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

• Ahmadinejad withdraws Education Minister-nominee Fatemeh Alia and Energy Ministry-nominee Ali Zabihi's candidacies to avoid a parliamentary defeat.

• Supreme Leader Khamenei meeting with new cabinet urges Ahmadinejad not to show "pride," but to demonstrate "humility" in the face of the trust the Iranian electorate has shown him.

• Supreme Leader Khamenei to lead this week's Tehran Friday Prayers.

• Karrubi urges his supporters to take part in Quds [Jerusalem] Day demonstrations.

  • Law Enforcement Forces Chief Ahmadi-Moghaddam urges the public not to "politicize the Quds Day" since the "purpose of the day is Palestine and it should not be entangled with other political issues."

• Ahmadineajd at Monday's press conference:

  • "It is clear that the Supreme Leader has always seen to it that the cabinets and different branches of the government succeed. Each branch of the government has certain responsibilities and must be held responsible for its decisions. It would not be right to place the burden of their own decisions on the shoulders of the nation, the Leader and others.
  • The proposed cabinet was subjected to the lengthiest scrutiny in the history of the Islamic Republic and it was studied under the critical magnifying glass. The life story prior to their birth and after death was subjected to research. I welcomed this and announced that it was a welcome addition to the activities of the president and considered it to the benefit of the nation... There were some who wanted that eight to nine ministers should not gain a parliamentary vote of confidence and struggled to achieve this goal to the very last minutes..."

• (E) The Supreme National Security Council has formed a committee to investigate the cases of those who sustained losses after the June 12 elections. The current focus of investigations will be on charges of prisoner abuse, notably allegations of mistreatment of detainees held at the Kahrizak detention center, located in southern Teheran.

• Alef News Agency releases two documents in which Mohammad-Reza Rahimi, Ahmadinejad's Vice President for Parliamentary Affairs, falsely calls himself a Ph.D.

• (E) Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei claimed that the 85% turnout in Iran’s presidential elections speaks to the “republican nature” of the country. The Supreme Leader urged Iranian President Ahmadinejad to thoroughly observe the law and embrace his opponents.

• (E) Irancell, a mobile phone network company in Iran, has rejected reports of illegal involvement in the recent elections. Allegations accused Irancell of acting as a sponsor for defeated presidential candidate, Mehdi Karroubi.

Diplomacy

• Ahmadinejad at Monday's press conference:

  • "As we also had announced during the Bush administration, we are ready to take part in a panel debate [with Obama] and discuss various issues of the world in front of the international media. We believe that this method is the best way of illuminating the problems and solve global problems..."
  • Ahmadinejad also discloses alleged British and American attempts to repair relations with the Islamic Republic:
    • "The Old Imperialism [Britain] repeatedly sent messages that we want to correct ourselves, they sent messages that they wanted to change their behavior and said that they repented their wrong and inhumane deeds. Also those who entered the international arena with the slogan of change and claimed that they wanted to change their policies, wanted to stop their expansionism and their meddling in internal affairs of other nations, but it has become clear that they do not have a clear resolve to change their behavior."
    • "From now on no international will be void of Iran's strong and decisive presence. We are opposed to the current state of affairs in the world and have strategies to correct the circumstances and consider it our duty to struggle in this direction."

• (E) Masoud Mirkazemi, Iran’s new oil minister has arrived in Vienna to attend a meeting of the OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee (MMC). Mr. Mirkazemi, along with other OPEC ministers, has noted the improvement in the oil market and asserted that a cut in output would be unnecessary.

• (E) President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan and President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea congratulated President Ahmadinejad on his recent reelection in separate messages.

• (E) Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi criticized the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) attack after two petrol tankers were seized by the Taliban. Spokesman Qashqavi reiterated Iran’s stance on the Afghanistan elections, maintaining that the elections indicate national resolve, making continued foreign presence unnecessary.

