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].  

(E) = Article in English

Politics

• Criticism of Ahmadinejad:
  • Speaker of the Parliament Ali Larijani:
    • "The Imam [Khomeini] stressed the importance of the legislature and said that the parliament is at the helm of the affairs; he did so because the parliament is a factor preventing dictatorship."
    • “In our school [of thought], we have His Holiness the Prophet Mohammad and Imam Ali who ruled and provide infallible role models. Why don't you speak of them and talk instead about Cyrus?" 
    • "If we want to author a human rights declaration it should be inspired by the words of Imam Ali [and not the Cylinder of Cyrus]."
  • Fatemeh Rajabi, wife of Gholam-Hossein Elham, who has authored the book Ahmadinejad: Miracle of the Third Millennium, attacks Ahmadinejad's praise for Cyrus the Great, warns that "orientation towards antiquity will lead to a fight against Islam and establishment of deviant sects."
    • Rajabi also says "restoration of Cyrus is a project guided by the Jews" and continues: "After the election Ahmadinejad has become too proud and thinks that whatever he says and does will be acceptable... The president... must explain why the government of the Imam of the Era has been reduced to this. I consider this affair the beginning of a deviation."
  • RAJA News condemns Ahmadinejad's conflict with the legislature.
• Mohsen Rezai: "During the war we chanted: 'The road to Jerusalem passes through Karbala.' But even though we did not achieve this goal, we should not say that we were defeated. And should some say that the Imam [Khomeini] capitulated by accepting the [U.N. Security Council] resolution, this is not the way of defending the war and the sacred defense. We won the war."

Diplomacy

• [E] Ahmadinejad underscored that Tehran would by no means recognize the Zionist regime of Israel and would continue support for the Palestinian people for good.
• [E] Ahmadinejad opened his speech at the UN General Assembly with a call on world powers to abandon their undemocratic decisions.
• [E] UN lauds Iran's huge progress towards achieving Millennium Development Goals ahead of 2015 deadline.
• [E] US President Barack Obama stresses that Washington prefers the settlement of Iran's nuclear standoff with the West through diplomatic—not military—means.

Military and Security

• Blogs close to the Green Movement ask the people to chant "God is great" to protest the house arrest of Mehdi Karrubi and Mir-Hossein Mousavi.
  • Video of the public responding in Tehran.
• Yadollah Javani, Revolutionary Guards’ Political Bureau chief:
  • "They [Mosharekat reformist front] were engaged in the post-election discord of last year... They correctly consider the Guards' role prominent in neutralizing their conspiracies and discord... We are witnessing that a number of political movements and groupings are suffering from a kind of deviation and they are also trying to lead the revolution astray. One of the characteristics of this movement was their connectivity with foreigners and when they see that the Revolutionary Guards defeated their schemes, they attack and mud sling at the Revolutionary Guards."
• Ali-Mohammad Azad, Sistan va Balouchestan governor general, refutes rumors on arrest of seven American citizens near the Afghan border.

Economy

• As the date for transfer of cash handouts to applicants gets closer, the government has still not said how much will be distributed to each individual. Behrouz Moradi, Efficiency of the Subsidies Organization executive director, Behrouz Moradi, says 16.7 million families have sent their bank account number to the government in order to receive cash handouts. Moradi also refutes statements preparing the public for austerity.
  • Two days before the cash handout plan begins Donya-ye Eqtesad speculates that 61 million individuals have applied for cash handout and that the amount which will be distributed will be approximately $27 per month.
• First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi says "today inflation is in the single digits, but there are those who lie and there are some who believe it."
  • Rahimi also said that the government will not "allow the people to be pressured during the sanctions."
• According to Parsine, it is still unclear what gasoline price policy the government will pursue after abolishment of the subsidies.
• Abbas-Ali Noura, parliamentary Plan and Budget Committee member, says $6 billion has been transferred to the foreign exchange reserve during the past six months.
• The Oil Ministry withdraws its plans for privatization of oil refineries as a means of countering gasoline sanctions against Iran.
• The government passes a $719 million budget for development of oil refineries Bid-e Boland and Parsian.

Trade

• UAE Ambassador to the United States says the UAE has "inspected hundreds of Iranian ships."
  • According to Al-Khaleej,the UAE has called for further sanctions against Iranian financial institutions active in UAE.
• According to Valiollah Hayati, Mehran governor, 500 trucks daily export Iranian goods to Iraq through the Mehran border.

Media

• Abd al-Hossein Rouh al-Amini, ally of Mohsen Rezaei, will soon publish Mellat-e Ma.

Nuclear Issue

• [E]Iran says the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has acted beyond its legally defined jurisdiction in its latest report on the country's nuclear work.

Photos of the Day

• Ahmadinejad and CNN’s Amanpour in New York.