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

• Kayhan editor Shariatmadari editorializes: "There is irrefutable evidence that external enemies, by using the heads of the recent discord, aimed at the very existence of the Islamic regime...."

• The Parliament's seminar convenes without Mehdi Karrubi, Aliakbar Nategh Nouri, Mohammad Khatami, Rafsanjani and other critics of the Ahmadinejad government.

Diplomacy

• Kazem Jalali, spokesman of the Parliament’s National Security Committee:

  • "More than a year has passed since Obama came to office. Has any change taken place…? The Americans are seeking various degrees of power and it would be naive to think that the President of the United States wants to change this order...The Americans do not desire relations with Iran, but they want to negotiate with Iran... During the past year we have seen no fundamental change but in the tone of the words of the United States... The behavior of this country is the same as during the Bush government. They still look upon Iran as an Axis of Evil and they have only changed their language. We think our administration should act in a more precise manner.
  • Under Bush we faced a crazy and radical foreign policy team, but today, Obama's foreign policy team is taking a more careful and delicate view of the affairs. Optimistically, one can claim that Obama wants change, but his change is only in style and not the policies and strategies of the United States in the world...
  • Our problem with the United States of America is not a problem which can be solved with a handshake or a display of friendship. Some American authorities have during the past years sought a photo opportunity with the Iranians, but we are not seeking propaganda goals in our relations with the United States...
  • The only power resisting the United States quest for power, Iran, has resisted and has also paid a price. The United States wants to crush Iran's prestige... If the Americans are telling the truth and desire to negotiate with Iran and change their policy towards us, they should secure the Tehran reactor's nuclear plant and see to it that Iran's nuclear issue comes off the agenda of the [U.N.] Security Council and returns to the IAEA...
  • But they have prolonged the sanctions against Iran for another year, and during this short time the United States Congress has passed three bills against Iran. All this shows that we must not act in a hasty manner when it comes to dealing with the United States. They just want to do away with taboo of negotiations...The conflict between Iran and the United States is not a dispute, it is difference in paradigm and behavior...Obama's rhetoric will not remain mild for more than five or six months and he will commit the same mistake as Bush did in Afghanistan and Iraq…."

• Deputy Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mohammadi:

  • "In Iran, no President or Foreign Minister is allowed to or has the courage to act independently of the statements of the Supreme Leader and any negotiation takes place only with the acceptance of the Supreme Leader...
  • After the revolution, Iran had an interest section in the United States which was for some time under Algerian cover, but because of certain conflicts, today Pakistan has this responsibility. In reality, this office is active presently and Iranian residents in the United States are employed there.
  • The United States pursued establishment of a similar office in Iran. Despite Switzerland acting as the interest section office of the United States of America in Iran, they desired an independent office in Iran. They were told that Americans living in Iran had to work in this office since the employees of an interest section must be local, but they could not do so and therefore the issue was canceled...

• (E) Along with a delegation comprised of Iranian government officials and businessmen, President Ahmadinejad arrived in the capital of Brazil as part of his South American tour. Ahmadinejad is scheduled to meet with Brazilian President Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva to discuss areas of mutual cooperation and to sign collaboration agreements.

  • (E) After a three-hour closed-door meeting, President Ahmadinejad and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced that relations between Iran and Brazil have potential grow and opportunities for mutual aid must not be ignored. Ahmadinejad compared the regional status of Iran and Brazil, claiming that both countries played a unique role in a sensitive part of the world.
  • (E) During the prolonged meeting between President Ahmadinejad and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, various Memoranda of Understanding were signed in the areas of sports, culture, politics, and economics. The central banks of the two countries also signed multiple agreements.

• (E) Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast rejected territorial claims put forth by the United Arab Emirates' President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, professing UAE ownership of the three Iranian islands of Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb and the Lesser Tunb in the Persian Gulf. Mehmanparast said that the islands have remained a part of Iran throughout its long history and pointed to this territorial controversy as an impediment to bilateral talks.

• (E) Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast openly discussed the ongoing conflict in Yemen and noted that such disagreement and violence is detrimental to Islamic unification. Mehmanparast called for both sides to settle their differences through mediation and diplomatic means,

• Foreign Minister Mottaki criticizes United States offer of mediating between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan with regard to division of the Caspian Sea.

• The Islamic Republic's Ambassador to Tajikistan protests against Tajik journal Negah's description of the Independence Tunnel - financed by the Islamic Republic - as "the Iranian cave" and stresses that neither Iranians nor the Tajiks are "cavemen."

Military and Security

• On the occasion of the Basij Week, Asr-e Iran says the Basij is not a political organization and should abstain from getting involved in politics.

• Sobh-e Sadegh praises the role of the Basij in protecting the regime.

  • Sobh-e Sadegh says the Basij and the Revolutionary Guards' role in suppressing the "Green discord" resembles their role during the "Sacred Defense" [the Iran/Iraq War].

