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

Ahmadinejad challenges Obama to debate; key figures embark on election campaign for Ahmadinejad; Mousavi’s banners set ablaze in Isfahan; Karrubi hints support for Mousavi; Russia to participate in Iran-Pakistan Peace Pipeline; Iran plans to connect Caspian Sea with Persian Gulf through oil pipeline; Iran concerned about Khalilzad’s potential role in Afghanistan  

Presidential Election: General

• Ali-Akbar Mohtashami-Pour, head of the Committee for Defense of the Vote, writes to the Election Propagation Commission to protest against the Ahmadinejad government's campaign use of the newspapers Iran, Jam-e Jam and Kayhan which are publicly-owned.
• Election Headquarters Chief Kamran Daneshjou provides statistical information about the ballots.
• Election Headquarters prohibits placards and banners anywhere but in the election headquarters of the candidates.

  Presidential Election: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

• Ahmadinejad promises to challenge Obama in an open panel debate at the United Nations should he win the presidential election.
  • Ahmadinejad also promises that Iran will take over the management of nuclear disarmament in the world. See also here.
• Professor Hamid Mowlana says there is no pleasure in the world of media and politics without Ahmadinejad.
• Ali Kordan, Mehdi Ahmadinejad and Reza Mashayi start their own campaigns in support of Ahmadinejad.
• Hojjat al-Eslam Hassan Rowhani asks from where the Ahmadinejad campaign got the travelers checks it distributes among students and villagers across Iran.
• Ahmadinejad receives 150 kg of petitions from the people of Khorramshahr complaining about state of affairs in the city.
• Ahmadinejad defends his record when it comes to providing the public with affordable housing.

Presidential Election: Mir-Hossein Mousavi

• Mousavi's banners are burned in Isfahan.
• Mousavi promises to reestablish the Budget and Planning Organization.
• Mousavi stresses importance of Azerbaijan province by pointing at Turkey's closer economic relations with the EU and the growth potential in the Republic of Azerbaijan.
• Ahmadinejad supporter Abd al-Reza Davari compares Mousavi's use of the color green in his campaign with Hitler's brown shirt brigade. Video.

Presidential Election: Mehdi Karrubi

• Karrubi says he aims for victory, but should he fail to advance to the second round of presidential election, he will support Mousavi.

Presidential Election: Mohsen Rezai

• Rezai questions Mousavi's honesty when it comes to his views on economic policies and accuses Mousavi of secretly being a proponent of state-centric economy.
• Rezai, meeting representative of the Supreme Leader in Mazandaran, stresses the importance of forming a national unity government "because people are tired of slogans."
• Mohsen Rezai supports Azad University which he says has become the victim of unjust attacks of the Ahmadinejad government.

Military and Security

• Tabnak News Agency deplores inattention of presidential candidates towards matters of national security and warns against "sinister plans to partition Iran."

Nuclear Issue

• Raja News starts a witch hunt for traitors in the nuclear issue who allegedly submitted to Western pressures.

Iran/Afghanistan

• Tabnak News warns against sectarian cleansing of Shi’a in Afghanistan’s Nimroz province.

Media

• Fars News Agency accuses the Persian version of the Google search engine of generating materials against the Islamic Republic.

Economy

• Hojjat al-Eslam Gholam-Reza Mesbahi-Moghaddam, president of the Economics and Finance Committee of the Parliament, says the Islamic Republic's foreign exchange reserve - including the Foreign Exchange Reserve account and the accounts of the Central Bank - reaches a total of $120 billion.
• The government's debt to the banking sector is one trillion rials.
• Average expenses for an urban family two years ago was 7,850,000 rials. With 15 percent inflation, last year the cost-of-living reached 9 million rials. This year, with a 25 percent inflation, the cost will reach 12.5 million rials. 30 million Iranians live under the absolute poverty line.
• Iran Khodro car manufacturer goes through liquidity crisis.
• Deputy Oil Minister reports increase in Iran's gasoline reserves.

Trade

• Russia to be connected to the Peace Pipeline.
• Iran plans to connect the Caspian Sea with the Persian Gulf through an oil pipeline.
• The Iranian shoe industry on the verge of collapse under the weight of imports from China and Turkey.

Iran in the Afghan Media

• Iran’s ambassador to Afghanistan warns against possible CEO position for Khalilzad in Afghanistan.
  • Feda Hussein Maliki has met President Hamid Karzai to convey Iran’s concern about recent reports leaked in the New York Times that Zalmay Khalilzad, who is a native Afghan and served as the U.S. ambassador to Kabul, would be installed as the chief executive officer in Afghanistan. Maliki warned that such a move was detrimental to political stability in Afghanistan and could lead to anarchy and chaos in the country.
• [E] Iranian books thrown into river.
• [E] No clue yet to kidnapped Frenchman en route to Iran from Afghanistan.
• Editorial in Hasht-e Sobh questions effectiveness of trilateral meetings between leaders of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and accuses Tehran and Islamabad of double dealing. The editorial criticizes Tehran for having allowed Taliban and Al Qaeda to freely travel to and from Afghanistan, having provided the Taliban with weapons, and using Afghan refugees as a tool to exert political pressure on Kabul.

  Photo of the Day

• Ahmadinejad gets a cold reception in Khorramshahr and is greeted with the chants of: "Only lies!"