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].

Politics

• Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi urges the Supreme Leader to follow the example of Grand Ayatollah Khomeini and "create an atmosphere of trust." 

• Mohammad-Hossein Saffar Harandi, former Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister's speech at Gilan University, ends in chaos as the students chant slogans against him and Mir-Hossein Mousavi's supporters argue with Ahmadinejad supporters.

• Motalefeh General Secretary Habib-Allah Asgar-Owladi gives up mediation efforts between the authorities and Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karrubi.

  • Assadollah Badamchian, Motalefeh Deputy General Secretary, says after the "glorious presence of the people at the anniversary of November 4th [seizure of the United States Embassy in Tehran], the trend of discord is decreasing... Collapse of the Mousavi supporters is so that the only ones left are Monafeghin [hypocrites, reference to Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization], monarchists and Marxists."

• Mohsen Rezai: "Among one of the candidates who protested against certain issues, I sacrificed my personal interests and my party political interests for the sake of general security after the Supreme Leader had expressed his viewpoint and the after the announcement of the Guardian Council.

• Alef News Agency publishes a complete list of statements by Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, Ahmadinejad's Chief of Staff, later withdrawn and refuted by Rahim-Mashaei.

  • Kayhan asks why Ahmadinejad insists upon keeping Rahim-Mashaei as Chief of Staff now that he can't prove Mashaei's competence. 

• Raja News Agency releases the names of students of Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi. 

• Abbas-Ali Kadkhodayi is appointed to the Guardian Council.

Diplomacy

• Ayatollah Hossein Nouri Hamadani, addressing Revolutionary Guards commanders: "The United States has ever since establishment of relations [with Iran] and especially after the victory of the revolution been the main enemy of the Iranian nation, and the Westerners - who have become its allies - are not inclined [to see] Iran take successful steps in the path of progress and election, especially in the field of military technology and nuclear energy."

  • Ali-Asghar Yousefnezhad, reformist parliamentarian, says statements of the Supreme Leader on "not being fooled by the smiles of the United States" were a warning to "those who are very eager to join them [the United States] at the negotiation table."
  • Abd al-Hamid Shahrabi, expert in international affairs: "One must move along the statements of the Supreme Leader since his statements have always solved the problems...The viewpoint of the Supreme Leader with regard to relations with the United States has been expressed on several occasions and there are no vague points in it... The main and fundamental issue with regard to relations with the United States are the discrepancies in statements of the Americans which must be subjected to investigation, otherwise it must be considered as void...The $55 million budget to wage soft warfare against the Islamic Republic is another example..."
  • Said Jalili, Supreme National Security Council Secretary: "The conflict between Iran and the United States has deep roots...What was exchanged between me and Burns can't be called negotiation...The conflict between Iran and the United States is not strategic, it is a paradigm and fundamental..."
  • (E) President Ahmadinejad advised United States President Barack Obama to confront Israel. Ahmadinejad referred to President Obama’s pledge for change and stressed, "Iran aids the US to create fundamental changes."

• Ahmadinejad meets Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in Turkey.

  • Ahmadinejad meets members of the Iranian community in Turkey who according to IRNA "shed tears of happiness!"
  • Parsine's analyst: The European Union's no to Turkish membership has forced Turkey to reorient its policies to the world of Islam.
  • (E) Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul reiterated Turkey’s support for employing diplomatic means to address Iran’s nuclear program. Gul celebrated the direct talks between Iran and members of the Group 5+1 as an important development in international cooperation.

• Ezzat-Allah Zarghami, Islamic Republic Voice and Vision Director, defends seizure of the American Embassy in Tehran in 1979.

• (E) President Ahmadinejad returned to Tehran after his visit to Istanbul for the 25th Session of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the OIC where he delivered a keynote speech. The committee, which was established in 1984, seeks to promote economic cooperation among member states.

•  (E) In a meeting with Comoros President Abdullah Muhamed Sambi on the sidelines of the recent summit in Istanbul, President Ahmadinejad hoped to strengthen bilateral ties between Iran and Comoros. According to Ahmadinejad, the two countries share cultural norms and political interests.

• (E) President Ahmadinejad and Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad discussed the most important aspects of regional development and the significance of Muslim unity. President Ahmadinejad highlighted the shared interests as well as the mutual threats faced by Tehran and Damascus.

• (E) Tehran's Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi said that three American citizens who were arrested this summer for illegal entry into Iran have been charged with espionage. More recently, a Danish citizen claiming to be a reporter was taken into custody when he failed to produce proper documentation.

•  (E) Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Mohammad Khazaee expressed Iran’s support for Afghanistan’s government and offered assistance in establishing domestic stability. The Iranian envoy identified security as the most pressing issue facing currently facing the government.

• Prime Minister of Kuwait declares his country's readiness to support Saudi Arabia in the fight against Yemeni Shi'a.

  • (E) Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki warned neighboring countries against interfering in Yemen. According to Mottaki, instability in Yemen will affect the political environment in the region as a whole. Despite raging internal conflict in the country, Mottaki has not canceled his trip to Yemen.

Military and Security

• Khatam al-Anbia, the contracting arm of the Revolutionary Guards, wins a $2.5 billion project to build railroad in Chabahar Free Trade zone.

• Hojjat al-Eslam Ali Saidi, Representative of the Supreme Leader to the Revolutionary Guards, speaking in Golestan: "There are some grandees and elites who act in a bipartisan way, but bipartisan acting is a deviation. One must be position themselves in the path of the Guardianship, otherwise it is a deviation... Throughout thousands of years, they have made a lot of fraud to fool the public [reference to the concept of bipartisanship]."

