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

• Ahmadinejad appoints Mohammad-Reza Rahimi as First Vice President.

  • (E) Before accepting this post, Rahimi served as the vice president for legal and parliamentary affairs, as well as head of the Auditory Court and the governor of Kordestan.

• Tabnak News Agency releases rumors on new appointments at the Interior Ministry.

• Ahmadinejad files a complaint against Grand Ayatollah Sanei to the Special Clerical Court in response to Sanei's criticism of the government.

• Hossein Mar'ashi of the Kargozaran technocratic faction claims it is the Hojjatiyeh secret society which is attacking reformist personalities of the Islamic Republic.

• Hojjat al-Eslam Majid Ansari attacks religious praise singers who on behalf of the Ahmadineajd government attack Mousavi and Karrubi.

• The fifth session of the Tehran Show Trial begins Monday.

  • (E)The fifth session of hearings for those involved in the post-election unrest has begun. The court session is being chaired by Judge Salavati.

• (E) The Iranian judiciary panel is continuing to look into post-election abuses, even after it rejected allegations of sexual abuse of post-vote detainees in Iranian jails. The panel concluded that there was no proof that such mistreatment had taken place

  • The three-member panel wrote Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani that it had found no evidence of rape, and that Karrubi has fabricated the claims in order to dilute public opinion.
  • Reactions to the panel’s evaluation of Karrubi's allegations of rape of political prisoners:
  • Mohammad Karami-Rad, a member of the Parliament’s National Security Committee, says Karrubi should be held responsible for damaging the prestige of the regime with his "baseless claims."
  • Hojjat al-Eslam Ja'far Shajouni says Karrubi's clerical background should not deter the regime from punishing him.
  • Parliamentarian Mehdi Kouchakzadeh says the new head of the Judiciary will be judged by how it will deal with Karrubi and his ‘false allegations’.
  • Ayatollah Mamdouhi demands punishment of Karrubi. So do parliamentarians Hojjat al-Eslam Mir-Taj al-Dini and Ali Shahrokhi.
  • Kayhan editor Shariatmadari attacks the Center for Preservation of the Works of Imam Khomeini for not protesting against Karrubi and other reformist politicians' allegations and their twisting of Khomeini's statements.

• Hojjat al-Eslam Ali Khalili, a member of the clerical faction of the parliament, says the Ahmadinejad government's relationship with the clergy is "unacceptable."

Diplomacy

• Accepting credentials of Britain’s new Ambassador to Tehran Simon Gass, Ahmadinejad says: "Iran desires expansion of relations with other states based on justice and mutual respect...Western governments must correct their behavior towards the great Iranian nation...The Iranian nation has many negative memories of the British...But we look to the future and hope the British government has learned lessons from the past and takes steps to correct its past behavior. Therefore, your most important mission as an ambassador is to transform these negative memories to positive ones...The Iranian nation will not allow anyone to interfere in its internal affairs and we hope that the British government can correct its mistakes...One can't solve regional problems in the Middle East through military means...The British and American approach in the region is wrong and we hope that they correct it. It is true that the military approach harms the nations in the region, but the governments of Britain and America have suffered the most."

• Ahmadinejad meeting Turkey’s Foreign Minister: "In the wake of declining power of bullying powers, the countries in the region should increase cooperation."

• Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Said Jalili meeting Turkey’s Foreign Minister says that "the defeat of the Westerners in the region is because they ignore the deep realities of the region...Their incorrect assessment of the Palestine issue has made these countries fail despite the sacrifice they themselves make..."

• Plans are underway to expand the Lebanon branch of the Azad University.

• (E) Tehran's Deputy Prosecutor Ali-Ahmad Akbari has claimed that the United States, or more specifically Washington, is guilty of spreading false rumors about the Islamic Republic through the internet. Akbari asserted that the United States attempted to use social networking sites such as Facebook and You Tube to influence the Iranian public.

• (E) In separate meetings with new ambassadors from New Zealand, Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Britain, President Ahmadinejad stressed the need to strengthen international cooperation. He declared that “The world is based upon the two principles of justice and collective participation. We should do our utmost to materialize it.

• (E) Iran President’s press adviser Ali Akbar Javanfekr on Monday has warned that in order to develop a trustworthy relationship with Iran, the United States must welcome radical changes. He criticized U.S. “Boeing diplomacy”, referring to its offer to sell Boeing planes to Iran. Javanfekr claims that the hostility between the U.S. and Iran must be addressed, but that tension between the two countries has extremely deep roots. 

• (E) Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has indicated that the Iranian Parliament is prepared to increase its ties to Vietnam. Chan Chong Khain, the Vietnamese ambassador to Teheran, has agreed that improving this relationship is a priority for top officials in Vietnam.

Nuclear Issue

• Sobh-e Sadegh claims many American decision-makers have in reality accepted a nuclear Iran.

• Ahmadinejad to Simon Gass: "From the viewpoint of the Iranian nation, the nuclear issue is over...Having a peaceful nuclear technology is the legal and definite right of the Iranian nation and the Iranian nation does not negotiate with anyone when it comes to its inalienable rights. Of course, we are ready to negotiate on international cooperation, and on ways to solve economic and security problems of the world. And we do believe that such matters can't be solved without all of us participating..."

