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

• (E) Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani has dismissed claims by Arab leaders that Iran is trying to revive the Persian Empire.

• Agah-Sazi releases biographic notes about Mir-Hossein Mousavi. 

• Former Intelligence Minister Hojjat al-Eslam Ali Fallahian in interview with Fars News Agency: "The opinion polls reflect superiority of Ahmadinejad." 

• (E) President Ahmadinejad has called Iran a cradle of virtue and great figures.

• Kargozaran technocratic faction spokesman Hossein Marashi says "behavior of the Ahmadinejad government is more dangerous than that of Bani-Sadr..." 

• Partov-e Sokhan, mouthpiece of Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, launches a broadside against Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karrubi.

• Said Abou-Taleb, Principalist supporter of Mir-Hossein Mousavi:
  • "As the elections approach, there is an increasing possibility of only two [major] candidates in the election and Principalists critical of the government are gravitating towards Mr. Mousavi. The Principalists attempted to make people like Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi, Dr. Velayati, Mr. Qalibaf and some other people of the Principalist approach, but they did not succeed and are now gravitating towards Mr. Mousavi...  Apart from this, the first generation of the revolution and war veterans is also inclined to support Mr. Mir-Hossein Mousavi...

  • There is also another independent variable in need of attention: The presence of Mohsen Rezai in elections. Most certainly, if he is insistent on his presence, he could attract some of the supporters of Mousavi and Ahmadinejad... Mir-Hossein Mousavi's potential emanates from the fact that he belongs to the generation of executives from the first decade of the revolution. Back then, factionalism had not yet taken place that one could speak of people as Factionalists or reformists. Therefore we saw that in the government of Mr. Mousavi, at times Mr. Nateq Nouri and at other times Mr. Mohtashami-Pour were Interior Ministers. It is such potential that provides him with the right to choose among all efficient forces from every group and faction...According to his own sayings he is a reformist who recognizes the principles.

  • Mr. Mousavi can't be categorized among such factions. He is extremely critical of the present management of the country and is not satisfied with the state of affairs, but it does not mean he is a reformist. Mir-Hossein can't be categorized...The only red line he recognizes is the Constitution itself, and female cabinet ministers are not among them...In a few days we will find out how the Principalist camp will evolve...The greatest mistake [of the ninth government] was and still is escape from law, lies, and lack of public trust..." 

• The Supreme Leader's representative in Khorasan province Ayatollah Tabasi warns against "infiltration of the executive branches of government by the opposition movements." 

• Mehdi Karrubi attacks Kayhan editor Hossein Shariatmadari:
  • "It is such a source of grief that in the Islamic Republic, which is a regime nurtured by the blood of the martyrs, the pen has fallen into the hands of an individual who as representative of the Supreme Leader in one of the greatest regime media outlets, not only deviates from the line of the Supreme Leader, but by abusing professional privileges and position to establish a bureau of lies and after lifelong claim to be the mouthpiece of the masses and playing the role of Iranian Pravda and insulting great sources of emulations, religious intellectual giants and servile executives of the people has now focused on someone who has never claimed to have defended himself...

  • Let me tell you this: You are not dealing with [Saidi Sirjani Iranian author attacked by Kayhan, imprisoned and murdered in Evin]  but with Mehdi Karrubi whose half a century of political struggle, his father and his family's fight in the path of the revolution and the regime is clear. I know that in this realm everyone, from Saidi Sirjani to you [late] friend [imprisoned and murdered intelligence officer] Said Emami all have been victims of the attacks of your pen..." 
    • Former Revolutionary Guards intelligence analyst and current press freedom activist Emad al-Din Baghi believed to be the author of Karrubi's letter against Kayhan.

• Shariatmadari answers Karrubi's criticism of Kayhan accuses Karrubi of making statements "to the delight of Israel":
  • "1. First and foremost one must ask Mr. Karrubi, which of the insults and accusations he has made against Kayhan have not earlier been made by foreign radios such as Israel and the U.S. radio and monarchist and counter revolutionary web sites? It is up to you to judge. Therefore, from the very bottom of our hearts we thank God for being subjected to insults and attacks from well known foreign enemies because we are defending Islam, the Islamic regime and the blessed line of the Imam [Khomeini] and we deplore collaboration of some internal friends with the enemy.

  • 2. The issue is this: In your newspaper headline, with large fonts you had written: 'Stop execution of children!' Mr. Karrubi, is it not the occupying Zionist regime which is subjected to protest and anger of the people of world because of killing children? And is it not the Prime Minister of the Zionist regime who claims that it is the Islamic Republic which has raised the accusation of killing children against Israel? So, what it the issue? If you make the accusation against the Islamic regime by saying 'Stop execution of children', are you really unaware of the fact that you are echoing the claims of the Israelis against Islamic Iran? If you are aware of it, I don't know what to say. If you didn't, well knowing such things is one of the proofs of education!

  • 3. Mr. Karrubi, is it not true that the day after hitting the kiosk with that front page in E'temad-e Melli, you told the public that the fact that [you published] the story was untrue? Your newspaper is here, you can't deny it. Therefore one must ask this question. If you confess that you have made an untrue and incorrect claim, why do you attack Kayhan for its criticism of you? And if you yourself believe in your claim, why did you make the excuse?

