the Basij only used 30 percent of its organizational capacity in dealing with the latest unrests in Tehran.�
• Alef News Agency reports widespread distribution of Persian translations of manuals on "velvet revolutions" produced by a certain Albert Einstein Institution which, according to Alef, is a CIA cover bureau instigating velvet revolution all over the world.�
• Rumors on reopening of Tehran University Campus Dormitories two weeks after their closure.�
• Ezzat-Allah Zarghami, Islamic Republic of Iran Voice and Vision Chief, says the pictures of Neda Agha-Soltani dying after being shot by a member of the Basij are computer manipulated.�
• Masoud Bastani, journalist, arrested.�

Nuclear Issue

• Jomhouri-ye Eslami'seditorial urges the new IAEA chief to avoid "the trap that the Americans had prepared for El-Baradei by imposing colleagues upon him to satisfy the propaganda need of the psychological warfare of the West with regard to Iran's nuclear activities."�

Media

• The Law Enforcement Forces shut down Iran's oldest center for journalism.
• Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Shahroudi, in a letter to its branches across Iran, demands identification and prosecution of those cooperating with foreign media broadcasters to Iran.
• Pundits Saed Bagheri, Abd al-Jabbar Kakayi and Javad Hashemi banned from Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting due to their support for Mousavi.
• Mohammad-Reza Tabesh, member of the Line of the Imam parliamentary faction, says the website of the group had been filtered due to the website's call for all family members of imprisoned political prisoners to register the names of prisoners online.�

Religion, Society and Culture

• Kayhan calls Iranian master singer Shajarian "an agent of world imperialism" because he protested against his songs being played on Iranian national television.
• Statistical information on sexual behavior of Iranian youth.
• First Iranian limo "Emperatour" on display in Niyavaran.�

Photo of the Day

• Supreme Leader Khamenei speaks to the people.�

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