A selection of the latest news stories and editorials published in Iranian news outlets, compiled by AEI Critical Threats Project Iran Analyst Will Fulton and Iran Intern Amir Toumaj, with contributor Mary Ella Simmons. To receive this daily newsletter, please subscribe online.

(E) = Article in English

Politics

  • Interim Tehran Friday Prayer Leader Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati praised the people’s participation in the 2013 elections, and discussed moderation and relations with the United States:
    • “I view this discussed moderation as the Imam [Khomeini’s] line, will, and Sahifeye Nour [collection of Khomeini’s works and speeches], because the Imam stated opinions in all areas. Our position is clear against the hypocritical and anti-revolutionary Americans. Therefore, from my perspective, moderation is The Excellency Imam’s lighting line.” 
  • After President-elect Hassan Rouhani criticized unemployment and economic conditions during his Parliamentary address earlier this week, MP Ali Asqar Zarei criticized Rouhani’s “blackening” and warned “[Who knows,] this sort of blackening may entrap the new administration in a future not too far.” 
  • The Front of the Followers of the Line of the Imam and Supreme Leader Secretary Habibollah Asgar Owladi discussed the implications of Rouhani’s election and commented on imprisoned 2009 Presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi:
    • “Rouhani’s election fulfilled the prayers of the Supreme Leader.”
    • "If you pay attention to the media, Rouhani has taken a position regarding relations with Lebanon and Syria alongside resistance in the region, and in my opinion his election was God’s will, and we must submit to God’s satisfaction.”
    • A cabinet should be formed that includes “both Principlists and Reformists.”
    • Regarding Mousavi and Karoubi, he said, “Regarding the Imam [Khomeini], Supreme Leader, and the system, in this month of Ramadan that is the month of repentance, [they] should create a situation  in which during the Nights of Qadr they should take this peace that has emerged for the nation to the side of Perfection [God], and during the Eid-e Fitr this year, [pray that] a religious culture will be created for the nation.”  
  • Mashhad Friday Prayer Leader Ayatollah Ahmad Alam ol-Hoda warned, “Do not allow political events to change you and make you weak in your [faith]. [Political] currents that [change] should not [allow] you to let go of your values and your loyalty to the Supreme Leader and the revolution.”
  • Gorgan Province Friday Prayer Leader Ayatollah Kazem Nour Mofidi discussed the recent Egyptian unrest and said, “If [Mohamed] Morsi had acted rationally he would be successful, but instead of relations with Iran and Syria, he continued relations with Israel…”
  • Islamic Engineers Society Secretary MP Mohammad Reza Bahonar discussed 2013 election implications and said, “The people observed eight years of Reformist extremism and eight years of Principlist measures that were accompanied by their insular view…. The people turned to moderation after these sixteen years.” He then praised Rouhani and said, “Not only was Rouhani’s slogan moderation, Rouhani’s [being] was also moderation.” 
  • Head of the National Inspectorate Organization Mostafa Pour Mohammadi said that Principlist thought was victorious due to the creation of a “political epic” in the elections, but that “Principlist organizational activities were defeated in these elections and Reformist organizational activities were victorious.” 
  • Father of slain Kahrizak detention center detainee Abdolhossein Rouholamini said, “The Kahrizak case has not closed and we will certainly protest [former Tehran Prosecutor Saeed] Mortazavi’s verdict.” 

Regional Developments

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Military and Security

Economy

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