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

• Mohamamd-Javad Larijani, Human Rights Deputy of the Judiciary, addressing the Motalefeh faction says the reform movement has "committed political suicide" and accuses Mir-Hossein Mousavi of "consciously or unconsciously being an instrument in the hands of the foreigners."

• 1,000 Mousavi supporters sing and chant slogans for Mousavi near the entrance of Tehran Media Exhibit, but Mousavi has said that he will not visit the exhibit.

• Mehdi Karrubi attacked by the mobs shouting "Death to the hypocrite!" at Tehran Media Exhibit. Video.

  • Asr-e Iran reports that at the exhibition authorities played loud techno/dance music to drown out slogans in favor and against Karrubi and while Karrubi was being attacked by the mobs, other people were seeking to purchase the music which was being played.

• Mehdi Kalhor, presidential adviser whose daughter has sought asylum in Germany: "There were certain individuals who were in contact with my daughter for a year and half and who were involved in sending my daughter abroad...I believe that foreign hands were involved in the issue of my daughter's asylum and this project was done as a part of the Medea scheme, but the infiltrators of the enemy are present in both political factions [in Iran]...When it comes to family issues we are very sensitive, but the Westerners raise their children like animals. To a certain age, they look after them, but afterward they let the children loose to stand on their own feet. This has its own advantages, but it is not so in our family life and our strong family bonds make it a target for the enemy..."

• Ahmadinejad to start the third round of provincial trips on Wednesday, this time to Razavi Khorasan province.

• Mohsen Armin, Spokesman of the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution faction: "Today we have convincing evidence and proof showing that the ruling elites considered the [presidential] election as an opportunity to make the arena of political competition more uniform...[The post election crisis] could have been managed much better than the case was. We have witnessed the costliest suppression of the authorities with public protests..."

• Ali-Reza Beheshti, son of the late Ayatollah Beheshti's visit to the Tehran Media Fair ignites another round of verbal clashes between supporters and opponents of the Green Movement with which Beheshti cooperates. Also physical clashes. Video.

• (E) At the 3rd International Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad in Tehran, President Ahmadinejad called on all the scientific community to share information and developments to create a brighter future for mankind.

Diplomacy

• Ali Ahani appointed Europe Department Director at the Foreign Ministry, where he replaces Mehdi Safari who will be appointed the Islamic Republic's ambassador to Britain. Mohammad-Bagher Khorramshad will replace Ali Ahani as the Training and Research Department Director of the Foreign Ministry. Link upon request.

• Prime Minister of Turkey Erdogan to visit Tehran Monday with a 200-person entourage.

• (E) Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister, is scheduled to travel to Iran to discuss the expansion of bilateral ties with top Iranian officials including President Ahmadinejad, Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. The announcement of Erdogan’s trip came the same day that he received an invitation to visit President Obama at the White House. Speculation regarding Turkey’s role in creating diplomatic contact between the US and Iran has increased.

• (E) Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani met with the Belarusian envoy to Tehran to discuss an expansion of bilateral economic cooperation between Minks and Tehran. Larijani emphasized the important role that parliamentary cooperation has played in this burgeoning relationship.

• (E) The Iranian Foreign Ministry met with Magnus Wernstedt, the Swedish Ambassador, to voice concerns regarding the treatment of minorities in Sweden and the EU.

• Kayhan editor Hossein Shariatmadari editorializes:

  • "This prize [the Danish Grundfoss company and Aarhus University's Dialogue Prize] - more than showing the capabilities and qualities of the recipients is a sign of defeat of the latest conspiracy of the United States and allies against Islamic Iran. Therefore, giving this joint prize to the former president and Daryoush Shayegan - one of the well known pawns in the struggle against Islam and the Islamic revolution - is - without those giving the prize even realizing it - an act of admitting the power of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its abiding with the teachings of Islam and the revolution and admitting the powerlessness of the United States in dealing with it..."
  • Kayhan also claims Shayegan is a former employee of the pre-revolutionary intelligence service SAVAK, an alleged "monarchist" and the like.
  • Attacking Khatami, Kayhan editor Shariatmadari says should Khatami accept the prize he will finally be announcing his "exit from the camp of the revolution."
  • Shariatmadari also depicts Denmark as "the country which through the past years - by publishing tens of insulting caricatures against the Prophet of God (Peace be upon him), and by the government of this country's insistence upon continuing this deed, has become known as one of the most vengeful European countries towards Islam and Muslim nations. Since we have witnessed mass protests against this country [Denmark] in many Islamic countries, including Iran, the choice of Denmark to establish a foundation for 'Global Dialogue' and giving its first prize to Khatami and Shayegan can't be unrelated to the enmity of the government of this country against the beloved Islam. Can it?"  

• (E) Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said that Iran is waiting for a change in US foreign policy before the two countries can conduct genuine diplomacy. He remarked that while President Obama has publicly articulated a new US attitude toward Iran, his actions have not reflected a major policy shift.

  • (E) Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili criticized Washington’s approach to security and claimed that Iran has developed a method to protect the country from foreign attack. Jalili claimed that unlike in the US, Iranian security strategy is based on justice and directly serving the needs of the population.

