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

• The Interior Ministry says 46,200,000 Iranian citizens are eligible to vote in the upcoming presidential elections and that there are between 47,000 and 48,000 voting stations across the country. The candidates have 20 days for campaigning.  
• Senior presidential advisor Mojtaba Hashemi Samareh says Ahmadinejad will "most certainly run for president," and adds: "Luckily, he is courageous and is not afraid of trouble and never hesitates when expediency of the state and the regime is at stake. This is true not only when it comes to replacing officials, but also with regard to decisions on projects, institutions, foreign policy... The government is resolute and makes decisions to the benefit of the people. This government is a government of action. It is a bold and wise government."   
• Member of National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of Parliament Mohammad Karami-Rad says Tehran mayor Qalibaf is Mojahed-e Fi Sabil-Allah[Struggler in the Path of God], who could present the Principalist faction in the elections.  
  • Member of Parliament Mavid Hosseini-Sadr urges Qalibaf to run for president and to announce his election manifesto.
  • Movie actor Ezzat-Allah Entezami and actress Fatemeh Mo'tamed-Aria declare support for Qalibaf. 
  • An opinion poll shows 57% of Khatami supporters will vote for Qalibaf should he run for the post. The figure is down to 49% in some large cities. Twenty nine percent of Khatami’s supporters will now back Mir-Hossein Mousavi, while 14% are divided between those backing Mehdi Karrubi and those undecided or unwilling to take part in the polls.   
• Ham-Mihan says Reza Khatami, a former hostage-taker during the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and a brother of former president Mohammad Khatami, is rumored to run for president, since the Mosharekat [Participation] Front refuses to support Mir-Hossein Mousavi. 
• Mohammad Khatami: "We have never claimed that Mousavi has entered the arena as the symbol of reform. The society has entered such a phase that we all need to change it." 
• Reformist Mosharekat [Participation] Front General Secretary Mohsen Mirdamadi defends Khatami's decision to leave the presidential race. 
• Presidential candidate Mehdi Karrubi urges reformist voters not to lose hope after Khatami's exit from campaign:
  • "I knew it from the very beginning that the future developments of this election would be very different and complicated. I, therefore, tried from the very outset to enter the election campaign as a political party candidate in order to preserve the unity and the agenda for reform. But at the same time, I tried to respect all presidential candidates and not to ask one to withdraw in favor of another... Although I had a clear analysis of the elections and I believed that unity between the reformists will maximize their chances to win, I welcomed the multitude of reformist and considered every single reformist candidate a voice and an opportunity to change the present situation. With this in mind, should Mr. Khatami's decision to leave the campaign lead to hopelessness and despair among his supporters, I feel that one should work to change this situation." 

• Russian authorities reiterate that the S-300 Air Defense Systems have not been delivered to the Islamic Republic. 
• Qalibaf, who is one of the signatories of a letter sent by Revolutionary Guards commanders to then president Khatami during the 1999 student uprisings, claims he was the only individual at that time from the Law Enforcement Forces arguing for permission to Office of Consolidation of Unity Student Organization to demonstrate in Tehran. 

• Director General for Cultural Affairs at the Ministry of Higher Education Mohsen Eslami says Ahmadinejad's book Ketab-e Hasteh-i [The Nuclear Book] will be released soon. 

• Chinese locomotives to be added to the train fleet of Iran Railways. 
• Deputy Petroleum Minister Seif-Allah Jashn-Saz says Iran is considering replacing Total with another foreign company to participate in Phase 11 of the South Pars Gas and Oil Field. 

• Channel 5 of the Voice and Vision of the Islamic Republic to show a movie by Jenifer Lopez on the occasion of the New Year holiday. 
• The team behind Tabnak News and Baztab News, both mouthpieces of former Revolutionary Guards Commander-in-Chief Mohsen Rezai, launch a third news site called Rooz Online. 
• The Gerdab website of the Center for Investigation of Organized Crime releases The Revolutionary Guards' communiqué declaring the IRGC's filtering of various websites: "For the information of the honorable and revolutionary people of Islamic Iran: Thanks to divine blessings and vigilance of the Imam of the Era and the Revolutionary Guards Intelligence unit's round-the-clock efforts, a number of Persian language internet websites propagating contents against public chastity, religion, security and culture have been identified and annihilated in a series of sophisticated technical and intelligence operations." 

• Iran’s famous poet Simin Behbahani releases a new poem on the occasion of the Iranian New Year Nowrouz. 
• A book released in Egypt titled The Role of the Shi'as in the World – An Ideological, Historical, Demographic and Strategic Analysis – depicts Iran as a secret ally of the U.S. and Israel. 

• Afghan-Iranian highway boosts trade.
  • A 215-kilometer road recently built to connect the Afghan province of Nimroz to Iran’s Dilaram has encouraged Afghan businessmen to transit their merchandise through Chabahar port, instead of Pakistan’s Karachi harbor.
  • Afghan Minister of Commerce Wahidullah Shahrani says the new transit system will greatly benefit business in regional countries. But lack of security in Nimroz-Kabul road remains a concern for the merchants.
  • Chabahar is believed to be the cheapest and shortest transit way to connect Afghanistan to a sea port, and link Afghanistan to the Middle East.
  • The road was funded and built by the Indian government despite numerous obstacles created by the Taliban. Some 130 Afghan policemen and 11 Indian engineers were killed by the Taliban during the construction of the road.
• [E] Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan conduct joint counternarcotics operations.
  • In the first-ever joint operation on March 8, the three countries’ police forces arrested drug traffickers and seized drugs.
  • Consultations held in Vienna in February this year between UNODC senior officials and the permanent representatives from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan to the United Nations provided impetus for the establishment of an intelligence exchange cell in Tehran and eventually the launch of this first operation.
  • It consists of several operational plans targeting seven internationally agreed priority areas including border management, precursor chemicals, financial flows and drug abuse prevention and treatment.

• Photo Essay: Spring in Tehran.