• Sobh-e Sadegh describes Abdolmalek Rigi's Jundallah group as "the pawn of the Westerners and the Salafis."

• Hossein Daghighi, Commander of the Revolutionary Guards and Armed Forces Welfare Organization Chief, says his organization, and not the Ministry of Commerce, owns Tehran International Fair Ground.

• (E) Fariborz Qaderpanah, commander of Iran's first Naval zone, announced that the Islamic Republic’s naval fleet stationed in the Gulf of Aden will deploy gunboats throughout the area to protect Iranian ships from Somali pirates. Qaderpanah also said that a number of warships have joined together and formed a coalition to safeguard vessels in the Persian Gulf and the three important straits of Hormoz, Bab el-Mandeb and Madagascar in Oman Sea and the Indian Ocean.

• (E) Commander of the Iranian Army's Navy Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari declared that Iran will launch 2-lightweight submarines on Navy Day, November 28^th. The submarines are able to avoid detection and fire missiles and torpedoes simultaneously.

• (E) Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force, responded to subtle Israeli threats of a future attack on Iran’s nuclear sites and warned that if Israel chooses to make such a move, Iran will completely destroy Israeli warplanes. This comment was made on the second day of the largest aerial maneuver in Iran called Sky of Velayat 2, which combines units of Iran's defense forces, including the military, the IRGC, and the Air Force.

• (E) Commander of Iran's first Naval Zone Fariborz Qaderpanah blamed western forces in the Gulf of Aden of assisting Somali pirates. Qaderpaneh pointed to the pirates’ high-tech technology and states that Western help has enabled to pirates to seize any ship at its earliest detection.

Nuclear Issue

• Karami Rad, member of the Parliament’s National Security Committee: "Iran will not stop the cycle of nuclear enrichment."

• Iran Nuclear Energy Organization Deputy Mohammad Ghannadi: "The Isfahan U.C.F. project which was meant to be developed by the Chinese has been completed...by young Iranian scientists during the past three years...since China canceled the contract...According to the contract with China the project would have been completed in eleven years...We had not even 10 grams of U.C.F. to see what it looks like...but today we have more than 500 tons of U.C.F. in Isfahan..."

• Sobh-e Sadegh's Mostafa Nazari analyzes the "step-by-step retreat of the West in Iran's nuclear portfolio."

• (E) Undersecretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) for Foreign Policy Affairs Ali Baqeri emphasized that while Iran is prepared to continue the P5+1 talks, internal disagreements between the major powers have delayed another round of dialogue. Baqeri warned that if negotiations with the major powers are indefinitely postponed, Iran will begin to produce nuclear fuel domestically.

• (E) Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Deputy Director Mohammad Qannadi announced that Iran has produced radioisotopes to be used for medical treatment and diagnosis for a number of cancers. Through the P5+1 talks, Iran is attempting to obtain 20 percent enriched uranium to use for medical purposes.

• (E) Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili categorized the sale of 20 percent enriched uranium as proposed on October 19^th to the International Atomic Energy Agency as a commercial issue and not a political one. Jalili warned that if the western states and the international organization do not provide Iran with the necessary materials, the Islamic Republic will look elsewhere for nuclear fuel. Jalili announced that Iran will deal with any potential seller that is a member of the UN nuclear agency.

• (E) On his trip in South America, President Ahmadinejad addressed global concerns as to Iran’s possession of 20 percent enriched uranium. Ahmadinejad clearly states “Enriching uranium to twenty percent does not mean threat."

Economy

• According to Sarmayeh the Parliament's interventions will cause "all Iranians to become recipients of welfare assistance."

Trade

• (E) A board member of the Venezuela-Iran joint auto-manufacturing company Venirauto commented that the production of the national Iranian automobile, Samand, has grown in the South American state. Referring to Samand, the board representative said, “We expect its output to be doubled in Venezuela by 2011"

• (E) Iranian and Omani oil ministers have agreed to embark on negotiations regarding Iran’s gas export and the bilateral agreements on oil and gas fields. Iran and Oman signed a deal in April to develop Iran's Kish gas field in the Persian Gulf, a project that was expected to cost between $7billion and $12billion. However, a timeline for the project has not been solidified.

Religion, Society and Culture

• Sobh-e Sadegh dismisses rumors of theft from Shi'a shrines in Iranian Kordestan allegedly perpetrated by "Sunnis" and warns against "attempts at planting sectarian discord."

• (E) The 6th International Middle East Tourism Marketing Expo is scheduled to be held in the Iranian city of Shiraz. The event is registered with the UN World Tourism Organization and features the travel industry of Iran, the host country, and 15 other states.

Media

• Hamshahri banned, Khabar News filtered by the Islamic Republic of Iran authorities.

Photo of the Day

• Iran’s war game to defend nuclear sites.