Iran News Round Up

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

Ahmadinead clashes with Mousavi in presidential debate; street fights break out in Tehran after debate; Supreme Leader condemns use of slander by candidates; Supreme Leader’s advisor says “countering Israel is the heritage from the Imam,”; Iran, China sign multi-billion-dollar contract; gun attack along Iran’s border with Pakistan, Afghanistan leaves two killed; Mottaki hails relations with France; Italy invites Iran to attend G8 summit        

Presidential Election: General

• Presidential debate: Ahmadinejad vs. Mousavi. 
  • Ahmadinejad says Rafsanjani and Nateq-Nouri are billionaires who have enriched themselves at the cost of impoverishment of the people.
  • Mousavi campaign headquarters had asked Mousavi supporters not to go into streets after the presidential debate.
  • Street fights in Tehran after Ahmadinejad discloses names of senior members of the Iranian clergy whom he accused of being economically corrupt and thieves who steal the money of the people. The street fights took place in front of the Tehran University, Revolution Square and other locations in town.
  • Salam News confirms violent street fights between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi supporters in Tehran.
  • Tribune declares Ahmadinejad the debate’s winner, arguing Ahmadinejad's technique of presenting himself as a sole defender not against one candidate, Mousavi but three governments of former presidents Khatami and Rafsanjani along with Prime Minister Mouavi delivered him victory. 
  • Jomhouriat News's analyst: "Once again ethics was a victim of power...Ahmadinejad accused all and everyone to remain in power...but decency of Mousavi paid off." 
  • Partov-e Sokhan [mouthpiece of Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi] editor Hojjat al-Eslam Ghasem Ravanbakhsh warns against Israeli attempts to assassinate Ahmadinejad after his victory in presidential debate against Mousavi.
  • Rafsanjani expresses concern about the Interior Ministry's request to the Guardian Council in order to increase number of ballot boxes.
• Ali Larijani urges the candidates to unite and engage in a constructive dialog.
• Ahmadinejad supporters have compiled a book in which Supreme Leader Khamenei's statements about earlier governments is compared with his statements on the Ahmadinejad government.
• (E) Supreme Leader condemned the use of slander during the presidential campaigns after Wednesday’s heated debate between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi.
• (E) Former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani expressed concern about potential ballot rigging for this year’s presidential election.
• (E) Mousavi and Karrubi camps encouraged their supporters to maintain peace during the presidential elections.

Presidential Elections: Ahmadinejad

• Rafsanjani's office sees itself forced to respond to Ahmadinejad supporters who have resurrected 80’s-era Rafsanjani's speeches in which he attacks then Prime Minister Mousavi.
• (E) A spokesman for Ahmadinejad’s campaign denounced personal attacks made against him by the other presidential candidates, stating “Ahmadinejad believes that legal rights of the nation should not be violated. It is unacceptable for any political power to humiliate Iranians.”
• (E) Ahmadinejad attributed recent criticism against him to objections to his policy on monopoly control.
• (E) Ahmadinejad attacked liberalism, stating that “under the banner of Liberalism, many have committed barbarities and crimes against humanity without facing any kind of punishment."
• (E) In the northeastern province of Khorasan, Ahmadinejad’s election headquarters were attacked.
• (E) According to the Iran News Network, 96 Iranian writers, poets, and artists endorsed Ahmadinejad for re-election.
• (E) Mohsen Safaie-Farahani denied accusations of graft made by Ahmadinejad during Wednesday’s heated presidential debate, challenging the current president to a debate.
• (E) Iranian jurist Nemat Ahmadi condemned Ahmadinejad’s slandering of former government officials and asked the Guardian Council to disqualify him from the presidential election, stating, “What Ahmadinejad said last night was clearly in breach of the Constitution. All those who he named can file a complaint against him.”
• (E)Former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani called Ahmadinejad’s accusations baseless “lies.”

Presidential Elections: Mir-Hossein Mousavi

• (E) On Tuesday, Mousavi stated that Iran’s development depended on freedom of the press and urged the nation to “move towards a state in which the government is obligated to provide citizens with information.”
• (E) Mousavi’s wife Zahra Rahnavard defended her educational degrees, stating “I urge those who are doubtful about my degrees to gather factual information” and that “character assassination is in contrast with Islamic ethics.”

Presidential Election: Mehdi Karrubi

• Karrubi supporters' Ethnic Minorities Seminar displays attacks Mousavi as attendees shout "Azadi-ye Andisheh Baa Shaal-e Sabz Nemisheh!" [Freedom of Thought Can't Be Achieved With a Green Scarf!], a reference to Mousavi's use of the color green and green scarf in his campaign. 
• (E) Karrubi’s campaign manager, Gholam-Hossein Karbaschi, challenged Ahmadinejad to join him in a televised debate in response to Ahmadinejad’s attacks.
• (E) Karrubi called his first debate “a good discussion” but stated that his “debate with Ahmadinejad and Mousavi will be in a more defiant spirit and in detail."

Presidential Election: Mohsen Rezai

• Rezai's campaign video criticized as lifeless.
• (E) Rezai explained his position on Palestine, stating that he “will focus on both supporting the resistance and initiating diplomacy on an international level. Based on this plan, we will ask the United Nations to hold a referendum in Palestine.”
• "Countering Israel is the heritage from the Imam," says Supreme Leader's advisor Ali-Akbar Velayati.
• (E) Chairman of World Chamber of Commerce Victor Fung scheduled to visit Iran to discuss trade issues.

Trade

• Iran and China sign a $5 billion contract for development of the 11th phase of the South Pars Oil and Gas Field.
• Richard Morningstar, speaking in Baku, says now is not the time to engage Iran in gas projects.
• (E) Pakistan approved the Gas Sale Purchase Agreement with Iran in order “to meet [the] energy shortage and give a boost to economy.”

Economy

• (E) Iran made a $4.7 million deal with China in order to develop phase 11 of Iran’s South Pars gas field.
• (E) Iranian Minister of the Economy Sayyed Shamseddin Hosseini encouraged Islamic countries to adopt new banking policies to help economic recovery.

Military and Security

• (E) One person died and two people were injured on Tuesday as a result of a gun attack near the southeastern Iranian border with Pakistan and Afghanistan.
• (E) Iranian police forces have arrested several Afghanis suspected of involvement in the Zahedan bombing.

Diplomacy

• (E) German Chancellor Merkel and President Obama will meet Friday to discuss Iran’s nuclear program among other issues.
• (E) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov viewed multilateral talks with Iran optimistically.
• (E) Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki commented on French relations, stating “[President] Sarkozy has respect for the Iranian nation's history and admits Iran's role in resolving regional issues, which can be the basis for of future cooperation in fields like the issue of Afghanistan.”
• (E) Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini invited Iran to attend the G8 meeting in Trieste, Italy.

Photo of the Day

• Ahmadinejad, superstar: