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 Ali Alfoneh, Katherine Faley, Ahmad Majidyar and Michael Rubin.  To subscribe to this daily newsletter, e-mail [email protected].

(E) = Article in English

 

 

Khatami describes Iran’s election as “velvet coup” against democracy; Mousavi vows to continue election protest; 100 MPs call for prosecution of Mousavi; Iran frees more British embassy employees; Germany’s Merkel likens Iran to oppressive East Germany; Ahmadinejad says Iran emerges stronger after elections; EU mulls pulling out ambassadors from Tehran; India congratulates Ahmadinejad on re-election; Afghanistan, Iran boost trade ties; Afghan commentary equates Iran to North Korea in suppressing people, curbing media    

 

Politics

  • Former President Mohammad Khatami says "a velvet coup" has been imposed on the Iranian people.
  • In his ninth statement since the presidential election, Mousavi declares: "It is our historical responsibility to continue our protests."
  • 100 parliamentarians demand legal prosecution of instigators of the recent unrests.
  • (E) Iran’s parliament will continue its investigation of the post-election violence, including the attack on Tehran University dormitories.
  • (E) The Interior Ministry has concluded its investigation of election fraud, issuing a statement that said: "Any activities by the election headquarters in provinces, cities and districts will no longer have a legal basis.”
  • (E) Iranian police stated that the death of Neda Aqa-Soltan was a “premeditated act of murder.”
  • (E) According to PressTV, Newsweek journalist Maziar Bahari has confessed that he intended to release “false and biased” reports of the post-election situation in Iran, adding that “Western media are an inseparable part of the capitalist machine of Western liberal democracies. A Western journalist who comes to Iran… is mainly concerned with the interests of the West.”
  • (E) Iran has released three more employees of the British Embassy who were held for instigating election unrest.

Diplomacy

  • German Chancellor Angela Merkel says recent events in Iran remind her of how the STASI treated the people in East Germany, demands that the G8 take a firm stance toward the Islamic Republic.
  • Ahmadinejad claims the Iranian presidential election has strengthened the "anti-imperialist front". He adds that Iran’s relations with Venezuela grow stronger day by day.  
  • The European Union is considering pulling out ambassadors from Tehran to protest the arrest of local employees of the British Embassy.
  • An Egyptian lawyer files a lawsuit against Ahmadineajd in Egypt’s High Court for abusing Prophet Muhammad in his presidential campaign.
  • (E) No reason has been given for Ahmadinejad’s cancellation of his trip to Libya where he was scheduled to address African leaders.
  • (E) Indian Prime Minister Singh congratulated Ahmadinejad on his re-election, telling him that “There is no doubt that your continued cooperation will further enhance the bilateral ties between Iran and India in a way that will serve the two countries' national interests.”
  • (E) Discussing the Iranian election with Venezuelan Energy and Oil Minister, Ahmadinejad stated: “From now on we will surely take stronger stances about world issues.” The Venezuelan Minister added: “It was clear for the world that British and American officials were trying to sow discord among people.”
  • (E) Iranian Foreign Minister Spokesman Qashqavi commented on the tragedy in Yemen, stating that "The heartbreaking accident involving a Yemeni airliner that led to the death of a number of Comoros nationals and people of other nationalities, has greatly saddened the people and the government of Iran.”
  • (E) Iranian delegates left an interfaith conference in Kazakhstan, offended by the presence of Israeli President Peres. One delegate said to Israelis: “Your president plunders land and occupies, and we are not willing to hear him… Peres represents an abominable Zionist personality, and his place is not here.”
  • (E) Iranian Foreign Ministers met with their Syrian counterparts in Damascus on Tuesday for a two-day meeting to improve economic ties.

  Military and security

  • Javan predicts "velvet revolutionaries" will use civil disobedience as a last resort against the Islamic Republic.
  • Fars News reports that seven members of a "counter-revolutionary group" have been arrested in Qazvin by the Intelligence Ministry agents.
  • Sobh-e Sadegh's Reza Garmabedari praises eight members of the Basij who allegedly died in street fights with rioters in the post-election unrests in Iran and attacks reformist theoretician Isa Saharkhiz, who has likened the Basij with the Shah's Javid [Immortal] Guard. 
  • Office of Consolidation of Unity student organization reports about widespread arrest of its leading members, such as the organization’s spokesman Ahmad Zeydabadi and secretary general Abdollah Mo'meni.
  • Five members of the Islamic Student Association at Bou-Ali-Sina University in Hamedan – Siavash Hatam, Mehdi Mosafer, Hojjat Bakhtiari, Pouya Sharifian and Reza Ja'farian – are freed, while Mohammad Sayadi is transferred to Alvand Prison in Hamedan.
  • Kianoush Asa, a Ph.D. candidate in chemistry, killed in the latest attack by the riot police against the Tehran University Campus, commemorated at Science and Technology University.
  • E'temad-e Melli editor Mohammad Qouchani refutes Javan's claims that he has made confessions.
  • (E) A grenade was found in the Imamzadeh Saleh mausoleum in Tehran.

Media

  • Asrar, E'temad-e Melli, Hayat-e Now, Andisheh-ye Now, Hambastegi and Seda-ye Edalat, barred from distribution yesterday because they had published Karrubi's open letter calling Ahmadinejad's government as illegitimate, will reappear in kiosks tomorrow. 
  • Parleman News blocked.

Trade

  • Iran’s minister of trade signs a memorandum of understanding with his Afghan counterpart on transportation of goods to and from Afghanistan through the port of Chabahar
  • Islamic Development Bank provides a 70-million-euro loan to local water plants in Sistan va Baluchestan province. 
  • Development of South Pars Gas Field in need of $40 billion investment

Religion, culture and society

Iran in the Afghan Media

  • Article in Hasht-e Sobh, entitled “Dictatorship Outcome of Iranian Election,” says Iran’s recent crackdown of protestors resembles repressive actions of the North Korean regime. The author ridicules Ahmadinejad’s expression of sympathy for slain protestor Neda. “While, government forces were crushing protests by shootings and torture of protestors, Ahmadinejad was holding a photo of Neda and was speaking of enemies’ plot to kill the innocent victim.” 
  • Afghan Foreign Minister vows not to let Afghanistan turn into a battlefield between Iran and the West.

Photo of the Day  

  • Meetings of Iranian officials with Afghan delegation in Tehran.

 

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