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

• Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi said Iran would not allow the West to include its ballistic missile program in a final nuclear deal. Salehi also said that Iran would not fundamentally alter the Arak heavy water reactor: “The [Arak] reactor will be redesigned to produce less plutonium, but it will remain a heavy water reactor.” 
  • AEOI spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said Iran had continued to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regarding the limited measures agreed upon under the Joint Plan of Action (JPOA): “Most of the seven-step procedural agreement between Iran and the IAEA has been implemented within the framework of the Joint Plan of Action.” Kamalvandi said that IAEA Deputy Director General Massimo Aparo would be visiting Iran soon to “report on the implementation of the first step of the [Joint Plan of Action].”
  • Foreign Ministry Political and International Affairs Director Hamid Baidinejad announcedthat expert-level negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 will begin in New York on Tuesday, March 5. 

• Former head of the AEOI Fereydoon Abbasi Davani warned the Rouhani administration and its negotiators against rolling back Iran’s nuclear program as part of a final agreement in remarks he made to Basij students at Sharif University in Tehran:
  •  “In fact, we have permitted America to reach this agreement, but we hope the officials will heed our warnings and not act like ‘primitive humans’ and start everything from zero like in past negotiations.”
  • “During the term of President Ahmadinejad we stopped producing nuclear fuel and we were still targeted by commando raids, which showed that this was a strategic mistake.” 

• Protesters rallied at the former American embassy in Tehran on May 3 to express opposition to the Joint Plan of Action agreement between Iran and the P5+1. Protesters called on Rouhani administration negotiators not to surrender and some parliamentarians present announced their concerns regarding “secrets” in the text of the agreement that have not been revealed. 

• Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, in a speech to former members of parliament, urged national unity and said Iranians should support the Rouhani administration’s approach to the nuclear issue: “All parts of the country should defend the nuclear negotiations…Sometimes we see some friends who make certain issues bigger than need be, which leads to drawback on more important political matters where we need to have internal convergence  to defend our national interests.” 

• Defense Minister Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehghan traveled to Beijing to meet with Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan. Dehghan expressed Iran’s desire to expand defense and security cooperation with China, including in the areas of drug trafficking and terrorism. Dehghan also underlined Iran’s interest in enhancing economic ties: “In the third millennium, due to existing security concerns in the world, there is a need for a new ‘Silk Road.’”  

• Former IRGC commander Brig. Gen. Hossein Hamedani announced the formation of a “campaign” to support the Syrian people: “Due to the heavy losses that have been inflicted on the Syrian people by terrorists, the Syrian people will know, with the formation of this committee that we are with them.” Hamedani added, “Today we are fighting for and defending the interests of the Islamic Republic in Syria; we are at war.” Hamedani also expressed confidence that the Assad regime “has fully survived the threat of collapse.”