A selection of the latest news stories and editorials published in Iranian news outlets, compiled by Ali Alfoneh, Ahmad Majidyar, Brianna Rosen and Michael Rubin.  To subscribe to this daily newsletter, e-mail [email protected].

 

Senior cleric urges Iranians to act in unison to face foreign enemies; hardliners demand trial of Karrubi for ‘falsely’ accusing prisoner authorities of sexually abusing post-election inmates; Parliament Speaker rejects Karrubi’s allegations as ‘untrue’; former parliamentarians question Supreme Leader’s legitimacy

 

Politics

  • Friday Prayer sermons:

    • Tehran’s temporary Friday Prayers leader Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami:
      • "The people have passed the election test and marked another golden leaf in the history of the sacred regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran..."
      • "The people should preserve their insights of the past. The nation has understood well what part of the Islamic regime is being targeted by the enemy, and they neutralized enemy’s conspiracies by participating [in the presidential election]..."
      • "The enemy has failed, but it aimed at the fundamentals of the regime..."
      • "The imperialist powers on the one hand, and some desperate forces inside the country on the other, are trying to harm the Islamic regime, but they will fail as before...The Guardian Jurist has been the rescue ship of the revolution and the regime, and it will continue to be. It has saved the regime and the revolution from dangers…"
      • "Some are afraid of conflicts [inside Iran]. Conflicts are indeed worrying. But those concerned should make it public that there are some people who are engaged in planting discord and are opposing the Guardianship and the guidelines of the Supreme Leader, who has the final say. But the center of solidarity is the love of God. As [obeying] His Holiness Ali - Praise be upon him - was a religious duty, obeying the Guardian Jurist is an extension of that religious duty...The internal forces should unite in the face of foreign enemies..."
      • Addressing the Ahmadinejad government, Khatami said that choosing young cabinet ministers was good and created fervor in administration, but warned that experienced people should not be marginalized because of not being young. He also urged the government to consult with the Parliament prior to appointment of cabinet ministers.
      • Khatami also praised the role of the Judiciary in the post- election events and in the Tehran trials, and condemned the "shameless interventions" of European powers, "especially the old imperialist government of Britain."
      • He also attacked those who did not condemn the post-election "rioters": "Why are you silent towards those who tarnished the honor of the divine and Islamic regime? Why are you silent with regard to rioters whose deviation is clear? Is the role of some elites only to protest? They must strengthen the Islamic regime with their deeds...”
      • Referring to Karrubi's open letter to the Expediency Council in which he demanded an investigation into claims of rape of prisoners, Khatami said: It is such a heart-melting sorrow to see a politician’s letter strongly accusing the Islamic regime. This letter was a celebration for foreigners, especially for America and the Zionist regime...This letter is a deviation...The Judiciary and the Investigations Committee of the Islamic Consultative Assembly [the Iranian parliament] have clearly stated that sexual abuse, claimed by this individual, is a lie. With this letter he [Karrubi] played with the honor of the Islamic regime and the blood of three hundred thousand martyrs. This regime is therefore expected to decisively act against such behavior..."
      • Referring to the U.S. involvement in the 1953 coup, Khatami said: "It is because of such deeds that you are still considered criminals among the Iranian nation."
      • Addressing France, Khatami said: "Ever since Sarkozy became the president of this country, there have been continuous demonstrations. And people’s rights in this country are being violated through violent suppression of protests. Therefore, such countries claims of human rights are a lie."  
    • Mashhad Friday Prayer leader Ayatollah Ahmad Alam al-Hoda:
      • "The Imam of the Era…has ordered not to question or criticize the Guardian Jurist, who lives up to the conditions, but there were some who did not abide by the order in the recent events..."
      • "It has recently become clear that there are some people who want authority and position, but at the same time follow the path of the Westerners..."
      • "It is not that we want a uniformed society since it would not be good for the regime. But when the deputy of the Imam of the Era takes decisions, we should obey…"
      • "We do not want censorship and control in this country since that would not help the regime to prosper. The people should say and write anything they want to, but those who express their opinion should also take responsibility for their statements...One must not forget that our country is engaged in a soft war through websites and weblogs instead of tanks, and that one must annihilate it."
      • "…Someone whose words and statements harm the honor of the Islamic regime belongs to the infantry of the enemy and must not be free in this country unless he takes responsibility of his statements...”
      • Referring to Karrubi's letter about sexual abuse of post-election prisoners, he said: “It is not right that someone accuses our prison authorities of having committed acts which took place in Abu Ghraib [Baghdad’s central prison] and one must not take such statements for granted...The judicial system must ask this person to prove his statements, or otherwise put him [Karrubi] on trial since he has committed character assassination against our authorities. If he does not prove his claim, he is a terrorist."
    • Tabriz Friday Prayer leader Ayatollah Mohsen Mojtahed Shabestari:
      • "Frank confessions of suspects clearly showed that the enemy played a hand in the discord before and after the election in order to start a velvet revolution supported by certain elements inside the country..."
      • "Many years have passed since the Islamic revolution took place in Iran, but they [Britain and the United States] still have their imperialist nature and look for excuses to deal blows to the regime...The interventionist...approach of the U.S. Secretary of State, along with American and British authorities in support of the reformists and in defense of the rioters, unmasks the ugly face of America and Britain to everyone and shows that rioters were involved in a soft regime toppling [attempt]..."
      • "Following the recent events, the United States and Britain, which were loathed in the minds of the Iranian people, have become even more detested..."
      • "It is clear to all that security and calm in the country has been secured through the unity of the people and the authorities, and under the umbrella of the Guardian Jurist..."
      • "Based upon clear confessions of the employees at the British Embassy, it has become clear that foreign countries, especially Britain, both before and after the election, were involved in unleashing discord especially in Tehran, in order to start a velvet revolution and coup supported by foreigners..."
    • Hojjat al-Eslam Mohammad-Taghi Rahbar, temporary Friday Prayer of Isfahan has criticized the role of "certain elites" during the recent presidential election. He complained that those "who have a forty-year-long history of following the revolution and the Imam [Khomeini] are now saying things which are not dignified for the revolution and the Imam [Khomeini]. Rahbar also condemned intervention of foreign powers in the post-election unrest. He demanded trial of "those who oppose the vote of the people."
    • Friday Prayer leaders of Avaj and Boyeen-Zahra claim the confessions have "disclosed the roles of certain elites" and foreigners in the post-election unrest.
      • So does Friday Prayer leader of Sanandaj.
    • Hojjat al-Eslam Mohammad-Hossein Saidi, Friday Prayer leader of Qom, has demanded the trial of Karrubi for accusing the prison authorities of raping inmates.

