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

Politics

• Supreme Leader Khamenei: "The Islamic Republic has nullified the dangerous belief that rational life and development are not in tandem with adherence to spiritual, moral and religious values...This progress is only the beginning, and we must with a big leap become self-sufficient in all industrial fields and must rely on Iranian thought and initiative...Low prices and abundance are good, but what is even more important is the growth of the domestic industry, and one must not encourage imports based on incorrect reasoning...”
• Jahan News reports that Khamenei visited the city of Bam in disguise and moved around the people "like fish in the sea" in order to learn firsthand about the suffering of the earth quake victims.
• Abbas Abdi, reformist theoretician, warns of a widening gap between ruling elites of the Islamic Republic.
• [E] Iran’s Justice Minister Morteza Bakhtiari will hold direct contacts with Iranians living abroad.

Diplomacy

• [E] Iran's Envoy to Italy Mohammad Ali Hosseini called on Italian officials to release the two Iranian nationals held in the country at the earliest.
• [E] Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast blasted the “baseless claims” raised by the Arab League on the three Iranian Islands.

Military and Security

• Agahsazi releases a Persian translation of Reuters' report on increased risk of Israeli attacks against Iran's nuclear installations.
• [E] Iranian intelligence forces managed to release an Iranian diplomat, Heshmatollah Attarzadeh, who was abducted in Peshawar, Pakistan in November 2008.

Religion, Society and Culture

• Latif Amini, Arabic teacher in Gilan, explains why Iranian high school students dislike Arabic.
• Agahsazi publishes sociologist Majid Mohammadi's article on weakening of religion in Iran in the aftermath of the June 12, 2009 presidential election. The article was originally released on Radio Farda's website.

Human Rights

• Iranian singer known as Sasi Mankan, who supported Mehdi Karrubi's campaign, is arrested on unidentified charges during a visit to Kish Island.

Nuclear

• [E] The Group of Eight industrialized countries' foreign ministers say they are open to hold dialogue with Iran over the country's nuclear program.

Iran in the Afghan Media

• President Hamid Karzai met Iran’s Supreme Leader during a trip to Tehran to participate in a ceremony marking the Persian New Year.
• Afghanpaper writes that Karzai’s recent trips to Iran and China were meant to reassure the neighboring countries that he will not let the Afghan soil to be used against any countries in the region.

Photos of the Day

• A young Khamenei in exile in Iranshahr of Balouchestan.
• Khamenei visits auto manufacturing fair in Tehran.