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

Iranian presidential hopefuls stepping up campaigning in run-up to polls; IRGC political chief endorses Ahmadinejad; Rowhani blasts Ahmadinejad’s performance over past four years; Obama administration considering designating Jundullah as terrorist group to bolster dialogue with Iran; UAE premier backs Iran’s nuclear program, hails growing ties with Islamic Republic; J.P Morgan Bank’s meeting with Iran’s vice president cancelled; Iran’s non-oil exports to Iraq, Russia increasing; NATO reportedly asks Iran to open corridor to Afghanistan to bypass Pakistan; Sarkozy to meet Iran’s foreign minister; Obama reiterates desire to engage in direct talks with Tehran

Presidential Election: General

• (E) Iranians living in the United Arab Emirates—nearly 400,000—will be able to vote for the next Iranian president at five polling stations in the provinces of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, and Fujairah.
• First presidential debate in the Islamic Republic’s history: Karrubi vs. Rezai.
  • Asr-e Iran ridicules the debate, calling it a non-debate, wonders if the passive style of discussion was imposed upon the candidates, asks what the content of paper scraps delivered to the moderator by assistants were.
• Asr-e Iran reviews the campaign videos of the candidates.
• Asr-e Iran says a group close to the Ahmadinejad campaign but disavowed by Ahmadinejad intends to release private pictures of family members of other candidates wearing unsuitable dresses. 
  • Rumors reportedly are directed against Mousavi's wife.
• Alef News Agency confirms rumors that the entire Rafsanjani clan works against Ahmadinejad. 
  • Fars News Agency reports there will be a spontaneous student demonstration against the Rafsanjani clan's interventions in the presidential election tomorrow. 
  • Shahab News Agency reports that the demonstrations will occur in front of the main building of the Expediency Council.
• Enthusiastic campaigning by Mousavi and Ahmadinejad supporters in Tehran. 
  • Poster war between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi supporters in Tehran.
  • IRNA reports election fervor in Tehran. 
• Supporters of Karrubi, Ahmadinejad and Mousavi demonstrate at the San'at Square in Shahrak-e Gharb. 

Presidential Election: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

• Ahmadinejad speaking at an assembly of women says "the monopolists" fear his reelection. 
• Highlights of Ahmadinejad's speech in Mashhad which revolves around the fate of the underprivileged.
• Industry and Mine Minister Ali-Akbar Mehrabian attacks former Industry Minister Jahangiri who accuses Ahmadinejad of telling falsehoods about Iran's performance under his government.
• As a response to the Mousavi campaign's green wrist band, the Ahmadinejad campaign distributes wrist bands with the three colors of the flag of Iran. 
• Judiciary Spokesman Jamshidi says disclosing the names of economically corrupt individuals is within the sphere of competence of the Judiciary and not Ahmadinejad.
• Ali Aghazadeh says Ahmadinejad will not allow the revolution to fall into the hands of the opportunists. 
• Ebrahim Haji-Mohammadzadeh, the IRGC’s first political chief, endorses Ahmadinejad. 
• Ahmadinejad supporter Ramezan Shojai likens Ahmadinejad's opponents with pre-revolutionary feudal lords. 
• Parliamentarian Morteza Agha-Tehrani says Ahmadinejad will win at the first round of the election. 
• Tabnak News Agency claims Government Spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham's speech in Isfahan was canceled due to public anger against the government. 
• (E)Hassan Rowhani , head of the Center for Strategic Research, deflated Ahmadinejad’s projected image as Iran’s “national nuclear hero,” accrediting his administration with “high inflation, job losses, high level of imports instead of a rise in the level of exports, evading laws and regulations, and poor domestic and foreign policies.”
• (E) Ahmadinejad praised his own government for preserving Iran’s domestic and foreign interests, in an address in Mashhad.

Presidential Election: Mir-Hossein Mousavi

• (E) In an address in Ardebil, Mir-Hossein Mousavi stated his purpose in running for president: “I entered the scene of election competition to revive 'hope and tolerance' in the Iranian nation with the aim of building a developed country.”
• IRNA photographer beaten up by Mousavi supporters.
• Mousavi warns against the sorry state of the economy.
• Academic Naser Takmil-Homayoun supports Mousavi's candidacy. 
• Religious innovator Abdol-Karim Soroush in an open letter attacks Mousavi for not answering the questions about his role in the Cultural Revolution which led to cleansing the universities of Western-educated academics. 
• Raja News Agency releases allegedly "forged" academic degrees of Mousavi.(link available on request).

Presidential Election: Mehdi Karrubi

• Karrubi's campaign video.
• Karrubi's television commercials: 1, 2, and 3.
• Speaking in Sari, Karrubi urges the public to participate in elections "if you want change." 

Presidential Election: Mohsen Rezai

• Latest television interview of Rezai.
• Rezai discusses his semi-liberal economic policies. 

Diplomacy

• Ahmadinejad adds that states previously threatening Iran today are competing with each other to expand diplomatic relations with Iran. 
• (E) The Obama administration continues to reach out to Iran, reportedly inviting Iranian government officials to celebrate July 4^thas “another way of saying [the United States is] not putting barriers in the way of communicating.”
• (E) The Obama administration is considering adding Jundullah, which claimed responsibility for the Zahedan bombing last week, to its terror list as a means of setting the stage for successful dialogue with Iran over its nuclear program and other issues.
• (E) Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum expressed support for Iran’s nuclear program and lauded the growing diplomatic and economic ties between the two countries.
• (E) India’s Ambassador to Iran Mehdi Mostafavi called for greater diplomatic ties between the two countries, whose historical connection outdates the advent of Islam.

Trade

• Cancellation of a planned meeting between J. P. Morgan Bank and Vice President Parviz Davoudi. 
• (E) An Iranian diplomat stated that the value of Iran’s non-oil exports to Iraq is estimated to exceed $3 billion by March 2010.
• (E) Director of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran (TPOI) Mehdi Ghazanfari noted the dramatic increase in value of Iran’s non-oil exports to Russia, from $62 million in 1999 to $350 million in 2009. 
• (E) Iran’s Ambassador to Turkey announced that Pakistan and Iran will work together to construct a “Peace Pipeline” in Turkey.

Military and Security

• According to a Russian newspaper NATO has officially asked Iran to open a corridor to Afghanistan in order to bypass Pakistan. 
• Arrest of 150 individuals in Zahedan.

Nuclear Issue

• (E) Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and French President Nicolas Sarkozy meet Wednesday to discuss Iran’s nuclear program.
• (E) President Obama reiterated his desire to engage in productive direct talks with Iran over its nuclear program, stating: “What I have said is that it is in the world's interests for Iran to set aside ambitions for a nuclear weapon.”

Religion, Society and Culture

• (E) Iranian film Superstar by filmmaker Tahmineh Milani will open in three theaters in California.

Photos of the Day

• Mousavi in Ardebil. 
• Women rally for Ahmadinejad; Ahmadinejad supporters in Tajrish, Tehran.
• Fighting at an Ahmadinejad campaign event.