• Commander Hossein Salami, Revolutionary Guards Deputy speaking in Qom condemned the Green Movement's slogan: "Neither Gaza, nor Lebanon, may my life be sacrificed for Iran" and continued: "The slogan of 'Iranian Republic' [Rather than Islamic Republic] means return of the United States and Israel to our country and revives the bitter memories of colonialism."

• Commander Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam, Law Enforcement Forces Chief, says modern computer technology enables the authorities to recognize faces even should they be masked.

• Commander Masoud Jazayeri, Cultural and Propaganda Deputy at the General Staff, says a headquarters and a High Command will be established to counter "psychological operations" of the enemy.

• Reuters reports Iranian export of military technology, especially cameras for drones used by the government of the Sudan.

Nuclear Issue

• Said Jalili, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council: "No one has the permission to make the slightest move contrary to the thoughts of the Supreme Leader...At the Geneva meetings, the nuclear discussion was raised between me and Burns, Under Secretary of State, but I told him that our framework is the IAEA, this discussion is an issue for the experts and is not related to this place [Geneva talks]...What was exchanged between me and Burns can't be called dialogue and negotiation... One of the issues raised in the ninth cabinet was that in the nuclear issue we should make demands and not accused and we should decide the grounds where we would be playing..."

  • (E) Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili explained that the issue of Iran’s nuclear program is closed, warning that Iran will respond to any threat. Jalili boldly asserted, “now the path is closed for certain powers to make excuse on Iran's nuclear issue and the country will powerfully continue its "path of progress." Jalili referred to the P5+1 talks as a symbol of Iran’s determination to secure its rights.

• Javan quotes an "informed source" who says the Islamic Republic will not accept export of low enriched uranium from Iran to Turkey. 

• (E) President Ahmadinejad declared Iran’s proposal to purchase uranium for its nuclear research reactor an attempt at international cooperation, not confrontation. On the sidelines of the 25th Session of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the OIC, Ahmadinejad emphasized that the nuclear issue will only be solved through dialogue. Ahmadinejad added, “peaceful nuclear energy is a natural right of Iran.”

Economy

• (E) Iran’s Central Bank reported a 1.7 percent drop in inflation rates throughout October. However, the simultaneous rise in consumer prices has caused economists to fear Ahmadinejad's subsidy reform plan, which aims to gradually cut energy and food subsidies.

• (E) A poll of 126 business leaders conducted by the international consulting firm Oliver Wyman found that 69 percent of respondents expect the Islamic Republic to have a positive impact on regional economic development.

Trade

• Iran and Venezuela to start a joint bank based in Spain and Ahmadineajd to inaugurate a housing block built by Iranian engineers in Caracas.

• Turkish oil company TPAO to export Iranian oil to NABUCCO pipeline. 

Religion, Society and Culture

• Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi receiving Sunni religious leader Mowlavi Abd al-Hamid and other Sunni clergy: "Fundamentally, it is the radical teachings of Wahabism which has led to insecurity in the world. Insecurity rests upon the wrong teachings. You followers of the Sunni sect protest against such teachings, but in neighboring countries such as Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan and other places it is creating a mayhem and the Europeans only know Muslims by decapitations [performed by the Wahabis.]"

• Alef News Agency reports widespread closure of Shi'a mosques in Saudi Arabia. 

• (E) Iran’s badminton team is leaving Wednesday for South Africa to compete in the South African International Tournament. The competition will take place from November 13-15 in Durban.

• (E) Iran’s table tennis team is planning to leave for India this week to play in the 19th Asian Championships. While the competition involves male and female players, Iran’s team is comprised of male athletes.

• (E) A South Korean art group is planning to visit Tehran on November 14^th. The group is made up of 43 artists who will perform South Korean traditional art including music and dancing in a bid to introduce Korean Culture in Iran.

Media

• Parsine announces operations of WIN TV, in Washington D.C.

Iran in the Afghan Media

• Afghanpaper criticizes Iranian police for imprisoning and persecuting Afghan refugees. Gholam Dastagir Azad, the governor of Nimroz Province bordering Iran, says that over one thousand Afghans are deported from Iran on a daily basis, which has undermined security in the province.

  • Afghan senators criticize harsh treatment of Afghan refugees in Iran and Pakistan.

• An article in Hasht-e Sobh, entitled “Iran and playing with regional security,” expresses grave concern over implications of a recent plan by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to arm Baluch militiamen in southeastern province of Sistan Va Balouchestan. The writer warns that the scheme, if implemented, could promote terrorism, create another opportunity for al-Qaeda and pose a serious threat to regional stability. The author points out that militarization of tribal areas in Pakistan has now turned into an existential threat for Pakistan and created a safe haven for terrorists. He warns the Iranian government that the militias would ultimately join Jundullah and turn against the central government. “Sistan Va Balouchestan is situated in southeastern Iran bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is the best possible headquarter for the al-Qaeda-affiliated groups. This area could provide a transit route for al-Qaeda through the sea…to Yemen and Somalia, and could connect them to Central Asia by road… Arming the tribesmen against Jundullah could fuel tribal conflicts in southeastern Iran and could help Jundullah find supporters amongst tribes disenchanted with the government.

• Iran’s permanent representative to the United Nations has called for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan.

Iranian Political Cartoon of the Day

•  “Iran marks the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall.”