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

 

Rafsanjani opposes concessions to West in nuclear issue; lawmaker says Parliament prefers Iran to leave NPT; senior cleric says Iran not to give up nuclear rights; ElBaradei urges diplomacy to tackle Iran’s nuclear problem; Iranian Foreign Minister urges non-interference in Yemen’s internal conflicts; Mottaki calls for closer ties between Iran, Sudan

 

Politics

  • Friday prayer sermons:

    • Hojjat al-Eslam Kazem Seddighi, temporary Tehran Friday Prayer Leader on Student Day demonstrations: "I am convinced that some of the youth today are deceived and have become emotional, but they will return to the nation...These youth are our children, but are victims of their sentiments..."

    • Ayatollah Hadi Barikbin, Qazvin Friday Prayer Leader: "Most certainly, should the regime continue the path of the revolution, the enemies of the Islamic regime will not succeed in their conspiracies, but after the presidential election the ground was prepared to give the enemies renewed hope. Some of the candidates who did not achieve a high vote were naturally saddened but it would have been right if they surrendered themselves to the law and the regime and in case there had been irregularities they should have expressed that... But they have started a movement which has provided an angle for the enemies of Islam, the imperialists, who wanted to attack the regime."

  • Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani: "It is possible that someone had once been among the servants of the revolution, but at some point commits a mistake... Should this mistake be a blow to the Islamic regime and should this person not rectify his mistake, he will be moving towards treason."

  • Raja News runs an article series using the Mehdi Hashemi affair to draw Grand Ayatollah Montazeri into a scandal. Link upon request.

  • Motalefeh General Secretary Habibollah Asgarowladi, at a recent meeting with Ahmadinejad:

    • "You have taken the burden of your friends on your shoulders...With what authority does Mashaei speak of theology and Islamology? Why does he utter words and statements which create such mayhem and force you for a long time to answer the criticism of the people and explain him…? Your Chief of Staff has said that God can't be the source of unity of man. He said there are as many Gods as there are human beings. Well, this is the kind of things that create trouble..."
    • "There are some of your associates and friends who say that after you the Imam of the Era will emerge. They must receive a very serious warning in this regard..."

  • Ardebil Governor Mansour Haghighatpour says presidential election in Iran was "super democratic."

  • Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution in Iran is trying to dismiss Mir-Hossein Mousavi as the Head of Iranian Academy.

Diplomacy

  • [E] Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki called on all states to back the territorial integrity and national unity of Yemen and stressed that no countries should interfere in Yemen’s domestic affairs.

  • [E] Mottaki in Khartoum stressed closer relations between Iran and Sudan. "New steps should be taken for expansion of relations and cooperation and finding new atmospheres and avenues for mutual cooperation," Mottaki said.

 

Military and Security

Nuclear Issue

  • Hojjat al-Eslam Kazem Sedighi, temporary Tehran Friday Prayer Leader: "The West deceptively pretended that an agreement was made between Iran and Western countries and has now accused Iran of violating its obligations in the nuclear issue. But from the very first day Iran has considered possession of nuclear energy within the framework of international law as its inalienable right and this issue is a national aspiration... We are convinced that decisive victory is ours and decisive defeat is yours..."

  • Rafsanjani declares his support for Iran's nuclear program: "We are ready to do anything to show our sincerity and good intentions to the world. But should they want to continue their threats against Iran, or what they call the policy of stick and carrots, they must stop doing so, since what we want form them is not promises that they don't fulfill anyway. What we desire is serious and transparent negotiations and Iran will prove its intentions through them..."

    • "Iran must not give concessions when it comes to its peaceful nuclear energy since the country is in need of that and it is a strategic issue for Iran..."
    • “We say that we are not pursuing a nuclear weapon, but we will not under any circumstance give concessions... Nuclear power plants are the most important things for us since we know that oil will be gone in the future and one must achieve substitutes for this source of energy to cover our energy needs...Peaceful nuclear energy is a strategic issue for us which we will not abandon."

  • Parliamentarian Hossein Nejabat says leaving the NPT is Iran's right and is the option favored by the parliamentarians.

  • [E] Former IAEA Director General Mohammad ElBaradei says Iran's nuclear issue can only be resolved through diplomacy. "Some people want to show that Iran will have a nuclear bomb tomorrow. It will not, we have not seen, at least," he told the Austrian newspaper Kurier. "Sanctions are not the solution."

Religion, Culture and Society

  • Parliamentarian Ali Mottahari discusses temporary marriage as a means of solving sexual problems of the youth: "Currently, many students, even at high school level, are aware of all the issues of marital life. Therefore, let us solve their natural problems and let them continue their education. Today, girls and boys become friends and establish relationships which we all know are irreligious and in many cases their families are aware of this. We say, let this relationship be, but in a religious garb. Let them engage in temporary marriages...Such initiative improves the people's health, reduces psychological complexes and makes sexual issues into an ordinary affair. Islam has opened the path for them. In the West we see that this issue has become normalized through a different path, but also Islam has a solution for all problems at all times."

    • Ja'fari, former Criminal Police Chief agrees with Mottahari and argues that "religiously approved sexual relations should be exploited" to reduce rape and sexual crimes. But should anyone under such freer circumstances commit sexual crimes "the divine law has prescribed the solution for that too."
    • Esmail Ahmadimoghaddam, Law Enforcement Forces Chief, agrees with the general theme of liberalization, but warns that "in today's society, temporary marriage is considered worse than irreligious relationships..."

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