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." 
 
(E) = Article in English

Politics

• Ahmadinejad addresses academics, artists and industrialists in Semnan: "Most certainly His Holiness the Imam of the Era, as the main agent of justice, is managing and directing the reform of the subsidies scheme... Before the execution of the plan, I visited the Supreme Leader and he said: 'the cash handout is the money of the Imam of the Era and is blessed money."
• Asr-e Iran releases the names of 34 Ahmadinejad advisers who have not been dismissed by the president.

Diplomacy

• According to Ayandeh News, diplomatic missions of Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei and Hamid Baghaei to Jordan and Yemen may be related to the Ahmadinejad circle's belief in the emergence of the Imam of the Era.
• Mardomsalari on acting foreign minister Ali-Akbar Salehi's visit to Baghdad, urges the Foreign Ministry to demand war reparations from Iraq.
• Academic Mansour Haghighatpour slams Azerbaijan's President’s statement that he is the leader of the Azeris of the world.
• Supreme National Security Council secretary Said Jalili receives Iraqi politician Ibrahim al-Jaafari.
• [E] Iranian authorities announced on Thursday that they have arrested a US woman a week ago on the charges of illegal entry and espionage in the northwestern borders of the country.
• [E] Caretaker of the Iranian Foreign Ministry Ali Akbar Salehi in a meeting with senior Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani in the holy city of Najaf, Southern Iraq, conveyed the warmest regards of Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei to Ayatollah Sistani.

Military and Security

• Basij Chief Mohammad-Reza Naghdi on Mohammad Khatami's conditions to return to politics: "Should one desire to fool the people and start a new game under a new masque, the people will, thanks to their vigilance, certainly not be fooled."
• Ali Fazli, Pathfinders of Light Headquarters chief, says the budget of expediting Basij members to visit war zones from the Iran/Iraq war will be transferred to local branches of the Revolutionary Guards.
• Commander Mohammad Ozlati Moghaddam, arrested because of his support for the Mousavi campaign, released from prison.

Religion, Culture, and Society

• Basij Chief Mohammad-Reza Naghdi attacks the humanities, says they don't represent the "ideals of the Imam and the Leader."

Nuclear Issue

• Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast says representatives of the 5+1 Group have been invited to inspect Iran's nuclear facilities prior to the Istanbul round.

Economy

• Ahmadinejad says the government's reform of the subsidies system has helped the government save "20 percent of the oil revenues."
  • According to Abrar-e Eghtesadi, the Ahmadinejad cabinet has chosen to preserve subsidies to electricity, wheat and bread in next year's budget despite abolishing the the subsidies system and transfer of cash handouts to the public.
• [E] An official with the Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC) announced that the country plans to install more marine rigs in the Persian Gulf to further boost its oil production capacity.

Trade

• Mehr Finance and Credit Institute, previously known as the Basij Interest Free Bank, changes its brand into Mehr-e Eqtesad Bank.
• Mohsen Khojaste-Mehr, National Iranian Oil Company executive director, says two new natural gas fields have been discovered.
• Ali Molkijou, the National Persian Carpet Center marketing deputy, says China is developing into a market for Persian carpets and that the Chinese are exiting the competition with Iran when it comes to handmade carpets, which may be due to China's economic growth.

• Taiwan’s largest car producer expresses interest in the Iranian market. http://alef.ir/1388/content/view/91755/

Iran in the Afghan Media

• [E] Fuel prices in Afghanistan rose by about 27.4 percent, with petrol about 12.3 percent, during the past week as a result of shortages after Iran blocked shipments of oil into Afghanistan.
• [E] Afghan analysts say Iran is pressurizing the Afghan government to accept the controversial results of the September 2010 parliamentary election by blocking oil shipments into Afghanistan.
• Tens of Kabul residents demonstrated in front of Iran’s embassy in Kabul in a protest at Tehran’s ban on oil shipments into Afghanistan. Iranian authorities say they have stopped the oil trucks fearing the fuel could be used by American and NATO troops.

Photos of the Day

• Commander Ali Fazli