• (E) Iranian Foreign Ministry officials condemned the violent terrorist attacks in Iraq that occurred this past Sunday and offered sympathy to victims’ families. Iran has pledged to work with Iraq to protect its borders and increase its security

• (E) Iran's Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said that Pakistan agreed to arrest and extradite members of the Jundollah terrorist group to Iran. Newly released documents confirmed that the Rigi group engaged in terrorist activities. The two countries also signed a security pack to cooperate on issues such as drug and human smuggling, money laundering, and exchanging information.

Military and Security

• Interior Minister Mohammad-Mostafa Najjar warns that the Islamic Republic is capable of defending itself against threat external threats.

• IRGC chief Ja'fari says "the revolutionaries of yesterday were trying to deviate from the path of the Imam [Khomeini]."

• Hojjat al-Eslam Abbas Sobhanian, the Supreme Leader's Representative to the Al-Ghadir Revolutionary Guards unit in Yazd, demands punishment of those involved in planning the suicide attack against the IRGC commanders in Sistan va Balouchestan and adds: "The enemies of Islam, and the criminal United States and England at their helm, don't waste a moment in conspiring to topple the Islamic regime of Iran, but they must know that such attempts are only waste of time and in the wake of every deed and act of terror they reveal the selves as blacker and they get one step closer to the abyss."

• Interior Minister Najjar, speaking in Birjand, reports on his recent trip to Pakistan: "Pakistan's border with Iran is the safest border of that country. We told them that we also want Iran's border with Pakistan to be a safe border."

• Five million websites censored in Iran

• Tabnak News Agency says the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization is being relocated to Saudi Arabia.

Nuclear Issue

• Fars News Agency analyzes "uncertain scenarios of the West for the Vienna negotiations" and warns against "psychological operations" against Iran. Discussing the issue of nuclear fuel for the Tehran research reactor Fars News Agency says: "The Western media attempted to keep the issue hot for several hours stressing that Iran has not accepted this proposal. This in turn forced the Iranian authorities to react. ..From the viewpoint of Iranian experts these negotiations are of the greatest importance since it could start a legal process with regard to Iran's legal rights in the negotiations. Should the West and the United States recognize that Iran has the right to 4 percent enrichment and should they be ready to cooperatedwith 20 percent enrichment is a way recognition of the legality [of Iran's nuclear activities.]..." Fars News Agency also urges the Iranian authorities to calculate with a scenario where Iran loses 1500 kilograms of enriched uranium transported out of the country for further enrichment.

• Speaker of the Parliament Ali Larijani and Jomhouri-ye Eslami express their protest against freezing uranium enrichment in Iran which could "make Iran dependent."

• Reza Amr-Allahi, former Iran Nuclear Energy Chief: "Iran has enriched uranium for usage at the plants and it is unknown to the experts why to get 30 kilos of enriched uranium - with 20 percent enrichment - we must deliver this vast amount of enriched uranium even before receiving the fuel for a research reactor..."

• (E) Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that Russia is committed to operating the Bushehr nuclear plant according to its original schedule. Mottaki declared, “Russian officials are committed to load the plant and operate it.” Officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency have arrived in Iran to inspect the Qom enrichment site.

• (E) Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that he would comment on Iran’s position regarding nuclear fuel supply in the near future. Mattaki is deciding between two options: to buy fuel abroad, which Iran has done in the past, or to deliver parts of fuel that Iran possesses. Mottaki stressed that this is unrelated to fuel for the nuclear reactor but will be used to power hospitals and social institutions.

Religion, Society and Culture

• Jahan News Agency says the health of Nour-Ali Tabandeh, leader of the Gonabadi sect, deteriorates and that a power struggle has begun within the sect on who will replace him.

• Kordestan, Tehran, Khorasan and Kermanshah show the highest divorce rate in Iran while Sistan Va Balouchestan and Ilam have the lowest divorce statistics.  

• (E) Ali Shademan, an Iranian child-actor, received a special mention from the jury at the 2009 edition of Cinekid Film, Television, and New Media Festival in the Netherlands for his performance in A Time to Love. In the film, Shademan plays a young boy suffering from paralysis who is kept hidden from his family.

• (E) Two Iranian chess players are scheduled to leave for Vietnam on Tuesday to compete in the Asian Indoor Games. The event will take place from October 30^th to November 7^th.

• (E) Ali Reza Khatami and Ali Seifouri, the Iranian filmmakers who directed Focal Point, were awarded the Best Short Film at the Philippines's 2009 Cinemanila.

Trade

• Kordestan Province Chamber of Commerce Head says export of goods and services from Kordestan - especially to Iraq - has experienced 130 percent growth during the past year.

• Mohammad-Ali Khatibi, Iran's representative to OPEC, commenting on increasing Chinese petroleum imports from Arab countries says "China will not endanger its energy security by restricting its imports from a few countries...it can't ignore Iran's oil and excluding Iran from the oil market is not so easy..."

• The "Gasoline Plan" effective from 12 am slightly changes the chemical components of the gasoline available for sale in the Iranian market in order to reduce dependency on imported gasoline.

• Head of the Fruit Exporters complains of losing a fortune because no gasoline has been delivered to ships and vessels exporting fruits.

Human Rights

• Ayatollah Javadi Amoli says "human rights are not possible without use of [divine] revelations."

Photos of the Day

• Hossein Khomeini with his father.