  • Alef News Agency condemns some pro-government websites for attacking Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, who is accused of having congratulated Mir-Hossein Mousavi as the winner of the June 12 elections, and of having forged his academic degree. The website also described as lie reports questioning authenticity of Alef owner Ahmad Tavakkoli's Ph.D. degree.

  • Alef News Agency's analyst Hamid Asadi condemns a certain Esrafilian, a former member of the Islamic Republican Party who in an article published in Vatan-e Emrouz and Iran's claimed that revolutionary activist and politician Hassan Ayat was killed just prior to disclosing certain documents against Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who then was Foreign Minister.

  • In an article titled "Obeying the President is not Obeying God," Alef News Agency refutes Ayatollah Mohammad-Taghi Mesbah Yazdi's statement:

    • "The first precondition for obeying the President...is complete obedience of the President to the Guardian Jurist. Now that even this has proven problematic, one can just imagine the problems at lower levels..."
    • "The second precondition is that the President must issue decrees within the framework of the law, which has also proven problematic..."
    • "By the way, does transfer of divine authority from God to the Guardian Jurist and to the President afterwards end at presidential level or continues downward? Does the divine light shine at more junior levels such as vice presidents, the cabinet ministers and even lower levels? According to such logic, it should since the cabinet ministers are the executive arms of the President. In such a way, opposition to a cabinet minister or a deputy minister will also be interpreted as opposition to God..."
    • "What is the viewpoint of the honorable Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi with regard to the presidencies of the gentlemen [Mohammad] Khatami and [Ali-Akbar] Hashemi Rafsanjani? Did the Ayatollah also consider obedience towards Khatami and Rafsanjani as obedience towards God? They too [Khatami and Rafsanjani] were approved of by the Supreme Leader as presidents. But, as we also remember, he [Mesbah Yazdi] had serious theoretical and practical opposition towards the presidency of Mr. Khatami..."
    • "What is the opinion of Ayatollah Mesbah with regard to the president coming to office after Mr. Ahmadinejad, an individual whom we do not know yet? Does the issue of the divine light [of authority] only apply to the tenure of the current President? In such a case, this theory has a very limited scope of time..."

  • Alef News Agency announces personnel changes in the Judiciary.

  • Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani says a special parliamentary committee found no truth in Karrubi's claims that inmates imprisoned since the presidential election have been raped by prison authorities. Larijani asks Karrubi to present his proofs to the committee.

  • A group of former Iranian parliamentarians has called on the Assembly of Experts to carry out a legal investigation on the basis of Article 111 of Iran’s constitution to see if Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is fit for leadership, criticizing government’s crackdown on election protestors and voicing support for defeated candidate Mehdi Karrubi’s call for a probe into cases of sexual abuse of election prisoners.  

Military and Security

·         Supreme Leader Khamenei addresses the Sepah-e Vali-ye Amr, the special operations unit of the Basij tasked with personal security of the Supreme Leader organized within the organizational structure of the Revolutionary Guards. Video and transcript.

 

Diplomacy

  • Speaker of the parliament Ali Larijani slams foreign powers such as the United States, Britain and France for intervening in internal affairs of Iran.

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