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

Diplomacy

• Reports on Ahmadinejad's visit to New York:
  • Returning to Tehran from New York, Ahmadinejad says "no one [at the United Nations General Assembly] defended the performance of the American authorities."
  • Asr-e Iran says Ahmadinejad had meetings with leaders and officials from the following countries while in New York: Bolivia, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Turkey, Swaziland, India, Comoros, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Nicaragua and Lebanon.
  • Al-Dastour (Amman) quotes Hoshyar Zebari, the foreign minister of Iraq, saying that he had a meeting with Ahmadinejad during his visit to the United Nations General Assembly, and said Iran was not opposed to the United States presence in Iraq: "They [the Americans] planted this tree and must guard it and support it and should not pack their things and go."
• Ahmadinejad's interview in the Sudan: "Without any doubt, if a referendum is held... in the United States, many of the states will leave the arrogant government of the United States."
• Asr-e Iran reports tensions between United Arab Emirates and Mauritania caused by Mauritania's expansion of relations with Iran.
• Kayhan alleges Mahmoud Abbas comes from an Iranian Bahai family "which in the wake of the defeat of the followers of the Bab migrated to Haifa in Occupied Palestine."
• [E] Iran lodged a complaint with the International Court of Arbitration against Russia after the latter refused to deliver S-300 air-defense systems to Tehran in compliance with the two countries' contract, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi announced on Wednesday.

Politics

• Hamshahri publishes the first school memoirs of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Military and Security

• Habibollah Sayyari, navy chief, says the Iranian Navy plans presence in the Atlantic Ocean near U.S. territorial waters.
• Masoud Jazayeri, General Staff Defense cultural and propaganda chief, addressing Basij members in Tehran, says even "repentance" is not enough for those who "participated in the post-election events."
• Mohammad-Hassan Mansourian, Iran Air Defense Force coordination chief: "With the support of the liberation movements of the world, we will start the defense from beyond our borders. Therefore, the United States can't attack Iran."
• Ali Fadavi, Navy chief, comments on the American desire to establish a hotline between Tehran and Washington D.C. to avoid conflicts: "Iran has direct and close relations with all the countries of the region, but what is the position of the Americans in this region? Whenever we go to the Gulf of Mexico we will establish direct relations with the United States. From the viewpoint of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the illegal presence of the United States in the Persian Gulf has no meaning... Of course, the Americans have always many inclinations, but they must express wishes which are realistic... The aim of the Americans with this statement is in reality their concern about the increasing defensive and deterrence of the Islamic Republic of Iran... Whoever pursues illegitimate goals outside of his home, is scared. No thief is seen in this world who is not scared at the time he steals, be it the most agile and strongest of the thieves... All the goals of the Americans are totally transparent and clear to us and their only way of ending their concerns is to leave the region."
• Iran’s arms industry begins delivery of cruise (Qadr) missiles with 200-kilometer range to the Iranian Navy.
• Former Revolutionary Guards chief Yahya Rahim Safavi says "the Imam [Khomeini] taught the Egyptians how to take their protests to the streets."
• Mohsen Rafiqdoust, former Revolutionary Guards minister, says the Soviet Union collapsed because of Iran’s revolution.
• [E] The Iranian Defense Ministry supplied large numbers of a newly produced powerful anti-ship cruise missile to the country's Navy and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) to boost Iran's naval defense power.

Religion, Society and Culture

• Ayatollah Safi Golpayegani criticizes birth control policies in Iran: "In many places the Shi'a population is a minority. This is happening in some Islamic countries. One must be sensitive with regard to this issue and one must not allow the Shi'a and Muslim population to decline at a time when many non-Muslim countries families are rewarded to increase the birth rate."

Trade

• [E] Turkey's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yildiz renewed Ankara's support for the transfer and supply of Iran's natural gas to Europe.

Photo of the Day

• Actress Meena Lakani appears on Voice of America Persian without a hijab.