Iran News Round Up

The Iran News Round Up ran from February 2009-September 2018. Visit the Iran File for the latest analysis.

A selection of the latest news stories and editorials published in Iranian news outlets, compiled by AEI Critical Threats Project Iran Analyst Will Fulton and Iran Intern Amir Toumaj, with contributors John Lesnewich and Mehrdad Moarefian. 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.

Politics

Diplomacy

Military and Security

  • IRGC Ground Forces Public Relations announced that five Kurdish members of the IRGC Beit al Moghaddas unit (Kurdistan province) were killed and two more wounded during “a clash with counter-Revolutionary agents” on Thursday near the village of Savan in the city of Baneh in the province of Kurdistan. The battle was against members of PJAK, a Kurdish nationalist group that has been battling Iran since 2004. 
    • The five IRGC Kurdistan members killed were Fetah Mohammadi, Jalal Mostafaei, Hajj Mottaleb Ahmadian, Loghman Hosseini and Mansour Makhdoumi. 
    • Baneh MP Mohassan Bigolari stated, “These five members of the IRGC, four of whom were from Baneh and one from Ghorveh, were martyred in a clash with PJAK forces, and their funeral ceremony was held this morning.” 
    • The attending officials included regional officials, the Hamzeh Seyyed al-Shohda Base Brig. Gen 2 Class Mohammad Taghi Osanlou, and IRGC Beit al Moghaddas unit Commander Brig. Gen. 2nd Class Mohammad Hossein Rajabi.
  • Commander of the Hamzeh Seyyed al-Shohda Base Mohammad Taghi Osanlou spoke at the funeral and promised that “the counter-Revolutionary agents will receive a harsh penalty and a strong and decisive response for the martyring of IRGC Beit al-Moghaddas Kurdistan guardsmen.”
    • He also emphasized that indigenizing security was a goal of the IRGC: “Thanks to the blood of the martyrs, today Iran is the most secure country of the region.... The martyring of native IRGC guardsmen of Baneh gave the message to the enemies who want to bring down the system and Revolution that people today, especially the youth, are protecting the sacred Iranian system place-by-place with their blood.”
    • “Today, the participation of thousands of youths can destroy the ground of the counter-revolution.”
    • “The counter-revolutionaries will receive their punishment for this action in the shortest amount of time.” 
  • IRGC Beit al-Moghaddas (Kurdistan province) Commander Mohammad Hossein Rajabi spoke about the security implications of the attack:
    • “Yesterday, a number of counter-revolutionary guerrillas with no goal other than the insecurity of the region clashed with the IRGC in the region of Savan, Baneh. Unfortunately, this led to the martyring of five IRGC individuals and the wounding of two individuals.”
    • “The people of the region cooperate very well with the IRGC, military and police forces in order to establish security and maintain this security and stability. They understand the evil thoughts of the counter-revolution, and fight against it themselves.”
    • “The Kurdistan IRGC is carrying out the strategic commands of the Supreme Leader to establish security for the people with all of its capabilities.”
    • “IRGC Beit al-Moghaddas has made all necessary preparations against hard, semi-hard, and cultural threats [the doctrinal categories the IRGC uses to describe threats to the system] of the enemies through the use of native forces.”  
  • Head of the Iranian Aerospace Organization Dr. Hamid Fazeli announced the beginning of preliminary designs for a space launch center in Chabahar [southern port city in Sistan va Baluchestan]. He said the project would take roughly 7-8 years to raise the necessary funds and buildthe infrastructure, and that they are currently looking for land to build the site on. The space agency wants to conduct both Low Earth Orbit and Geostationary Orbit launches done entirely though domestic processes.

Economy

Nuclear Issue

  • The names of the members of Iran’s Geneva negotiations team have been announced:
    • “In the primary negotiations, Mohammad Javad Zarif, our Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Catherine Ashton, the EU’s Head of Foreign Policy, are responsible for the two sides. After undergoing these first conversations, it is decided that this meeting will continue at the deputy level.”
    • Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Seyyed Abbas Araghchi will lead the subsequent deputy negotiations.
    • Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs Majid Ravanchi, Ministerial Office Managing Director Eshagh al-Habib Hamid, Director of Economic Affairs Baidi Nezhad will be members of the Iranian delegation, as will representatives from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and the secretariat of the Supreme National Security Council.

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