Iran in the Afghan Media

• Article in Afghanpaper, entitled “Iran’s clever, behind-the-scenes role in Afghanistan’s elections,” condemns attempts by Iranian authorities to influence the outcome of Afghanistan’s presidential and provincial council elections held on August 20. The paper writes:

  • The governments of Mr. Karzai and Ahmadinejad have tried to demonstrate that relations between the two countries are normal and friendly. But it is obvious that there are certain disagreements, most of which are caused by foreign allies, especially the Americans.
  • Although it is natural for a neighboring country with common historical ties to be concerned about the election process in its bordering country, such concerns must not amount to interference.
  • The Iranians are said to have backed a specific candidate in Afghanistan’s presidential elections. And that is Dr. Abdullah, who has enjoyed good relationship with the Iranians and has benefited from their support. Although Dr. Abdullah has occasionally denied being dependent on Iran, the reality is otherwise.  
  • During the election campaign period, Abdullah’s supporters have clearly and extensively copied tactics from Iran’s elections, such as using blue t-shirts and forehead bands customary in Iran and used in Iran’s presidential elections. It is even said that these t-shirts were produced in Iran and then transferred to Afghanistan.

• Hasht-e Sobh reports that Karzai’s election team spokesman has criticized remarks by Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman and Tehran’s ambassador to Kabul that the best option for Afghanistan is a coalition government. The paper adds that some officials from Western countries have also spoken about formation of a unity government. The paper quotes Fazel Sangcharaki, spokesman of Dr. Abdullah’s election team, as rejecting such a proposal and describing the idea as a “political suicide”. Karzai’s spokesman, Wahid Omar, also rejected the idea, reasoning that a coalition government in Afghanistan will be fragile and that Karzai’s team has not taken any such decision yet. He stressed that it was not the duty of an ambassador to advise about the structure of Afghanistan’s future government.

Military and Security

• Ahmadinejad at Monday's press conference answers Hamshahri's journalist who asks: "You said that what happened at the detention centers was the work of infiltrators. My question of you, sir, is this: Are the security agencies of this country in such a state where the enemy can infiltrate it and commit murder and torture? What do you exactly mean by enemy?"

  • Ahmadinejad: "I hope that Hamshahri newspaper respects the minimal civic rights of this servant of the nation. I am not referring to you as an individual, but the newspaper...We have proof and documents showing that infiltrators were present in such places and committed certain acts and I do believe that some irregularities which took place - at the [Tehran] University Campus and certain detention centers were all parts of the scenario of the unrest...
  • No caring authority is ready to engage in acts which are contrary to his mission, the law, the humanity and the national interest unless he is in an atmosphere where he acts according to his party political interests and his own political expediency. The Iranian nation was never mistaken when it comes to recognizing the enemy lines and we have decisive documents that some of the events which took place were committed by rioting forces dependent on the foreigners but those acts were done in the name of the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic of Iran."

• Association of Scholars and Professors at the Theological Seminary of Qom attack IRGC Mohammad-Ali Ja'fari's criticism of reformist politicians:

  • "Unfortunately it is being announced through official and unofficial channels that whatever the regime decides to do, no one is allowed to criticize it or to speak against it. Sometimes we are even told that we have to learn the true meaning of words and expressions from legal channels and recognize their special interpretation. This is a great innovation in Islam and the Islamic revolution, it is against Islam and the Imam of the Community of Believers [Khomeini]...If preservation of the regime is a necessity, also the health of the regime must be a necessity..."
  • "After the election, unfortunately, the most ugly and unsuitable and un-Islamic deeds were committed against the rights of the Muslim people. This was most certainly done by agents and authorities of the regime. The acts count violent and unsuitable behavior, illegal arrests and inhumane imprisonment the account of which through official and unofficial channels aches the hearts of any committed and devout God-fearing individual...One can't preserve the regime through mobilizing the military forces and making continuous arrests..."

