Iran News Round Up – February 25, 2017

IRGC Intelligence Organization Deputy Commander Brig. Gen. Hossein Nejat stated that IRGC Intelligence has detained “three large corruption networks.” He did not specify the identity of the individuals arrested or the time of their arrest. (Tasnim News Agency)

The Basij Organization started the “Beit ol Moghaddas” exercises in the central province of Yazd on February 23. Forty-five Basij battalions, as well as six Kosar battalions, participated in the exercises. The Kosar Battalions are all- female units and serve in a supporting role. The exercise included a variety of “tactical homeland defense operations,” among other features. (IRNA)

Hossein Amir Abdollahian, senior international affairs advisor to Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, described any kind of safe haven in Syria as “a violation of its territorial sovereignty.” Abdollahian stated, “the American-Zionist regime axis is actually aiming to create a safe zone for terrorists driven out of Iraq, Damascus, and Aleppo, and are not thinking of the Syrian people.” (IRNA)

 Mashhad Friday Prayer Leader Ayatollah Ahmad Alam ol Hoda stated that Iran hosted the Sixth International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Intifada earlier this week in order to “announce anew the war with Israel to the West.” Alam ol Hoda stated that the conference “broke the back of Israel’s supporters throughout the world.” He also stated, “We declare that [Turkish president Recep Tayyip] Erdogan and the Saudis are the Americans’ puppets and shake hands with Israel. [Erdogan and the Saudis] are not Muslims.” (Fars News Agency)

 Interim Tehran Friday Prayer Leader Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Mohavedi Kermani said the “Palestinian issue” is at the top of Iran’s global agenda because it is an “Islamic issue.” Ayatollah Kermani reiterated the intention behind the creation of Israel was, first, a British and later, an American project, to “weaken Islamic governments and society,” and take under control the “vast” natural resources of the Middle East. (Mehr News Agency)

Moderate-conservative Deputy Parliament Speaker Ali Motahari stated that “the people have had grievances with the government” following the events of the 2009 Green Movement. Motahari called issues such as the government’s “crackdown on critics” and the imprisonment of Ahmad Montazeri “narrow-minded and severe.” Ahmad Montazeri recently began his six-year prison term for releasing an audio tape of his father Grand Ayatollah Hossein Montazeri criticizing the Islamic Republic’s 1988 executions of approximately 5,000 political prisoners.  Motahari’s comments are likely in reaction to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s dismissal of the reformist-driven initiative for “national reconciliation” in Iran in light of the uncertainties facing the country under President Donald Trump’s presidency. (ISNA)