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

Military and Security

  • Zahedan General and Revolutionary Prosecutor Mohammad Marziyeh on Saturday, October 25: “On the basis of the warnings that we had issued to bandit elements and groups opposed to the system which [said that] any measures that caused harm to innocent people, security, or enforcement elements would be met with an in-kind response, earlier this morning we executed sixteen bandits related to groups opposed to the system. The judicial system will not fall short regarding these movements.” 
  • IRGC Public Affairs released a statement on Sunday condemning the attack, claiming that its goal was “an attempt to create religious division and tarnish the stable popular security in Sistan va Baluchestan.” 
  • National Security and Foreign Policy (NSFP) Chairman MP Alaeddin Boroujerdi stated, “With the serious condemnation of the recent crimes of the terrorists, I believe that, given Pakistan’s inability to provide security in its borders, our armed forces must take action to pursue the bandits inside this country’s soil and not permit our hard working border forces be martyred by criminals.” He added that the NSFP commission will hold a meeting Monday and provide a report, adding, “The Foreign Ministry, by quickly summoning the Pakistani Ambassador, must ask this government to apprehend and punish these criminals.” 
  • Law Enforcement Forces Border Commander Brig. Gen. Hossein Zolfaghari announced that “at least three countries in the region and beyond the region” provided monetary, technical and intelligence support to Jaish al-Adl for the recent terrorist attack. 
  • Supreme National Security Council Secretary Maj. Gen. Ali Shamkhani met with the Special United Nations Representative to Syria Lakhdar Ibrahimi and announced Iran’s preparedness to participate in Geneva 2 without preconditions:
    • “Since the beginning, the Islamic Republic of Iran has known a political solution as the only path to resolve the Syrian crisis and welcomes that some parties have reached this conclusion, albeit with delay.”
    • “The support of some countries for  terrorist groups in Syria is inexcusable.”  
  • Representative of the Supreme Leader to the IRGC Navy Hojjat al-Eslam Abdolnabi Sedaghat said, “As long as America, as the symbol of Satanism, pursues the spread of Arrogance, dominance-seeking and the destruction of righteousness, [we] cannot compromise or negotiate with it.” He added that the US’s retreat from such policies and “compensating for the damages and harms that they have inflicted to this system from the few years before the victory of the Islamic Revolution until now are the necessary conditions to cautiously pursue matters from a diplomatic route.” 
  • Law Enforcement Forces Commander Brig. Gen. Esmail Ahmadi Moghaddam announced that investigating allegations regarding the beatings of Mousavi’s daughters is with the Intelligence Minister, since “no complaints have been received in this matter from the daughters of the considered individual.”
  • Head of the Armed Forces General Staff Passive Defense Organization Brig. Gen. Gholam Reza Jalali claimed that “an Iranian Holocaust occurred during World War I,” characterized sanctions as economic warfare, and warned about the potential for the US to use biological weapons against Iran:
    • “In our historical sources, the greatest human losses in [World War I] occurred in our country, but we see no sign of them in history.”
    • “In 1914 the population of Iran was 20 million people, but after four years it decreased to 10 million due to a lack of strong, internal leadership. The greatest health tragedy and [lack of] treatment occurred due to famine and sickness in this time.”
    •  “The economic threat to our country has become a war. They have mobilized all of the diplomatic, military, and political powers to the economic front.”
    • “The medical economy has also been affected by this economic war. Unfair sanctions on medicine, vaccines, and medical equipment are undertaken against us.”
    • “We must avoid complacency with the West because these seemingly civilized Westerners have factories of biological weapons which they would use against us if there were a war.”
  • IRGC Navy Commander Brig. Gen. Ali Fadavi talked about the successes of his force in implementing its resistance strategy:
    • “The creation of active and continuous resistance against the enemy was a promise of the Islamic system and a continuous goal of the naval [forces]. Thanks to all of the sailors of this force, we have achieved that.”
    • “The continuation of this field is preserving and stabilizing the situation, as well as avoiding points of weakness and reinforcing points of strength.”
    • “Management, especially in the combat and defense fields, is considered an art, which, with the minimum cost and capabilities, you can get the greatest and best outcomes. Thanks to God, this important thing has been provided in the IRGC Navy in many areas.” 
  • Head of the Armed Forces General Staff Maj. Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi appointed Maryam Mojtahadzadeh Larijani as the President of the Organization for the Publication and Preservation of Works and Values of Women Participating in the Sacred Defense

Nuclear Issue

  • Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs and lead member of the nuclear negotiations team Abbas Eraghchi met with IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano in Vienna to discuss “continuing [Iran’s] cooperation with the agency and showing Iran’s new approach in negotiations with the agency to resolve the ambiguities and questions between the two sides.” 

Economy

  • President Hassan Rouhani delegated the mission of identifying Iranian families based on income in an effort to eliminate subsidies to higher income families to Cooperatives, Work and Welfare Minister Ali Rabi’i. 
  • Proposals for Iran-Shell oil company negotiations have begun and a workgroup has been selected in the Oil Ministry to take the lead. The main topic of these negotiations is Shell’s $2.3 billion debt to Iran, which it has been unable to transfer due to financial sanctions on Iran.  
  • President Hassan Rouhani announced that 3 trillion tomans [about $1 billion] were allocated from the National Development Fund in order to implement agricultural projects in the country.

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