• (E) Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy Commander Rear Admiral Morteza Saffari elaborated on the US strategy of soft war as a method to overthrow the Islamic Republic. According to Commander Safferi, the primary explanation for US hostility is not Iran’s progress in nuclear technology, but its perception of the Islamic Republics as the root of anti-American sentiment.

Economy

• Privatization of Iran communications to be delayed for two weeks.

• According to the Central Bank, inflation is reduced to 20.2 percent.

  • The parliament's research center warns of 48 percent inflation if the government maintains its current level of public expenditure.

Media

• Supreme Council of the media issues a warning to Aftab-e Yazd and E'temadfor "publishing counter actual stories" and misleading the public.

• Reactions to master singer Shajarian's interview with Voice of America Persian: Alef News Agency condemns (and here). So does Raja News Agency.

• 15 journalists are summoned to the Intelligence Ministry and warned against leaving Tehran following open letter of 330 journalists to the Intelligence Ministry to protest crackdown on the press.

Religion, Society and Culture

• Abrar warns the Ahmadinejad government against ignoring the sources of emulation.

• Grand Ayatollah Sanei and Grand Ayatollah Safi Golpayegani discuss current affairs at the private home of Golpayegani.

• Tabnak News Agency warns of increased activities of "the deviant Baha’i sect" in Razavi Khorasan and South Khorasan.

• Son of Sadeq Ahangaran, the famous praise singer who imposed a state of frenzy upon the Basij volunteer forces prior to human wave attacks during the Iran/Iraq war, reveals that his father is unhappy about the post-election arrest of revolutionary individuals.

• Ali Kordan, former Interior Minister, is enrolled in Payam-e Nour University's Ph.D. program.

• Sadegh Zibakalam, Professor at Tehran University says the "cultural revolution" of 1980 in which he himself took part was a "terrible mistake" and warns against a new "cultural revolution" in the wake of the Supreme Leader Khamenei's latest criticism:

  • "Allow me to ask a very simple question. We have now had departments of Political Science, Law and Literature at Tehran University. How many scientific articles have all the professors at those departments published at scientific international journals? I claim the number is very close to zero...Allow me to ask a different question. How many remarkable books have been published by the honorable professors of political science in Iran when it comes to political developments in our own society? With regard to the Islamic revolution, the most important works are written by the Westerners, Professors Abrahamian, Nikki Keddie and Fred Halliday. In other words we are so weak in the field of the humanities that we have not even managed to present a credible work about our domestic issues. Now that we have not managed to present important works about our own domestic social affairs how can we theorize about fundamentalism and Al-Qaeda? It is clear that when it comes to external issues we are even more emasculated..."
  • "In other words the humanities in Iran is so backward that its existence does not make any difference. In other words even if we shut down all departments of humanities in Iran it would not make a scientific difference..."
  • "The issue of why people turn away from religion has nothing to do with the humanities. One can't find the roots of such problems at the universities. This is something which has to do with the government and its behavior and how it affects religiosity in society. Here we must find the missing link rather than claiming that by changing the humanities curriculum we can avoid having people doubting or escaping from religion. It is the behavior of the government which makes people lose their faith not what is taught by humanities professors..."

• (E) Two Iranian productions were presented with awards at the 2009 International World Film Festival in Montreal, Canada. Mohsen Amir-Yousefi's Fire Keeper received the event's Innovation Award and Mohammad-Reza Vatandoust's When the Lemons Turned Yellow won the silver Zenith Award of the festival.

• (E) The head of Iran's Islamic Culture and Relations Organization, Mehdi Mostafavi, advocated the spread of Quranic teachings at the 17th International Exhibition of the Holy Quran.

Nuclear Issues

• (E) President Ahmadinejad expressed his willingness to engage in “fair talks” with representatives from UN Security Council member states and Germany. The President will present Iran’s updated nuclear package, which supposedly includes provisions for the peaceful use of nuclear energy and solutions to nuclear disarmament. However, President Ahmadinejad has flatly rejected discussions regarding the nuclear rights of the Iranian nation.

Photo of the Day

• Shab-e Qadir