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's speech at the memorial service of Ayatollah Khomeini:
    • "Last year, approximately 40 million people --85 percent of the voters --participated in a 100 percent free election which was a democratic world record and challenged democracy, [political] parties, wealth and the media... At this election approximately 25 million people voted for the chosen servant. One must respect everyone who participated at this election and the entire nation..."
    • "But during the [past] 30 years there were some selfish individuals who systematically considered themselves superior to the nation and considered themselves the owners of the country. Those who believed that if popular vote supported them, then they would consider the vote genuine and respectable but if the vote was against them, they would not respect it. They themselves rose to government offices within this system and method repeatedly..."
    • "Those who create bureaucratic and personal aristocracies with public funds, this is condemned from the point of view of the nation and is against the behavior of the Imam [Khomeini]..."
    • "The Imam [Khomeini] fought against king-like lifestyle of some authorities and managers...He lived with the people and was ascetic..."
  • Ali Larijani, speaker of the parliament:
    • "Returning to the foundations of the revolution is a necessity of each era so that the society does not become a place of growth of innovative thoughts, since it is possible that the change of revolutionary thought - under the banner of the path of the Imam - takes place in such a way which harms the true nature of the genuine thought of the Imam."
  • Reactions to the mobs preventing Hassan Khomeini to speak at the commemoration service of the death of Ayatollah Khomeini:
    • Video of mobs preventing Hassan Khomeini speaking at the memorial service for Ayatollah Khomeini.
    • Mehdi Karrubi writes an open letter to Hassan Khomeini condemning the events at Ayatollah Khomeini's mausoleum:
      • "Ever since I found out that a part of the armed forces is orchestrating the commemoration event this year, I was concerned and knew it would not end well. But I did not imagine this degree of insolence and shamelessness."
      • "You are most certainly aware that those purporting to propagate and interpret the line of the Imam are those who were against the Imam and supported those participating in the serial killings."
    • Mir-Hossein Mousavi's open letter condemning the attacks against Hassan Khomeini: "The actions of the few could not have been without previous engineering and acceptance of others [the authorities.]"
    • Ayatollah Mousavi Ardebili condemns attacks against Hassan Khomeini.
    • Ayatollah Sanei in a phone conversation with Hassan Khomeini says "those ordering and those performing the insults suffer from political madness."
    • Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani says the "tactics of the Supreme Leader have preserved the regime in the era of discord."
    • Fars News Agency's Sa'd-Allah Zarei analyzes the attacks against Hassan Khomeini at Ayatollah Khomeini's mausoleum:
      • "Unfortunately Seyyed Hassan Khomeini spoke incoherently and with abrupt sentences from the very beginning and his fear of the crowd was visible..."
      • "Contrary to the will of the innocent son of His Holiness the Imam, Seyyed Hassan Khomeini and some other members of the honorable Hojjat al-Eslam Seyyed Ahmad Khomeini’s family have gradually been dragged to a path where they are practically seen as one and the same as the heads of the discord."

Diplomacy

Military and Security

  • Hojjat al-Eslam Ali Shirazi, the supreme leader's representative to the Revolutionary Guards Navy: "The duty of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the face of such an un-chivalrous act [Israel attacking the flotilla] is to defend the innocent and defenseless people of Gaza...The Revolutionary Guards Navy has the power and preparedness to use all its potentials to escort freedom and peace caravans transporting humanitarian aid from the entire world to the innocent and defenseless people of Gaza."
  • JARAS accuses Basij chief Naghdi of having orchestrated the attacks against Hassan Khomeini - ordered by Supreme Leader Khamenei - during the commemoration service of Ayatollah Khomeini.
  • [E] Iran's Police squads discovered and seized over 150 kg of opium at a checkpoint in Iran's central province of Isfahan.

Nuclear Issue

Economy

Trade

 Religion, Culture and Society

·          [E] An Iranian cultural official on Monday underlined the necessity for the expansion of media cooperation between Tehran and Ashgabat (Turkmenistan).

 Photo of the Day

 

 
(E) = Article in English