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

• Parliamentary debate about next year's national budget
  • The government's proposal for next year's national budget passes the parliament.

  • Ahmad Tavakkoli: "The government's proposal was detrimental to the national economy because it causes inflation and stagnation… Rather than passing this budget,...especially, the reform of the subsidies system which is dangerous… the committee must convene to propose certain policy goals to the government..."

  • Hojjat al-Eslam Mesbahi Moghaddam: "Thirty two percent growth in public spending in next year's budget will prove expensive, especially given that the real growth in national income is 25 percent, calculated after eliminating inflation...Such growth raises public expectation, and increases budget deficit...Despite the fact that important public-owned enterprises have been, or are being, transferred to the private sector...there has been a 40 percent rise in their budget. It is not clear to us why this is the case...Implementation of the subsidy reform will prove inflationary..."

• Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, Ahmadinejad's Chief of Staff, explains the president’s reactions to Supreme Leader Khamenei's opposition to his appointment as Vice President:
  • "On Monday, I found out that there was this issue. I asked what I should do, and Mr. Ahmadinejad said “I'll speak with the Lord [Khamenei] today.” He went and spoke with the Lord, and I must say that I [by then] was no longer interested in this responsibility…After the conversation, he returned and I asked what I was to do. I asked again, and he said, “You continue your work!” On Friday, the letter [of Khamenei protesting against Mashaei] became public. I have no idea what happened, and why it was disclosed. I don't know at all and I heard it on radio. And I wrote a letter to find out what this was all about. What is the purpose of insisting [upon being Vice President.]?..."

  • "I am among those principalists who use Ahmadinejad in order to reach out to guardianship. This is the difference [between us.] This is the difference between Mr. Zakani and myself. I consider Ahmadinejad the prime example of following the guardianship. I have the conviction that just knowing the goal is not enough, but we also need to pay attention to the means [to reach the goal], and Ahmadinejad is the symbol of a prominent means of following guardianship in a divine regime."

• An unnamed "intelligence source" says former President Mohammad Khatmai has lost the right to leave the country.
  • Khatami's lawyer refutes the report.

Diplomacy

• Iranian and U.S. representatives meet in Vienna to discuss fight against drugs.

• Ahmadinejad scheduled to visit Kabul on Wednesday.

• Iranian officials react to a recent remark by Gen. Petraeus calling the Islamic Republic a "thugocracy":
  • Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast:
    • "We feel that the American authorities are extremely angry and their undiplomatic and inhumane statements are made in anger and their behavior resembles that of thugs. We don't know the reason for their anger. Is it the Revolution Day rallies and popular support for our regime, or is it because of their defeat in soft warfare? Maybe it is because of the victory of the people in Iraqi elections?" Mehmanparast also said that Secretary Gates was wrong in saying Iran supported the Taliban.

  • Speaker of the Parliament Ali Larijani:
    • "It is quite understandable that your uneasiness is because of the regional nations’ hatred of the United States. [This unease] sometimes manifest itself in such insulting statements..."

    • "The Iraqi nation gave a thorough answer to you and you should be in a state of political shock, but your problems will not be solved by using foolish language and hatred towards you will increase with each passing day..."

    • "It is the U.S. government that is a government of thugs, which has killed 850,000 Iraqis during the years of occupation and which has martyred tens of thousands of Afghans..."

    • "You are suffering from homelessness and political isolation among the nations. And by making such screams you show your helplessness even more...Of course, these statements also showed the nature of the current U.S. administration, which in an opportunistic attempt is trying to change its image. It is also a lesson to simpletons who thought such slogans showed a change in the nature [of the United States]. Now, take a look at how they showed what they really are."

• [E] Ahmadinejad is scheduled to visit Kabul on Wednesday to confer with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai on ways to expand mutual relations and the regional developments.

• [E] Qatar’s Prime Minister Hamad bin Jasim bin Jabir al-Thani said his country would not allow any country to influence ties with Iran.

• [E] Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mihman-Parast said Tuesday that head of US Central Command David Petraeus was using a “thugocratic” language

• [E] Larijani said the real “thugocrat” government is the US administration itself which is involved in killing of thousands of Iraqi, Afghan and Palestinian people.

Military and Security

• Jamaran Destroyer test-fires a surface-to-surface missile.

• Sobh-e Sadegh's analyst discusses United States' attempts to impose sanctions on the Revolutionary Guards: "The White House and its Zionist masters...want the United Nations to impose serious sanctions against Iran and the organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps because of the following reasons: International sanctions against the Revolutionary Guards - as the main source suppressing internal unrest in Iran - keep alive the unrest and internal conflict, and also bolster international support for the movement of discord. By stressing increased power of the Revolutionary Guards since the presidential election in Iran and by connecting this issue with Iran's nuclear efforts, they unleash a propaganda warfare against the Guards and attempt to depict Iran's nuclear program as a military program. This also activates a new phase of Iranophobia centering around the Revolutionary Guards which could create a new regional alliance against the regime of the Islamic Republic."

• Ala al-Din Boroujerdi, Parliament’s National Security Committee Chairman, in a meeting with the German Ambassador to Tehran demands that Germany extradite the PJAK ringleader to the Islamic Republic.
  • Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast protests against Germany for releasing the PJAK leader from prison and giving him asylum.

• Abbas Ja'fari Dowlatabadi, Tehran Public Prosecutor, says "a critic who has participated in a calm assembly without hooliganism or any offense taking place is not considered a rioter."

• A university professor in Qom is arrested on charges of espionage, and 30 individuals are arrested in other parts of Iran on charges of being members of the Jundallah rebel group.

• Asr-e Iran releases a list of Iranian citizens in custody of the United States.

• [E] Visiting Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar conferred on Tuesday with Qatari Minister of State for Interior Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani on expansion of security cooperation between the two countries.

• [E] The Iranian Navy has successfully test-fired a new missile from its first indigenously-built Jamaran destroyer in the waters of the Persian Gulf.

Nuclear Issue

• Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast: "It does not make any difference to us which country provides us with [nuclear] fuel. We have expressed our need to the IAEA and the agency is responsible for informing the countries possessing fuel...We would welcome any country which is ready to provide this fuel, and should Japan be ready to sell 20 percent [enriched uranium] fuel we will most certainly engage..."

Trade

• Iran to build an electrical power plant in Ecuador.

Human Rights

• Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami warns against removal of hijab on the occasion of March 8, 2010.

• Famous Iranian poetess and human rights activist Simin Behbahani was not allowed to leave Iran to participate at a March 8 seminar in Paris.

• According to Sobh-e Sadegh, Ja'far Panahi, movie director, was arrested because he was producing "a movie against the regime."

• Mohammad Owliayi-Fard, a lawyer who has defended civil rights activists, is arrested on unclear charges.

• Two Mousavi campaign activists, one in Lahijan and the other in Khouzestan, are arrested.

• Hojjat Montazeri, student activist, is arrested.

Photo of the Day

• A banner in the city of Ahwaz calls for spectators to see the hanging of narcotics smugglers.