• Iran’s Foreign Minister says the Islamic Republic's offer to the 5+1 Group shows Iran's resolve to engage in serious discussions about the country's nuclear program.

• (E) Iran has agreed to hold talks with the Western powers on October first to address its nuclear program. The meeting will be attended by representatives from Iran as well as those from the five members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany. President Ahmadinejad has reiterated that while he will discuss the nuclear package Iran recently presented, he would not negotiate on Iran’s nuclear rights.

• (E) Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi has announced that Iran is prepared to embark on serious negotiations with the West, but only within the framework of the recently presented Iranian nuclear package. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki presented Iran's updated nuclear package last Wednesday.

Military and Security

• Revolutionary Guards commander Ramezan Sharif warns against unrests on the Quds Day: "All the people and the elites will stress the philosophy behind the naming of this day and will not allow unsuitable slogans of discord to be chanted..."

  • (E) Iranians are preparing for the annual pro-Palestinian march on Quds Day which is staged on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan. The march is also being held in a number of other countries to protest Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians
  • Kayhan editor Shariatmadari emphasizes that anyone who chants any other slogan on the Quds day but "Death to Israel" is a mercenary of Israel and should be punished.  

• Unknown assailants kill Mamousta Borhan-Ali, the temporary Friday prayer leader of Sanandaj.  

• Sobh-e Sadegh says reformists attack Revolutionary Guards Chief Mohammad-Ali Ja'fari because he has "disclosed centers of discord."

• Revolutionary Guards Political Department Chief Yadollah Javani says "lies" told by Mousavi and the reformists are a sign showing the end of the world is approaching.  

• Hojjat al-Eslam Hassan Kameli-Far, Supreme Leader’s representative in Ashoura Unit of the Revolutionary Guards: "Everyone who has upheld his or her pact with the Guardian Jurist and obeys him unquestionably has obeyed the Imam of the era. And if he or she breaks the pact, this person has disobeyed orders of the Imam [of the Era] and may even have left the path of salvation and is on the way to the hell...Under current circumstances, the people should constantly defend the Islamic Republic evolving around the Guardian Jurist...During the post-election events...it was the vigilance of pious people and sacrifice of the martyrdom-seeking Basij members which prevented the enemies and the hypocrites from taking advantage..."

• Revolutionary Guards Education Department Chief Mohammad-Hossein Ja'fari, explains the functions of his unit.

• Sobh-e Sadegh reports on friendly relationship between the Revolutionary Guards and Baluchi tribal leaders in South Eastern Iran.

• Agah-Sazi News Agency accuses the following individuals of direct involvement in torture cases at Kahrizak Dentention Center:

  • Parliamentarian Hossein Fadaei
  • Law Enforcement Forces Deputy Ahmad-Reza Radan
  • Masoud Sadr al-Eslam, a certain commander of the Revolutionary Guards and the former deputy of Law Enforcement Forces. According to the agency, the real name of this individual is "Commander Engineer Taha Taheri" also known as "Masoud Sadr al-Eslam," "Masoud Saleh," and "Sadr." Agah-Sazi says this individual's brother is "Martyr Taleb Taheri," who was kidnapped by the Mojahedin-e Khalgh Organization and tortured to death. Sadr al-Eslam is believed to be the founder of a new security organization called Nirou-ha-ye Vizheh-ye Pasdar-e Velayat (NOUPOU) [Guardians of the Guardianship Special Forces] which according to one account is accused of having directed suppression of the 1999 student uprisings.

Economy

• The Islamic Republic's Fifth Economic Development Plan, with an estimated oil price of $65 per barrel, calculates that Iran’s annual economic growth will be eight percent and the average unemployment rate will be seven percent.  

• According to the Twenty Years Economic Development Plan, the percentage of oil revenues in the national budget will be reduced to zero by 1404 (2025-2026).

• Mobile Internet to launch in Tehran.

Trade

• Iran plans to export natural gas from a field in the Persian Gulf region to the United Arab Emirates via Siri Island. The export is handled by a foreign company.

  • (E) Reza Kasaeizadeh, the Managing Director of the National Iranian Gas Export Company (NIGEC), announced that Iran signed a contract with a foreign company to export gas to the United Arab Emirates for 25 years. Based on this agreement, the amount of gas produced would total three billion c/m.

Human Rights

• Ali-Reza Beheshti is freed from prison.

  • Late Khomeini’s family members, including Hassan and Hossein Khomeini and their mother, visit Beheshti at his home.

Religion, Society, and Culture

• (E) Iranian theater director Behrouz Qaribpour was presented with an award at Italy's 2009 Arrivano dal Mare Puppet Festival. Qaribpour was given the Sirene d'Oro Prize for his contribution to the art of puppetry.

• (E) The Iranin film entitled “When Lemons Grew Yellow” is set to be presented at the Montreal International Film Festival in Montreal Canada this coming Thursday.

• (E)An earthquake measuring 3 on the Richter scale jolted the town of Chenaran in Khorasan Razavi province northeastern Iran. The number of casualties resulting from the quake has not yet been reported. Teheran sits on two major fault lines and its residence fear future disruption.

Photo of the Day

• Atrianfar, Abtahi and Shariati in Evin Prison.