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 accuses Mir-Hossein Mousavi of being more "criminal" than "Bani-Sadr, Rajavi and Montazeri..."

• Karrubi attacked by a mob while trying to visit the Tehran Book and Media Fair. Mob chants "Death to the hypocrite" and "Death to the opponent of the Guardian Jurist." Karrubi's turban was thrown to the ground in the process and he and his bodyguards left the exhibition.

  • Karrubi supporters chanted slogans such as "Karrubi, Karrubi, we support you", and "Ya Hossein, Mir-Hossein" and the like.

• Rafsanjani has allegedly written a letter to Ahmadinejad inviting him to attend the meetings of the Expediency Council and stressing that there are "no personal problems between us."

• Self-Sacrificers of the Islamic Revolution tells Rafsanjani in a ‘secret’ letter that they both share a common enemy in the reformist movement.

• Raja News deplores "Marxist tendencies" and "ideological deviation" among the sons of religious elites of the Islamic Republic, including son of the late Ayatollah Taleqani and Ayatollah Khomeini’s grandson, Hossein. [Link upon request].

• Raja News accuses Mir-Hossein Mousavi of receiving financial aid from Arab countries. [Link upon request].

• Alef News Agency publishes the tale of a war veteran who complains of ill-treatment at the hands of Mehdi Karrubi, former head of the Martyr Foundation.

• Vahid Jalalzadeh is appointed West Azerbaijan's Governor.

• Mohsen Ansari is appointed Martyr Foundation Deputy.

Diplomacy

• Mehdi Kalhor, presidential adviser whose daughter has asked for political asylum in Germany, says the West has planned a project called "Medea" which directs the fight against the Islamic Republic.

• Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki’s visit to Yemen suspended.

• Now-Andish News says that Hadi Soleyman-Pour, the new head of the Africa Bureau of the Foreign Ministry, was the Islamic Republic's Ambassador to Argentina at the time of the terror attack against the Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires.

• Ayatollah Haeri Shirazi says obedience towards the United States equals "polytheism."

• The Danish company Grundfoss and Aarhus University in Denmark declare sociologist Daryoush Shayegan and former President Mohammad Khatami as the winners of the "International Dialogue Prize."

  • Fars News Agency condemns the prize to Shayegan whom the news agency depicts as a monarchist.

• (E) In a meeting with Iranian Envoy to the Vatican, Archbishop Hilary Capuchi expressed outrage at the recent terrorist attack in southeastern Iran and denounced those responsible. Capuchi noted the victimization of Iran and offered to pray for peace in the region. 

• (E) During his visit to Turkey, Secretary of Iran's Expediency Council Mohsen Rezaie promoted a new organizational system for southwestern Asia based on the Economic Cooperation Organization. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu celebrated the new regional system and its affect on Iran-Turkey relations.

• (E) Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the Iranian Ambassador to Bahrain, met with Bahrain's Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmad al-Khalifa to discuss the expansion of bilateral ties between Tehran and Manama. After fiercely condemning the recent terrorist attacks in the southeastern province of Iran, al-Kalifa expressed enthusiasm over a tightly coordinated region and its affect on stability and peace.

• (E) Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani criticized Washington’s unilateral policies in a meeting with his Sudanese counterpart Ahmed Ibrahim al-Tahir at the 121^st Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva. Larijani asserted that the US capitalizes on state weaknesses to exert pressure. The Sudanese representative called for the expansion of ties between the two countries.

• (E) Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has blamed the US for the disappearance of Iranian nationals in Europe and the Middle East and declared that the United States should be held accountable. Mottaki said that the United States is “directly and indirectly responsible for causing problems for Shahram Amiri, Alireza Asgari and Ardebili”, Iranian citizens who have disappeared in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Georgia respectively.

Military and Security

• Alef News Agency discusses the Islamic Republic's air and space program.

• Zahedan terror attack:

  • A certain Abd al-Wahed Mohammadi Saravani suspected of being the suicide bomber who attacked senior members of the Revolutionary Guards and tribal leaders in Sarbaz near Zahedan.
  • Ayatollah Mohammad Alavi Gorgani accuses "the Wahabis.”
  • Theological students from Qom demonstrate in front of the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Tehran and accuse the Saudi regime of directing the terror act in Zahedan.
  • Ali Larijani, Speaker of the Parliament, returning from the Inter-parliamentary Summit in Geneva:
    • "The terrorist act in Sistan Va Balouchestan province was discussed in the conference since one of the propaganda issues of the day is the fight against organized crime. This tool is often used, has indeed become an international posture..."
    • "But in recent years we hear many interviews, and those with the loudest voice in the fight against organized crime such as terrorism, drugs or illegal immigration are themselves involved in it behind the scenes and there is much proof to this effect..."
    • "We have accurate information that the Americans are involved with Rigi's group and Jundollah in this terrorist act and I must add that our documentation in this regard is not weak..."
    • "The Americans just can't refute this issue rhetorically, and must fully explain why they have been involved in the deed..."
  • Larijani says the Speaker of the Pakistani parliament has promised full cooperation with Iran in investigation of the recent terrorist act in Zahedan.
    • During the visit of Interior Minister Mohammad-Mostafa Najjar to Pakistan, the Pakistani Interior Minister promises to arrest and extradite Jundollah leader Abd al-Malek Rigi to Iran for prosecution.
    • Najjar has allegedly also provided documents showing that Rigi frequently and freely crosses the Iranian/Pakistani border.
    • (E) Members of the Iranian government have reached out to International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) officials for help regarding the arrest of Abdul Malik Rigi, the head of Jundallah terrorist organization. According to the Iranian police, Rigi has traveled freely to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia using fake identities.
  • Hojjat al-Eslam Kazem Sedighi, temporary Tehran Friday Prayer Leader:
    • "Today our enemies have two goals at the helm of their programs. One is disturbing security, and the second is aiming at unity. If there is no security, there will be no cultural, ethical or economic development and the able enemies of ours - who have Satanic experiences - are aiming at the two bases... The enemies found out that the country has progressed fast and is leaving the problems behind. Therefore they killed 41 individuals...the blood of Sunnis and Shi'a was shed in the same place, which strengthens unity..."
  • Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi says the terrorist attack in Sistan va Balouchestan province increases unity among tribal leaders of the province and threatened the perpetrators and supporters of the terrorist with revenge.

