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 contributor John Lesnewich. 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 and Regional Developments

Military and Security

  • Head of the Passive Defense Organization and Operational Base Brig. Gen. Gholam Reza Jalali announced the preparedness of the base's cyber team to confront threats in various sectors such as oil, financial and media; the establishment of Passive Cyber Defense Centers in various provinces, including one at the Natanz nuclear site; and efforts to establish an Economic Base.
  • Armed Forces General Staff Deputy for Basij Affairs and Defense Culture Brig. Gen. Massoud Jazayeri attended the “Soft War Specialists Conference” held at the IRGC’s Hamzeh Seyyed al-Shohada operational base in Orumieh, West Azerbaijan, during which he discussed establishing soft war bases as well as ongoing nuclear negotiations
    • On nuclear talks: “Arrogance [the West] is wrong in imagining that Iranian diplomats will back down against their inhumane pressures…. The Iranian people will evaluate the performance of their representative and the opposing side with open eyes.”
    • On soft war: “Without a doubt, the media are on the frontlines of the soft war and the severe media invasions of the enemy…. The soft war is one of the most important issues of our country today and certainly we must come to know its various aspects….”
    • “Just as during the Sacred Defense [Iran-Iraq War] we were able to dominate the enemy with the backing of the people, in the soft war we must also enter this critical campaign [all together] as a people.”
    • “Based on the Armed Forces General Staff’s programs and following sufficient studies of the environment of the future, the soft war headquarters [in the AFGS] was established for confronting the enemy, and now preparations are underway for its formation and we are prepared to expand this base throughout the country in fields of management. We believe there should be committees of soft war specialists formed in every [state] institution.”
    • “Soft war bases will be established throughout the country with the goal of intelligently confronting the enemy, and as such, we require the cooperation of the Supreme National Security Council, Supreme Revolutionary Cultural Council, and all the national institutions.”
    • “It is expected that the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, as the trustee of the nation’s media, will establish the defensive frontline with the soft war, and at the same time, the Supreme Revolutionary Cultural Council Secretariat, as the most fundamental cultural base of the country, must have the necessary planning for this, and the Armed Forces General Staff will strive to create an [official] understanding.”
  • In a joint statement, 264 MPs supported the efforts of the IRGC on the country’s western borders.

Nuclear Issue

Economy

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