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

• Presidential crisis:
  • The Guardian Council rules the president's function as acting oil minister "illegal."
  • Parliamentarian Ahmad Tavakoli: "Ahmadinejad's people are either deviationists or economically corrupt, or both!"
  • Parliamentarian Hojjat al-Eslam Hamid Rasayi: "I know [Esfandiar Rahim-] Mashaei. He is the agent of restricting the powers of the Guardian Jurist."
  • Kayhan calls Ahmadinejad supporters "a gang without a popular base," and compares Ahmadineajd with Abol-Hassan Bani-Sadr.
  • Mohammad-Jafar Behdad, Iran columnist, warns against "the real current of deviation" which has "opposed and obstructed Ahmadinejad government’s efforts to fight economic corruption."
• Khodnevis website analyzes former president Mohammad Khatami's attempt to ingratiate himself with Supreme Leader Khamenei.
• The Supreme Council of the Islamic Cultural Revolution authorizes Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei to establish an "International University of Iranians."

Diplomacy

• Entekhab News reports on "secret meetings" between the Ahmadinejad government and a United States diplomatic mission in Dubai. According to Entekhab, the United States group operates under the cover of a "business mission." 
• Reactions to President Obama's Middle East speech:
  • Said Jalili, Supreme National Security Council secretary: "Helplessness, contradiction and deception were clearly visible in Obama's speech."
  • Mohammad Jamshidi, Foreign Policy Research head at the Parliamentary Research Center: "Obama's speech was an announcement of the defeat of the United States in the region." 
• Ayatollah Emami Kashani, acting Tehran Friday prayer leader:
  • "What happens in the world of Islam was predicted in Islamic texts... The Muslims are going through divine ordeals and will be tested by how much they will support the meek. We too will go through the ordeal. The governments of these states should know that these crimes are to their detriment and one day they will be ensnared by the traps they themselves have created...The Christians should rise and see what imperialism and Zionism are doing in the world. They must warn the Zionists and raise their voices. This is the very least they can do to help the meek."  

Military and Security

• Zahedan News warns against the spillover effect of radicalization of the Pakistani side of the Iran/Pakistan border to the Sunni population of Iran's Sistan va Balouchestan province.

Photo of the Day

• Representatives of Iran's Arab and Baluch people attend the Friday prayer