Iran News Round Up

Politics

• Javan Online, close to the Ahmadinejad government, discloses materials about a certain Seyyed Seraj al-Din Mousavi who allegedly is "the link between the house hold of the Imam [Khomeini]" and the "heads of the discord." Seraj al-Din's daughter is married to the son of Hadi Hashemi, who in turn is the son-in-law of the late Grand Ayatollah Montazeri.
• Kayhan repeats Ayatollah Jannati's claims that "the heads of the discord" have received $1 billion in financial support from Saudi Arabia.
• Kayhan attacks the Ahmadinejad government's attempt to invite Iranian professionals living abroad to return to Iran.
• Ahmadinejad and cabinet travel to Hamadan.

Diplomacy

• The Islamic Republic extends a €40 million loan to Zimbabwe.
  • [E] A Zimbabwean diplomat announced that Iran has opened a 40-million-euro credit line to help finance Zimbabwe’s energy, banking, and industrial sectors.
• [E] The Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance in a decree on Sunday banned the import of British printing tools and machines as part of Iran’s effort to downgrade ties with Britain.
• [E] The first meeting of the anti-drug police chiefs of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) member states convenes in Tehran today.
• [E] Iranian First Vice-President in a meeting with Burkina Faso's deputy foreign minister stressed Tehran's resolve to expand its bilateral relations with Burkina Faso.
• [E] Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman said that the country's executive body has referred the case of three detained American nationals to the judiciary.

Military and Security

• Ahmadinejad addressing a group of Iranians based abroad but visiting Iran says: "Israel is so small that we do not even consider it in our security calculations... Even countries bigger than Israel can't do anything [against Iran.]"
• Kayhan's editorial depicts sanctions, negotiations and the "discord" as calculated parts of a triangular strategy to force the Islamic Republic into the knees.
• [E] A senior Iranian commander announced that the country's Air Force has equipped its fighter jets with new radar and electronic systems to improve their performance in night operations.

Nuclear Issue

• Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, Ahmadinejad's chief of staff: "This resistance challenges the autocratic and dictatorial regimes ruling the world. It would be naive to think that the Westerners are concerned about us being armed with the nuclear bomb. I have documents for this claim of mine. What they are concerned about is Iran managing the world... The Westerners were happy if we would stop our nuclear activities, be it only for two months. But I must also add that there were some people inside Iran who were in favor of covert nuclear activity and it is not expedient for the time being to disclose their names and Dr. Ahmadinejad will later disclose their names... In such a way [by forcing the Islamic Republic to appear as if it has stopped its nuclear activities], they wanted to do away with dignity and honor of the Iranian nation. Afterward they would have claimed in their media that the Iranians lied to us and are continuing their nuclear activities covertly."
• A number of parliamentarians say Iran will not retreat from its decision to enrich uranium to 20%.
• [E] Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki announced Tehran's agreement with a proposal raised by Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Yukiya Amano to hold talks with the Vienna Group on its nuclear issue.
• [E] A senior Iranian nuclear official dismissed the possibility of Iran's withdrawal from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and said that the country is seeking to restore its nuclear rights through negotiations.

Trade

• Mohammad Souri, National Oil Company executive director, says Iran's oil exports have not been affected by sanctions.
• Hossein Noghrehkar Shirazi, deputy oil minster, says Iran and China are negotiating a new round of Chinese investments - $40 billion - in Iran's oil and gas industry.
• [E] The Central Bank of Iraq approved the applications of two private Iranian banks looking to open branches in Baghdad.
• [E] Iran resumed gas exports to Turkey on Saturday after a 10-day halt caused by technical problems in the recipient country.
• [E] The volume of petrochemical products exported to East Asia by Iran's Pars Petrochemical Company reached 137,000 tons in the last month.
• [E] Iran exported $1.6 billion worth of petrochemical products to China during the last Iranian year.

Economy

• [E] In trading early Monday morning, the Tehran Stock Exchange index reached an all-time of 16056 points.
• [E] The Iranian Parliament has instructed the government to implement the law facilitating the process for foreign banks to set up branches in the country.
• [E] An Iranian research center announced that it plans to build a hybrid plant with a daily generating capacity of 2 MW of electricity.
• [E] Iran's gasoline reserves have increased by 15 percentage points compared to last year, said the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Distribution Company (NIODC).

Media

• Control over IRNA transferred to Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, Ahmadinejad's chief of staff.

Religion, Culture and Society

• Singer Mohammad Nouri passes away.
• Raja News' columnist, Dr. Akbar Jabbari, on prevalence of sex in modern society:
  • "The open kitchen is the symbol of prostitution in modern architecture. Even the bath can be of glass. There is no need for cover. There is no private space. Shadows of towers weigh heavily upon traditional houses and other buildings. There is no longer chastity in architecture. Such architecture is sexual in its very nature."
  • "…Highways in which one can maneuver between other cars fast, and the very nature of passing between other cars is the satisfaction arising from a sexual longing..."
  • Football as a sexually inciting sport: "Penetrating a hole - the goal - with the ball and enjoying such an act, shooting the ball between the legs of the player from the other team is similar to meeting a sexual counterpart and the satisfaction reached by the active part - the one shooting the ball between the legs of the counter part - and the anger of the passive part - the one being penetrated by the ball. The shouts and cheering, happiness and anger because of winning or losing are all sexual in their nature..." Link upon request.
• Supreme Leader Khamenei's edict regarding obedience towards the Guardian Jurist:
  • Grand Ayatollah Sistani: "The edict of a person has shari'a value which addresses general affairs of the society and welfare of the people. That edict influences everyone, even the mojtaheds unless it has been decisively proven that the edict is wrong, or is contrary to the book or tradition."
  • Ayatollah Mohammad Mo'emen: "It lacks a theological root and foundation and it must be considered as innovation in shari'a problems. However, this matter has been discussed by many theologians in the past, but due to lack of necessity there is no lengthy reference to it... If someone considers himself a follower of guardianship, he must also act according to the orders of the Guardian Jurist and the law."
  • [E] The UN World Heritage Committee has registered Iran's Sheikh Safi Shrine and the Tabriz Historic Bazaar Complex on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Photo of the Day

• Rafsanjani heads the Expediency Council's meeting.