Nuclear Issue

• Mohammad-Reza Bahonar, deputy speaker of the parliament, refuses to accept the proposals of the 5+1 Group in nuclear negotiations with the Islamic Republic.

• Sale of nuclear fuel to the Islamic Republic:

  • Russia accepts the draft agreement on selling nuclear fuel to the Tehran research reactor.
    • Russia to deliver enriched uranium to the Islamic Republic.  
  • An unnamed diplomatic source says that the United States and France will soon declare their support for the draft agreement which allows Russia to provide nuclear fuel for the Tehran reactor.

• (E) Iranian and American delegations held direct talks regarding the supply of nuclear fuel for Iran’s nuclear reactor which requires 20 percent enriched uranium. The meeting took place in Vienna in the presence of International Atomic Energy Agency officials. The talks temporarily stalled yesterday when Iran claimed that it would begin a domestic enrichment program and exclude France from the supply process.

• Tabnak News Agency analyzing the "triumphant United States President" warns of new Western demands in the nuclear issue.

• Iranian officials deny having met and negotiated with Israeli nuclear negotiators.

• Parliamentarian Ali Mottahari accuses Ahmadinejad of being "too enthusiastic" when it comes to nuclear negotiations with the United States and of not coordinating the negotiations with the Supreme Leader.

  • Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi accuses the Khatami government of selling out in the nuclear issue.

Economy

• Alef News Agency reports rising bread prices in Tehran.

• Hojjat al-Eslam Kazem Sedighi, temporary Tehran Friday Prayer Leader, stresses that social justice has been maintained in the reform of the subsidies system.

• (E) Deputy Head of the Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran Ramezan Ali Sadeqzadeh announced that Iran is scheduled to launch its third mobile network. The license for the network is held by Tamin Telecom.

Trade

• Khatam al-Anbia, the Revolutionary Guards' contracting arm, reports delay in offshore oil installations in the Persian Gulf near Siri Island.

• Total’s spokesman, commenting on French participation in development of South Pars Gas Field, says "We are negotiating but no final decision has been taken."

  • "A French [natural] gas company is given a week to return to development of a gas field in Varamin before it is sent out to an open bidding process. Iranian authorities claim Russian, German and Polish oil and gas companies have expressed their readiness to participate in the project.

• Switzerland to import natural gas from Iran through Turkey.

• The Islamic Republic to establish a chamber of commerce in Iraq.

• The Republic of Azerbaijan to export natural gas to Iran.

Religion, Society and Culture

• Hojjat al-Eslam Ali-Akbar Baba-Zadeh says there are 12 million single women above the age of 20 in Iran.

  • A new study of prostitution in Tehran concludes that there is a direct relationship between increasing age of marriage and prostitution in the Iranian capital.

• Hojjat al-Eslam Kazem Sedighi, temporary Tehran Friday Prayer Leader speaks of the necessity of  "correction of university books in the field of the humanities. They have all come from the West, and sometimes our professors have taken the color of the West to the degree that sometimes they even confess their ignorance. For example in the field of psychology, which has been colored by Freud, a revolution must take place. A revolution like the first revolution is necessary in our universities and a jump must take place. Sometimes man must fear such books as much as discord of the criminals...Our dear leader and the symbol of our religion has urged our experts and university professors to write new books based upon reading of the Quran, thereby also securing salvation of the world in scientific frameworks..."

• (E) The Arhtur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington has agreed to display Falnama, the Iranian Book of Omens which exhibits rare manuscripts once used by sultans, shahs and commoners. The exhibition is scheduled for Oct. 24 to Jan. 24, 2010.

• (E) Two Iranian films have been chosen to be screened at the upcoming Banja Luaka International Film Festival in Bosnia and Herzegovina this week. Pink Cloud by Iranian filmmaker Massoud Qodsieh and Loneliness by Mehrdad Sheikhan are to be showcased in the animations portion of the festival.

Human Rights

• As the family members of political activists and journalists who were arrested in the post-election unrest begin a group prayer, security forces attack the group and arrest the family members on charges of the group trying to "conspire" new unrest on the anniversary of the seizure of the United States Embassy in Tehran.

  • Mowj-e Sabz News releases the names of those arrested at the group prayer

• Father of Iranian blogger Hossein Derakhshan in a letter to Judiciary Chief Larijani complains that his son has only been allowed to talk to his family for a few moments.

Public Health:

• (E) Recent figures reveal that 30,000 Iranians die annually from cancer while 70,000 are diagnosed with the disease each year. According to the head of the cancer department of Imam Khomeini Hospital Mohammad-Reza Mir, these numbers are expected to double in the next 20 years. Mir urged officials to publicize the risks posed by cancer and the need for a healthy lifestyle from childhood.

Photos of the Day

• Qom theologians meet Rafsanjani.