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 subscribe to this daily newsletter, e-mail [email protected].  

(E) = Article in English

Politics

• Supreme Leader Khamenei receives members of the parliament:
  • "Spheres of competence and duties of the parliament and the cabinet are defined by law. In some instances where the law is unclear and undefined - something which must be changed - but the requirement of the day is cooperation between the cabinet and the parliament..."
  • "In the cabinet, there must not be the slightest inclination to not abide by the parliament and in the parliament there must be absolute no delaying of [the initiatives of] the government..."
  • In an open letter to the Guardian Council, Ahmadinejad complains of parliamentary obstruction.
• Ahmadinejad at a press conference in Istanbul:
  • "Last year's election in Iran was one of the most free of its kind. Forty million people participated in it which is in itself is a democratic record..."
• Sobh-e Sadegh says of a mob’s interruption of Hassan Khomeini's speech at the mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini: "What happened was not desirable or ornamental, but it was a reality... Did Seyyed Hassan Khomeini follow the final will of his esteemed grandfather…? Reactions of the people to Seyyed Hassan [Khomeini's] speech showed with what vigilance followers of Khomeini the Great follow the political affairs of the country."
•  [E] Iranian lawmakers have approved a bill calling on the country's Foreign Ministry to exert effort in enforcing a total embargo of goods originating in Israel.
• [E] An Iranian labor leader said that social security should extend to construction workers.

Diplomacy

• Ahmadinejad at a press conference in Istanbul:
  • Iran/Russia relations:
    • "There is no special problem. A warning was given to a neighbor that you should take care not to side with the enemies of the Iranian nation. Of course the choice belongs to Russia's statesmen..."
  • United Nations Security Council:
    • "The Security Council is the most undemocratic international institution..."
    • "In order to establish justice and true democracy we need to establish new institutions or fundamentally reform the institutions. If the government of the United States and some of its friends think they can bully like 60 years ago they are wrong. The era of bullying is over."
  • Iran/United States relations:
    • "We expected that Mr. Obama would create change in the policy of the government of the United States. We have no hope in this regard, but hope that he will overcome himself and the circumstances, will create change and if he can't change the first person who will be harmed by it will be Mr. Obama himself and the next United States administration."
• Anti-Russian statements from parliamentarians:
  • Kazem Jalali, National Security and Foreign Policy Committee member: "The positions of Russian President Medvedev and some authorities of this country show that the Russians are following the harsh and radical line of the Americans."
  • Esmail Kowsari, National Security and Foreign Policy Committee member: "Medvedev should study the history of his country to see that the very same Americans and Westerners by tricking the authorities of the Soviet era made [the Soviet Union] collapse."
  • Hossein Ebrahimi, Foreign Policy Committee member: "From ancient times the Russians are known for not being loyal."
  • Mohammad Karim-Abedi, National Security and Foreign Policy Committee member: "Russia should know that its relations with Iran are historical and that it should not make such statements with regard to Iran under the pressure of [German Chancellor] Merkel who herself is under the pressure of the Zionist lobby. Such a position means collapse of Russia's political prestige."
  • Hassan Ghafouri-Fard: "Iran can under no circumstance count on Russia as a friend, especially not when it comes to important decisions."
  • Gholam-Reza Karami, Defense Committee member: "Russia's statements were unexpected."
• [E] Supreme Leader Khamenei said on Tuesday that recent developments in the Middle-East indicate that the region and the world are about to experience major changes.
  • [E] "Today that capitalism is collapsing, the independent states should prepare themselves for huge global developments, and this necessitates promotion of the level of bilateral and multilateral cooperation."
• [E] Head of the Islamic Party of Azerbaijan lauded Iran for its key role in the establishment of stability and tranquility in the region.
• [E] Leaders of the CICA summit endorsed a final declaration calling for peace, security, and stability in the Middle East and condemning Israel over its attack on the Freedom Flotilla.  Presidents and Prime Ministers from Iran, Afghanistan, Russia, and Turkey attended the summit.
• [E] The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the Swiss ambassador to Tehran to protest the abduction of an Iranian scholar by the US last year.  In the absence of formal diplomatic relations, the Swiss embassy represents the US interests.
• [E] Ahmadinejad and his counterpart from Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev stressed the two countries' resolve to bolster economic and political cooperation.
• [E] Turkish Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Sahin plans to visit Tehran on Sunday.
• [E] Ahmadinejad arrived in the Tajikistan capital, Dushanbe, at the head of a high-ranking delegation to attend the World Water Summit.
• [E] Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki arrived in Dublin, Ireland, Tuesday night at the head of a delegation.
• [E] Mottaki is to visit Uzbekistan Thursday for a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit to discuss Iran's view on its membership in SCO.

