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, please visit this page, fill out the "New Subscribers" section, and check "Iran News Round Up" listed under "Projects." 

(E) = Article in English

Diplomacy

• Anniversary of the seizure of the United States Embassy in Tehran:
  • Mir-Hossein Mousavi praises Grand Ayatollah Khomeini's endorsement of the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran:
  • Hossein Sheikh al-Eslam, former hostage taker, who studied computer science at Berkeley prior to the storm against the embassy:
    • Q. Did they [the hostages] voluntarily help you?
    • A. Yes, it was exactly so because the State Department employees very much wanted to know what was in the CIA documents. On the other hand, we had made them understand that we did not want to bother them. Therefore, there was cooperation between the State Department employees and the students... It was the blessed Imam who painted the anti-American line of this revolution and he showed that the United States is hollow and can be defeated, that one can force them to do things and more importantly, it was the spiritual spirit which the Imam blew into a material struggle."

Military and Security

• The Intelligence Ministry reports arresting "4 terrorists connected to Britain" in Marivan.

Religion, Society and Culture

• Molavi Abd al-Hamid, Zahedan's Sunni Friday prayer leader, complains of arrest of his family members and government restrictions on Sunni religious freedoms.
  • Ataollah Mohajerani, London-based former minister of culture and Islamic guidance, condemns imprisonment of family sons-in-law of Abd al-Hamid.
• Tabnak discusses the characteristics of the Day of the Reckoning and the preconditions for emergence of the Hidden Imam.
• Hojjat al-Eslam Mohammad-Hassan Nabavi, propagation deputy at the theological seminaries, addressing fellow propagators of Shi'ism: "Recently a satellite network has begun operating in defense of Shi'ism and propagation of the culture of the household of the prophet, but disclosed documents show that the Americans are behind it."
• Tabnak slings mud at Nazanin Afshin Jam, human rights activist.

Photos of the Day

• Prostitutes in Tehran.