Iran News Round Up

A selection of the latest news stories and editorials published in Iranian news outlets, compiled by the AEI Critical Threats Project's Iran research team. To receive this daily newsletter, please subscribe online. 

(E) = Article in English

Excerpts of these translations may only be used with the expressed consent of the authors

• Representative of the Supreme Leader in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Hojjat al-Eslam Ali Saidi announced that the crime of opposing the Supreme Leader is “no less than those who stood against the Prophet of Islam.” 

• Advisor to the Representative of the Supreme Leader in the IRGC Mojtaba Zolnouri warned “In the case of an irrational measure from America, [U.S.] military bases will not be safe from our missiles, whether in Bahrain or in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.” 

• Lebanese Hezbollah (LH) Executive Council Vice Chairman Sheikh Nabil Qaouk hailed the Syrian elections as “a bridge of passage for increasing the strength of the Resistance…The Resistance has strategic necessity against Israel and Takfiri groups for all Lebanese and Arab countries. When Lebanon confronts threats, it needs the support of Lebanese forces, positive elements, and national unity more than ever.” 
  • LH buried teenage member Mohammad Hossein Ibrahim al Rajab, AKA “Zolfaghar,” in Toul earlier. Head of LH in the Southern Region Ali Zaoun attended his funeral. 

• Senior Military Advisor to the Supreme Leader IRGC Maj. Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi said that “the people will be more hopeful in the new administration” if President Hassan Rouhani executes Khamenei’s slogan, “Economy and Culture, with National Determination and Jihadi Management.” Safavi added:
  • “Our country is presently the number one power in Southwest Asia from the aspects of political and geopolitical weight and security wise. Although we still have evil enemies like America and Israel and have internal problems as well.” 

• Tehran Interim Friday Prayer Leader and Expediency Discernment Council (EDC) member Ayatollah Ali Movahedi Kermani discussed the Syrian elections and Iranian political developments:
  • “The victory of Bashar Assad is a success and showed that the Syrian people have stood against all conspiracies and criminal terrorists and that they are awake, to the extent that this vote made America hopeless.”
  • “Officials must be careful for the penetration of seditionists; I particularly warn the science, education and teaching ministries in this regard. This has caused the dissatisfaction of some MPs.”
  • “The Supreme Leader emphasized during the negotiations of the Iranian delegation with the P5+1 for us not to have dependence on the West in resolving economic problems and rely upon our own capacities and youth.”

• Islamic Culture and Guidance Minister Ali Jannati invited Qatar’s Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage Hamad bin Abdul Aziz al-Kuwari to Tehran.

• Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will attend a parliamentary hearing next week held by 66 representatives of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission to review the latest international developments. 

• Iran will host the 8^th International Exhibition of Exchange, Bank and Insurance, described as “the largest exhibition of Middle Eastern financial industry” on June 8.
  • Senior Iranian officials attending the exhibition include First Deputy to the President Eshagh Jahangiri, Minister of Economy and Finance Ali Tayeb Nia, Central Bank of Iran Head Valiollah Seif, and Head of the Securities and Exchange Organization Ali Akbar Salehi.

• Chief of Staff to the Office of Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, Hojjat al-Eslam Hossein Jalai criticized President Rouhani’s position on nuclear, cultural, and political issues and claimed that “1200 directors, governors, MPs, and [former presidents Mohammad Khatami and EDC Chairman Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani], and a previous Minister of Intelligence had a role in the [2009 election] sedition.”