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 

Election campaign heating up; new poll shows Ahmadinejad lead over rivals; Khatami expresses support for Mousavi in election; Foreign Ministry’s spokesman denies correspondence with U.S., Roxana Saberi’s release sparks controversy; Basij defends right to engage in political activities during election;  IRGC bombards PEJAK positions in Turkey; Central Bank Director denies resignation

Presidential Elections: General

·         E'temad-e Melli says Ahmadinejad is leading the poll, followed by Mehdi Karrubi, Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mohsen Rezai.

·         E'temad-e Melli's panel discusses election impartiality - or lack that of - of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.

o    Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Director General Ezzatollah Zarghami says that "The Supreme Leader, during a private meeting with me, stressed that the Voice and Vision [of the Islamic Republic] maintains its impartiality in elections."

·         Reformist theoretician Mohsen Armin barred from speaking at Isfahan University.

Presidential Elections: Ahmadinejad

·         Ali-Akbar Javanfekr, media advisor to Ahmadinejad, says the people who deliver petitions to the Iranian president during his provincial trips are not given cash handouts.

·         Rumors that Ahmadinejad will announce that Karaj will become its own province during a campaign rally there.

·         Mohammad-Ali Ramin, German-born senior advisor to Ahmadinejad, speaking at the Student Basij at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad: " [T]he fifth step is the one towards an Islamic world, that we invite the world to [embrace] Islam and justice and this phase serves the purpose of removing obstacles to emergence of the Imam of the Era since we believe in emergence of the just savior and we can't remain neutral in this waiting. Therefore we must move towards it and if one does not take such a step one is not awaiting [the coming of the Imam of the Era.]..."

o    Ramin criticizes all previous Islamic Republic governments and attacks Ahmadinejad's rivals: "If the gentlemen claim Ahmadinejad is directing the country into the abyss, what does Mousavi intend to do? What is his program for annihilation of Israel? The Imam's first word was that of annihilation of Israel. If he [Mousavi] does not want to do so, he must say so." 

Presidential Elections: Mousavi

·         As Mir-Hossein Mousavi and his wife appear at San'at Square of Shahrak-e Gharb in Tehran to speak at the Tehran branch of the Azad University, they are greeted by a young crowd singing Yar-e Dabestani-ye Man [My Schoolmate] which has become the signature of 1999 student uprisings in Iran, green bandanas and wrist bands - a reference to Mousavi being a descendant of the Prophet Mohammad. Mousavi's wife Zahra Rahnavard expressed hope that "one day - God willing - the political prisons will be closed."

·         Former President Mohammad Khatami criticizes the management style prevalent in Iran over the past four years and says "defeat of the candidate of the reformists is defeat for the people." Khatami also makes it clear that he considers Mousavi to be the best candidate.

·         Mohsen Rashid, former IRCG commander and former head of the Revolutionary Guard's War Research Institute, says "many war veterans from the Sacred Defense [the Iran/Iraq war] are inclined towards Mr. Mousavi." 

Presidential Elections: Karrubi

·         Razi University students thank Mehdi Karrubi for his efforts to release imprisoned students.

o    Karrubi, speaking in Ilam, attacks Ahmadinejad for looking for internal enemies and defends campaign manager Gholam-Hossein Karbaschi: "I'm a clear and straightforward person. I am the same Mehdi Karrubi following the line of the Imam and will still remain a reformist and I love this line... If we want to alienate everyone with all sorts of excuses - by calling one enemy Zionist, one day calling one the mouthpiece of the enemy, it is not right. Making up enemies is hardly an art. We must see to it that everyone who lives in this country is assembled under the same roof. For us, the principle is the country and the regime. We have come to attract, not to exclude. Mr. Karbaschi is an able executive."

o    Following declaration of support from religious innovator Abd al-Karim Soroush to the Karrubi campaign, Karrubi stresses that there are certain issues in which he disagrees with Soroush but that he welcomes academic and scholarly endorsement of his campaign, expresses grief about Soroush not being in Iran.

Politics

·         In interview with Yari News, Combatant Clergy Association Secretary Ayatollah Mousavi Khoeini attacks decreasing degrees of political freedom and violation of the sovereignty of the people in the Islamic Republic.

·         Alef News Agency compares the legal cases against former nuclear negotiator Abbas Mousavian and U.S./Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi and demands to know what factors led to swift release of Saberi who was charged with espionage and sentenced to eight years imprisonment, and Mousavian whose case every once in a while is used by Ahmadinejad supporters to pressure government critics. 

Diplomacy

·         E'temad-e Melli says there are rumors that Vali Nasr is in Iran, but others refute the rumors.

·         Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ghashghavi denies that the Islamic Republic has had correspondence with the United States: "No special contact has taken place between Iran and America," thereby refuting rumors on the U.S. authorities having written a letter to the Supreme National Security Council of the Islamic Republic.

o    Ghashghavi also stressed that Iran/U.S. relations are not a matter concerning the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf, that the ruling in the Roxana Saberi affair was not politically motivated but "follows its own course," that Iran and Iraq continuously discuss border security, and expressed concern about finger printing of female Iranian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.

·         Intelligence Minister Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ezheh'i insists that Roxana Saberi is a spy.

o    E'temad-e Melli asks why was Roxana Saberi released if she really was a spy?

·         Academic and former parliamentarian Elahe Koulayi warns against apathy in presidential elections, points at specific diplomatic defeats of Iran during the Ahmadinejad presidency as the price of popular apathy.

·         Parliament speaker Ali Larijani meets Sultan Qaboos of Oman.

Military and Security

·         The Student Basij defends its right to engage in political activities during presidential elections and warns against "those who want to change the regime from within" and "agents of soft regime change strategy inside Iran."

·         Hojjat al-Eslam Bahrami. deputy representative of the Supreme Leader in Greater Tehran Revolutionary Guards Mohammad Rasoulallah Unit, urges the clerical members of the Basij to "take the threats seriously" and says the "Basij of the Theological Students is active as a scientific and cultural group at base levels along with Ashoura, al-Zahra and Imam Hossein Brigades."

·         The Revolutionary Guards bombards PEJAK positions in Turkey. 

Economy

·         According to Headquarters for the Fight Against Smuggling, there are no longer any illegal jetties from which goods are smuggled into Iran.

·         Central Bank Director General Mahmoud Bahmani refutes rumors on his resignation. 

·         Welfare and Social Security Minister says there are some "who insist some other people are poor." Mesri asked the journalists present: "Would you feel poor if your income is below 8.5 million rials? Feeling poor is such a bad thing and those who want to strengthen this feeling among others are questioning the dignity of the people!"

Trade

·         Scandal over imports of Israeli oranges grows as Commerce Ministry admits the oranges were not of Chinese origin with Israeli brands, but from Israel and with Israeli brands on them.

o    Intelligence Minister Ezheh'i says arrests have been made to dissolve the ring of importers of Israeli oranges.

Human Rights and Labor

·         Imprisoned student activist Ahmad Ghassaban released from prison. Other released student activists are Esmail Salmanpour, Korosh Daneshyar, Hossein Torkashavand, Yaser Torkaman, and Nariman Mostafavi.

o    Abbas Hakimzadeh, Mehdi Mashayekhi and Majid Tavakkoli remain imprisoned, while there is no reliable information about Masoud Dehghan.

o    Ali Kalayi arrested with his solicitor at the Revolutionary Tribunal.