Military and Security

• Yadollah Javani, Revolutionary Guards Political Bureau chief, discusses the strategy of the "discord" during the past year.
• Sobh-e Sadegh analyzes Rafsanjani's pre-election letter to Supreme Leader Khamenei in which he warned against electoral fraud and argues that the letter planted the idea of "a fraudulent election" among the public.
• As Shell and Repsol abandon development of the 13th and 14th phases of South Pars Oil and Gas Field, Khatam al-Owsia Consortium takes the $5 billion contract. Khatam al-Owsia is composed of the companies Khatam al-Anbia Construction Base of the Revolutionary Guards, Oil Industry's Construction Company, Marine Engineering Construction Company and SADRA.
• [E] Iran's police squads seized over half a ton of opium in an operation in the country's central province of Isfahan.

Nuclear Issue

• Hossein Mousavian, former nuclear negotiator, has become a resident of the United States.
• Ahmadinejad at a press conference in Istanbul: "If the United States administration and its allies think they can pick up a stick called a 'resolution' and desire to negotiate afterward, they are mistaken."
• [E] The Vienna Group has given its response to the Tehran Declaration.
  • [E] Hillary Clinton called the new sanctions on Iran being discussed in the UN Security Council the "most significant ever."  The 15-member body is due to vote on the punitive measures on Wednesday.
  • [E] "If the UN Security Council adopts [a new sanctions resolution], we will introduce a double-urgency plan to the parliament for revising ties and cooperation between Iran and the IAEA," said the head of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission.
  • [E] Ahmadinejad says a new round of sanctions will only result in the council losing more of its credibility.
• [E] All members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) underlined their support for Iran's right to use peaceful nuclear technology and stressed that the country's nuclear issue should be settled through peaceful means.  (Full text of NAM statement here.)
• [E] Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini called for the start of a new round of talks with Iran after Tehran presented the Tehran Declaration in collaboration with Brazil and Turkey.

Economy

• The Central Bank' Hamid Tehranfar criticizes the role of independent credit and finance institutions in Iran which frustrates the attempt of private banks to enter the Iranian market.
• [E] Iranian Minister of Industries and Mines announced that Iran’s non-oil exports doubled during the first and second terms of Ahmadinejad's presidency.

Trade

• At the Iran/China Friendship Council's meeting Iranian authorities complain that China does not invest in Iran.
• [E] The Chairman of Tehran's Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines (TCCIM) described Iraq as a vitally important market for Iranian companies, which are competing with those of Turkey for market share.
• [E] A member of the Iranian parliament said that Iran plans to speed up infrastructure construction at a town due to be built along its shared border with Afghanistan.
• [E] Iranian Road and Transportation Minister and Chinese Railways Minister reviewed ways to bolster cooperation between the two sides.

Media

• [E] The British Broadcasting Corporation is offering Afghan cable networks deals to cut broadcastings of Iran's English-language news channel, Press TV.

Religion, Society and Culture

•  [E] The KOTFA 2010 tourism expo has selected Iran as the best participant in this year's event, which hosted hundreds of agencies from around the globe.
• [E] Female Iranian filmmaker Tahmineh Milani's Superstar has been awarded Best Film at the 2010 Rainbow Film Festival held in London.

Photo of the Day

• Supreme Leader Khamenei receives parliamentarians.