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

• Higher Education Minister Kamran Daneshjou: "We will throw out students not following the path [of the regime from the universities] and will not be the least ashamed of doing so."

• Former President Mohammad Khatami: "Forgetting God is a catastrophe, but even more catastrophic is when we impose our Satanic goals and inhumane ways and traditions upon the people in the name of God and everything which is sacred."

• Payam Fazlinezhad, addressing Fars News Agency's seminar on Internet News Agencies accuses former President Mohammad Khatami of being a "Freemason."

• Parliamentarian Bizhan Nobaveh protests against the Judiciary's inaction and apparent immunity of "children of the elites" from prosecution in the unrest.

• Mohammad-Javad Ardeshir Larijani, consultant to the Judiciary and secretary of the Human Rights Headquarters of the Judiciary, addressed students at Imam Sadegh University:  "Today the Islamic Republic has developed into the greatest example of non-secular democracy. This is our greatest deed: Establishment of a civil and political order based upon Islam."

Diplomacy

• [E] The Iranian foreign ministry announced that it had summoned the Italian ambassador to Tehran to protest at the country for the arrest of a reporter and another Iranian national in Italy.

Military and Security

• Hojjat al-Eslam Sedighi, Tehran temporary Friday prayer leader:
  • "Arrest of [Jundallah terrorist group ring leader Abd al-Malek] Rigi was due to divine intervention..."

  • "The unknown soldiers of the Imam of the Era created yet another historical epic by their action..."

  • "The imperialist powers had through scientific and psychological [research] identified Rigi as an element with high criminal potential against the Iranian nation..."

  • "The enemies of the Islamic revolution chose to guide Rigi by their spy agencies because he could develop into a center of insecurity for the region..."

  • "Arrest of Rigi has dealt an unprecedented blow to the intelligence services of Britain, the United States, and the spy agencies of some regional countries which can't be forgotten soon..."

  • "Arrest of this rogue has gladdened the heart of the Imam of the Era, his Vice Regent [Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei] and the Iranian nation..."

  • "One of the blessings of this security operation was that prior to [the arrest] the spy agencies boasted of their power, but the unknown soldiers of the Imam of the Era proved that these spy agencies are vulnerable..."

  • "This Mr. Obama who chanted the deceptive slogan of change through which he got the votes of the Americans supports terrorism and the arrested Rigi is an example of this. Now he [Obama] has been unmasked and his honor is questioned..."

• Mohammad-Ali Ja'fari, IRGC chief, addressing Basij members in Yasouj:
  • "The nationalists, Monafeghan [the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization] and the Monarchists are continuously trying to deal blows to the sacred regime of the Islamic Republic and they started many different movements but thanks to the vigilance of the people who are loyal towards the Guardian Jurist these movements of the enemy were neutralized and frustrated."

• Ahmad-Reza Radan, Law Enforcement Forces Deputy, addressing theological students and Basij members in Qom: "Even those who chose silence during the discord were among the deviated ones."

• Revolutionary Guards Navy conducts war game.

• Nezam Mousavi, Javan executive director, says arrest of an Iranian journalist in Italy shows that "Western security services are in a state of shock and are forced into the defensive" after arrest of Rigi.

•  [E] Iranian officials announced that the country's airport police have seized 737kg of drugs in the current Iranian year (ending March 20) which shows a 12-time hike.

• [E] Iran's Prosecutor General Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei said that the judiciary officials are mulling over holding the trial of ringleader of the Jundallah rebel group, Abd al-Malek Rigi, openly due to the Iranian peoples' demand.

• [E] “The terrorist Abd al-Malek Rigi received funding and intelligence support from the United States, Britain, the Zionists and some Arab states of the region, due to his own characteristics,” said Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei, Iran's Chief Prosecutor and the previous intelligence minister, late Wednesday.

Nuclear Issue

• Ali-Asghar Soltaniyeh, the Islamic Republic's Ambassador to the IAEA, says Iran has "neutralized the whisperings about issuing a [U.N. Security Council] Resolution," through mobilization of the Non Aligned Movement "against the unprofessional report of Mr. Amanu."
  • Soltaniyeh adds Iran is ready for exchange of nuclear fuel in Iranian territory.

• [E] Ahmadinejad reiterated that Iran does not need nuclear weapons as the country enjoys talented young people who can help to its drive towards progress and might.
  • Ahmadinejad: Our atomic bombs are our youths, athletes.

Economy

• Hojjat al-Eslam Mohammad-Reza Mir-Taj al-Dini, Ahmadinejad's parliamentary deputy, says cash handouts will not create inflation.

Trade

• Commander Hossein Salami, IRGC Deputy, speaking in Kerman: "Should Iran desire so, Europe would spend the winter in cold."

Iran-Afghanistan

• The Afghan government says it will investigate the Iranian government’s allegations that the Jundallah leader Abd al-Malek Rigi possessed an Afghan passport at the time of arrest. Video.

• Afghanistan and Iran begin their second joint counternarcotics operation. 

• The head of Information and Cultural Department of Afghanistan’s Balkh Province says, “Iran is the cultural Mecca of Afghan people.”

• Deputy head of Afghanistan’s Parliament Amanullah Paiman visits Tehran:
  • Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani pledged his country’s readiness to help rebuilding of Afghanistan, and stressed that Afghanistan’s problems could not be resolved by militaristic approaches.

  •  “Foreign intervention has never had any positive impacts on the region,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki explained to the visiting Afghan official.

  • “Empowerment of the central government and withdrawal of foreigners from Afghanistan are the best ways to restore peace and security in the country,” the deputy speaker of Iran’s Parliament Mohammad Reza Bahonar told Paiman. 

Photos of the Day

• Fajr Music Festival.