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 receive this daily newsletter, please subscribe online.
 
(E) = Article in English

Politics

• Many university student organizations continue public attacks against Ali-Akbar Nateq Nouri, an adviser to Supreme Leader Khamenei, who last week called those who claim to have seen the Imam of the Era "mentally ill."

Diplomacy

• Khamenei discusses the Quds [Jerusalem] Day planned for Friday in a meeting with former prisoners of Iraq war:
  • "Thanks to divine wisdom, this year too, the Muslim nation of Iran will deal a blow to the mouth of the enemies of Islam and Palestine with its movement... Had it not been for this conspiracy [creation of Israel], these wars and interventions of the hegemonic [powers] and bullies would not be there... Just as the star of hope shined with divine help – once in the victory of the Islamic revolution, once at the epic of the sacred defense [Iran/Iraq war], and once on the return of those freed [reference to the prisoners of war] – the dawn of hope will also shine in the case of Palestine and this Islamic land will certainly return to the Palestinian nation, and the false and bogus Zionist appendix will disappear from the realm of geography."
• Mehr News Agency reports that Ahmadinejad received a “warm welcome” in Mecca while attending the Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit. Despite Iran’s opposition, OIC suspended Syria's membership.
  • Farda News slams Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi's statements at the OIC summit in which he said: "Here I feel I am in my own home. I have lived here in Jeddah for four years. Saudi Arabia is a sacred country and I wish the nation and government of Saudi Arabia success, dignity and glory..."
  • Farda News editorializes: "Speaking in such a way about a country which is responsible for organizing the enemies of the country [Iran] in the region, is ruining a country friendly to it [Syria] and has decapitated its citizens [reference to Iranian fishermen beheaded in Saudi Arabia], either means that he is scared and wants to bribe [Saudi Arabia] to stop this [enmity], or the past is over and a new chapter has begun in the bilateral relations. None of this is true about Iran and Saudi Arabia... Why does he wish success to a country which repeats the stupid positions of the West concerning Iran's nuclear program, has unfairly killed Iranian citizens... has military forces in Bahrain and kills the freedom seekers, and feeds arms and money to Wahhabi terrorists in Syria, Iran's ally?”
  • Parliamentarian Behrouz Nemati to Salehi: "If Saudi Arabia is your home, why are you Iran's foreign minister?"
  • Asr-e Iran slams Ahmadinejad and Salehi's behavior at the OIC summit:
    • "Now that Ahmadinejad accepted King Abdullah's invitation and sat next to him, and Salehi considered Saudi Arabia his home and felt at ease, are relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia good? Or improving? Or did we just increase the expectations of the Saudis? Was there any softening in the Saudi position on sanctions against Iran, on Bahrain, on Syria, on Iranian citizens and the like? Fundamentally, why should the foreign minister of a great country like Iran consider Saudi Arabia his home and say he feels at ease there...? Unfortunately, this discourse is prevalent. Lately, the president of our country told a group of guests from Egypt, who had come to Tehran with Iran's money, that he was ready to work as a menial worker at their factories in order to develop Egypt! On another occasion, Ahmadinejad said he was ready to establish the Iranian embassy in Cairo by the end of official day, a statement which received coldly by the authorities in Cairo... Following the revolution in Egypt, the Iranian representative in Cairo, in order to win the heart of the Egyptians, said: 'We are ready to sell wheat and steel at sub market level to the Egyptians and resume relations,' but the new authorities in Egypt said Iran's 'desire' must wait for consideration until they decide. Iran's deputy foreign minister had also said that whenever there is talk of Iran's and Iraq's interests at the cabinet, everyone agrees that the priority must be given to the interests of Iraq! The gentlemen must not forget that what they say, apart from publicity abroad, will also get publicity at home and they must speak in such a way that the national pride of the people is not hurt..."  

Military and Security

• Hossein Mortazavi, Sistan va Balouchestan Revolutionary Guards commander, says the IRGC has employed 300 Sunnis. 
  • Readers at Shi'a News express discontent. 
• An "informed source" tells Mehr News that a construction site of Iran’s embassy in Damascus has been hit with bullets and asks the armed groups in Syria to respect the rights of diplomatic representations.
• Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast commenting on the British government's accusations against Iran in the case of the Bulgaria attack: "Britain is the greatest state sponsor of terrorism."

Religion, Society and Culture

• Shafaf News recommends specific verses from the Holy Quran to be safe from earthquake. 

Photos of the Day

• Khamenei visits earthquake victims.