Iran News Round Up

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, please visit this page, fill out the "New Subscribers" section, and check "Iran News Round Up" listed under "Projects."�
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(E) = Article in English

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Politics

• Davoud Ahmadinejad, brother of Iran's president: "After the revolution in the Islamic Republic of Iran, it was announced that everyone who had a problematic family name or did not like it should change it. My father did not like our family name. Therefore, in accordance with his own name, he renamed the family 'Ahmadinejad.'"

Diplomacy

• Reactions in Iran to Saudi intervention in Bahrain:
  
  • Hassan Ebrahimi, Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee deputy, says: "Saudi Arabia's position in the world is unstable... Domestic pressure against the regime is increasing."
  • Iranian Diplomacy urges Ahmadinejad not to allow Saudi Arabia to continue "suppression of popular protests" in Bahrain.
  • The Islamic Republic's Arab language Al-Alam TV announces that next Friday is "the day of revolution against the Al Saud clan."
  • Bultan News condemns "passivity of the Foreign Ministry in the face of massacre of the Bahraini Shia."
  • Academic Ali Bigdeli urges Said Jalili to reduce tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
• [E] Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman says that the Afghan government is responsible for safety of kidnapped Iranian engineers, and must pave the way for their release.

Military and Security

• Amir-Farzad Esmaili, Khatam al-Anbia Air Defense Base chief, announces his plan to establish "defensive fortresses" all over Iran to counter threats.
• Dolatyar News, close to the Ahmadinejad government, claims there were "plans to assassinate Ahmadinejad" and warns: "Don't do things which would make the Doctor [Ahmadinejad] remove the seal from his mouth. Should this happen, you would face angry masses, who would get rid of your sedition in half a day. Should the people get to know the depth of corruption and crimes of some individuals, you should know that your palaces will collapse one after another."
• News stories about Ahmadinejad's attempt to dismiss Intelligence Minister Hojjat al-Eslam Heydar Moslehi:
  
  • Bakeri Online, close to the Ahmadinejad government, continues attack against Moslehi: "Under Moslehi's leadership, the intelligence Ministry does not abide by the religious or temporal law and has also ignored Ahmadinejad's decrees... Moslehi has weakened the security machinery of the state by recruiting forces lacking the necessary capabilities with regard to foreign intelligence... Moslehi has spent most of his managerial time in the [Revolutionary] Guards and does not trust the ministry... Moslehi, provoked by Hossein Taeb, has purged the ministry officials..."
  • Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, indirectly accuses Ahmadinejad of using the Intelligence Ministry to attack political opponents. �
  • Bultan News slams Ahmadinejad's attempt to sack the intelligence minister: "Events in the past days have demonstrated that schemes of the counter revolution to defeat this ministry are not an event of the past, and that they are capable of dealing blows to this institution through their infiltrators within a principalist government. The infiltrators have shown that sedition against the revolution and revolutionary institutions will never end... The new hypocrites may seem to have tried to attack Mr. Moslehi, but their goal is the Intelligence Ministry as an institution."
    
    • Bultan News also proposes that the Intelligence Ministry operates as an institution independent of the cabinet.
• Bultan News accuses Britain of providing support to Sunni Arab movements in Ahvaz.
• [E] Commander of the Iranian Army's Ground Forces says a unit of peacekeepers has undergone rigorous training in the Iranian Army's Ground Force to serve in conflict zones around the world and is ready to deploy.
• [E] Iranian Defense Minister schedules visit to Baghdad.
• [E] Supreme Leader sends letter to Intelligence Minister urging increased performance and capabilities.

Economy

• [E] Iran's OPEC Governor says global crude prices and demands for oil will both increase further by the end of 2011.

Photos of the Day

• Iran launches Shahin surface-to-air missile.

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