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

• Supreme Leader Khamenei returns to Tehran.
• Khamenei at Chalus:
  • "85 percent popular participation in this election was a source of happiness to Muslim nations. When the enemy started slandering this electoral success and this great victory, with accusations and by instigating unrest everywhere in the country, that the friends of Iran expressed concern..."
  • Addressing elites, Khamenei added: "Republicanism also means that the authorities of the regime are of the people and with the people, that they behave like the people and there is no trace of dictatorship, aristocratic behavior and ignoring the people among them..."

Diplomacy

• Ahmadinejad meets the press:
  • "Iran is ready to negotiate with any who desires to negotiate, and it does not make a difference who this negotiation partner is. With the exception of the Zionist regime, there is no limit to our willingness to engage with the world..."
  • "It seems as if the world is experiencing a resolve to move towards positive engagement and Iran welcomes this..."
  • Commenting on Iran/United States negotiations in Geneva and the United States Treasury's demands that the World Bank sanction Iran, Ahmadinejad said: "In Iran there is freedom of speech and presumably there is also freedom of speech in the United States. But we organize our policies and engagements based upon our national interest, we advance the work and shake the hands of anyone who deals with us sincerely..."
• [E] Rafsanjani says relations between Tehran and Washington can improve if President Obama fulfills his slogan of ‘change’. He told Swiss ambassador to Tehran, Livia Leu Agosti: "Iran expects the P5+1 to take a positive approach in future talks."
• [E] Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has urged the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) to spare no efforts in defending Al-Aqsa mosque and other holy places in Quds city against Israeli actions.

Military and Security

• Mohammad-Ali Ja'fari, IRGC chief:
  • "Metamorphoses of the Guards revolves around changes in the nature of the threats. For example, the nature of the threats during the beginning of the revolution which was mostly hard threats has now changed and we must change in order to prepare for the threats of the fourth decade of the revolution..."
  • "Today there is no one who dares overtly to oppose the Islamic Republic. What they pursue is changing the nature of the Islamic Republic. In other words what happened in the very beginning of the history of Islam and the Guards and the Basij are tasked with the job of countering such threats..."
  • Ja'fari also formally appointed Commander Hossein Salami as Revolutionary Guards Deputy, Commander Mohammad-Reza Naghdi as Basij Chief and Commander Amir-Ali Haji-Zadeh as Revolutionary Guards Air and Space Chief.
• Hossein Salami at his presentation ceremony: "The IRGC has never feared the apparent might of any power or empire …"

Nuclear Issue

• Alef News Agency commenting Said Jalili, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council's appearance on CNN, praises Iran's "nuclear victory" at the Geneva talks.
• Manouchehr Mottaki, Foreign Minister: "We have got hold of some documents on United States' involvement in disappearance of [nuclear scientist] Shahram Amiri, a citizen of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in Saudi Arabia." Mottaki also considered Saudi Arabia responsible for disappearance of Amiri.
• Ahmadinejad on Geneva negotiations:
  • "The Geneva negotiations was a step forward, opened a new door to the 7 countries and there is hope that continuation of this path promotes international cooperation to solve fundamental problems..."
  • "All those participating in these negotiations should take a look at international issues anew and we hope that the 'change' of which they spoke about will be apparent in action so we see its positive effects internationally..."
  • "As we have announced before we are ready to engage in dialog with experts from other countries in order to purchase 20 percent enriched uranium for the reactor in Tehran from any vendor interested in such transaction. This suggestion was welcomed and various countries presented various suggestions..."
  • "Within the next two weeks Iranian and foreign experts will engage in negotiations to provide for nuclear fuel of the Tehran reactor..."
  • "If the Americans have announced that they want to secure our nuclear fuel we don't mind and we think it is good thing since we want to purchase nuclear fuel and it does not make any difference where from and the United States could be a vendor..."
  • "Some diplomats have claimed that France too is another vendor of fuel, but this issue has not been finalized. They should present their offer officially so it can be investigated. Under any circumstances we need to - through a certain mechanism - provide for our nuclear fuel and the negotiations of experts will begin within the next few days and it is natural that we will do what benefits the nation..."
  • "The issue of the operation of the Bushehr power plant is a technical issue and we hope to see Bushehr begin its operations as soon as possible..."
  • "Our Nuclear Energy Organization did not recognize the viewpoints of Mr. El-Baradei and this has not made any difference in the operations of the Qum site..."

Trade

• Ahmadinejad, answering a question about Iran's failed attempt at membership of the World Trade Organization: "Should this news be correct it is very good news since our expert analysis shows that those who have become members of the WTO have not benefited."
• [E] The Iranian Oil Minister Massoud Mirkazemi says Iran is able to break any gasoline embargo by ‘de-monopolizing’ the list of gasoline exporters. "We have added some new sellers to the list of gasoline providers referred to by Iran" so that it has broken the monopoly existing in the market of gasoline and other oil products," Mirkazemi said on Wednesday.

Photo of the Day

• Waiting for the Supreme Leader in Chalus