  • 4. In your letter of insults, in an amateurish way, you have attempted to change the nature of the issue and raise the debate of juvenile execution and ask me 'Based upon which interpretation of theology and which theological school do you protest against my statements with regard to execution of individuals under 18 years of age?' Mr. Karrubi, why are you attending to the non essentials? Don't change the subject! I did not protest against your theological discussion. I protested against your claims which are to the delight of Israel which is not only a total lie, but also a baseless allegation against Islam and the the revolution...

  • 10. [In your letter] you have written: 'Amazingly, Shah-era members of the Tudeh [Communist] Party, Rastakhiz [late Shah era single party] and the SAVAK [pre-revolutionary security agency] who tortured the revolutionaries and political prisoners, after the revolution those same counter revolutionary individuals take the mantle of the press.' In this regard I must say that those individuals are to be found in your party and your faction...Again and again I'm sorry that the good deed of working as an interrogator has not been among my duties..." 

• Emtedad-e Mehr News, close to the Ahmadinejad supporters, claims supporters Mir-Hossein Mousavi use revolutionary songs of Fadayian-e Enghelab, revolutionary-era leftist group. 

• Ansar News mouthpiece of the Ansar-e Hezbollah vigilante group prints Partov-e Sokhan's mud-slinging against Rafsanjani. 

Nuclear Issue

• (E) Iran says its nuclear program should be treated like Japan’s.

• (E) The U.S. has denied a request from Israel to set a deadline for talks with Iran.

• (E) Iran’s energy minister says that Iran will not suffer from power storages this summer as it prepares to open its first nuclear power plant.

• (E) Israel’s President Shimon Peres believes that the only way to counter Iran’s nuclear program is to threaten it with a “nuclear response”.

Military and Security

• (E) Belarus is reportedly selling Russian-made missile systems to Iran.

• Iran's police chief launched an "Internet patrol" to "fight fraud" and counter what he calls "obscene websites". (audio) A Tehran-based lawyer told Radio Farda that such measures are illegal.

• Tehran Court Deputy Mahmoud Salarkia attacks Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karrubi's promise of stopping moral police patrols: "The politicians entering the realm of the Societal Security Plan and polluting the plan with rumors and political propaganda is disturbing social security and public rights. Some people being allowed to disturb the public order is unacceptable." 

• Mohsen Rezai promises that, if elected, he will reduce military service to one year. 

• Greater Tehran Law Enforcement Chief Azizollah Rajabzadeh says his force will "wrap up private homes of singles in zone 12 of Tehran...the dens of crime." 

Diplomacy

• (E) Iran’s diplomatic overtures to Latin America have disturbed officials in Washington.

• (E) A senior Iranian cleric warned Arab leaders against maintaining relations with Israel despite its “animosity.”

• (E) Iran and Cuba have vowed to strengthen the role of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

• (E) A group of Iranians have petitioned President Obama to respect the Iranian identity of the Persian Gulf after he called it simply the “Gulf”.
  • (E) Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said that the Persian Gulf will always be its name.

• (E) Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi has claimed that the three disputed islands in the Persian Gulf will belong to Iran forever.

Religion, Society, and Culture

• (E) Iranian musician Hafez Nazeri has developed a new string instrument similar to the Setar.

Trade

• (E) Kardemir, Turkey’s largest steel producer, is reportedly interested in investing some $500 million in Iran.

• (E) Iran and South Korea have agreed to manufacture buses in the city of Ardebil.

• Sarmayeh calls for gasoline self-sufficiency. 

• According to IRNA, Israel is engaged in exports of sub standard Iranian pistachios to the U.S. 

Economy

• (E) Two construction projects began in Iran’s southern Fars province.

Human Rights and Labor

• (E) Teachers in several cities and provinces of Iran are in the midst of a three-day strike to protest low wages. Their main demand is implementation of a pay-parity bill passed by parliament in 2007. The measure, which would bring teachers' wages in line with other government workers, has not been instituted despite recent promises by Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.

• A student activist named Bahareh Hedayat told Radio Farda that the charges against jailed students from Amir Kabir University are baseless.

Iran in the Afghan Media

• Afghanistan to assess Iran’s support for Taliban.
  • Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced it will examine the findings of the U.S. Department of State’s annual terrorism report, which accuses Iran of backing the Taliban. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Sultan Ahmad Baheen stressed that Kabul and Tehran enjoyed good relations and that the Afghan government had no evidence substantiating Iran’s ties with the Taliban. “We have no evidence at present showing that the Islamic Republic of Iran is carrying out destabilizing activities in Afghanistan.” 

• Afghanpaper says that the United States is considering using Iran’s soil for transit of military and non-military supplies into Afghanistan. The report claims that American military officials plan to transit their supplies from the U.S. air base in Qatar to Afghanistan’s Kandahar province through Iran’s southern and central territories.  

Photo of the Day

• Arrest of 22 hooligans and gangsters.