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

Guardian Council approves key presidential candidates; Rafsanjani expresses concern over fairness of election; Mousavi’s campaign uses hi-tech methods to mobilize voters; Mousavi’s wife describes Israel as Iran’s eternal enemy; Principalist Faction to endorse Ahmadinejad; Montazeri said to support Karrubi; Ahmadinejad plays down Obama’s visit with Israeli premier; Larijani blasts Obama’s calling Israel independent Jewish state; Supreme Leader accuses U.S. of encouraging terrorism in Iran; Deputy Planning Chief warns of budget deficit; divorce rate in Iran reaches new high

Presidential Election: General

• Guardian Council approves candidacies of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Mohsen Rezai, Mehdi Karrubi and Mir-Hoseein Mousavi.
• Mousavi campaign media chief says Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting will not air any debates. 
• Rafsanjani expresses concern about the health of the election.
• Hojjat al-Eslam Hassan Rowhani urges candidates to make economy their first priority.
• Khorasan-e Razavi Governor General urges the people to participate in elections as a symbol of their resistance towards world imperialism.
• Fararou and Pelak News censored by the Islamic Republic Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance because of "election-related crimes."

Presidential Election: Mir-Hossein Mousavi

• The Mousavi campaign launches its website. http://www.mirhussein.com/
• IRNA publishes a document in which Mousavi, as prime minister, announced that insufficiently covered women would be denied drivers licenses and asks why Mousavi today promises to lessen the dress code for women.
• Emruz warns of a new CD-Rom attacking Mousavi which slated to enter the market in a few days.
• Religious scholar Hojjat al-Eslam Mohsen Kadivar endorses Mousavi.
• Mousavi, in Yazd, stresses the necessity of preserving the Islamic character of the Iranian nation.
• Mousavi cancels his trip to Bandar-Abbas, and delays visit to Qom.
• In an open letter to the heads of the Legislative and Judiciary along with the Prosecutor General, Mousavi complains about the partisanship of the state-controlled television.
• Mousavi says he was not Prime Minister during the cultural revolution which led to closure of the universities and the purge of pre-revolutionary academics.
• Former IRGC commander Mohsen Rashid who heads the Basij office of the Mousavi campaign, answers criticism from the Revolutionary Guards leadership and says one can't only allow the Basij to support a certain candidate and not other candidates. 
• Mousavi supporters use SMS campaigns to mobilize the voters.
• Mousavi's wife Zahara Rahnavard speaking at Shahid Beheshti University:
  • “My husband and I are firm believers in integrity and independence of universities, and consider free university students as one of parameters of freedom in society."
  • Answering a question about takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran: "In reality seizure of the Den of Espionage was a chapter in political behavior of our nation. In the beginning of the revolution, the United States had frozen our assets which led our youth to take-over the Den of Espionage. That was the policy of the day back then. In reality, our foreign and international policy will not be an adventurist one, but will engage with the entire world in case our security and our national interests are respected and countries of the region respect our interests... The matter that 'America ca not do a damn thing' has nothing to do with our relations and America should never do a damn thing against us and we will also stop any injustice and wrongdoing. In reality we must arrange our relations and engagements in such a way that our national interests are preserved... Our main and eternal enemy is Israel, but we will negotiate with other governments in case they recognize our interests. Those who chant [the slogan of] 'neither collaboration nor submission', why did you wrote letters to the U.S.? Why do you have overt and covert policies and exchange ambassadors?"  

Presidential Election: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

• An "informed source" in Pol-e-Dokhtar says every single household in Pol-e-Dokhtar has received a 500,000 rial check from the Ahmadinejad campaign.
• (E) Ahmadinejad offends students by handing out 50-dollar gift vouchers at Tehran University.
• Ahmaidnejad visits Semnan.
• The Ahmadinejad campaign launches a version of the nationalist anthem prohibited in the Islamic Republic Ey Iran ey marz por-gohar [O Iran, the bejeweled boundaries] originally written by Hossein Gol-e Golab in which Ahmadnejad is presented as the savior of Iran and defender of Iran's nuclear rights. 
• Agah-Sazi releases photo scans from the Ahmadinejad camp's propaganda material likening the Iranian president with the Iran/Iraq war-era martyrs.
• The Principalist Faction of the parliament soon to endorse Ahmadinejad's candidacy.
• Ahmadinejad promises to issue shares and make all Iranians shareholders in Iran's oil revenue. 

Presidential Election: Mehdi Karrubi

• In an open letter to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, Karrubi protests against its partisanship.
• The Karrubi campaign releases a compilation of the candidate's speeches as a book.
• Alef News releases Karrubi's latest interview with Press TV in which he says that he is opposed to the benevolent supervisory function [Nezarat-e Estesvabi] of the Guardian Council and vetting of the candidates in the hands of this council.
• Kayhan editor Hossein Shariatmadari attacks Jamileh Kadivar who runs the women's office of Karrubi's campaign:
  • "In her recent propaganda trip to Arak, she has called the Zionist Party of Bahais 'Iranian citizens' and has said: 'As citizens of Iran, the Bahais have rights and the statesmen must respect those rights and recognize them.' We have really no expectations from Mrs. Kadivar and it is not her we are addressing. But is Mr. Karrubi unaware of the real identity of Bahaism which is not only a sect but also a political party connected with the Zionists? Have the thousand documents and hundreds of disclosed affairs about the nature of this party as Israel's fifth column with its espionage and terrorist activities been hidden from Mr. Karrubi's sight? One can certainly not expect of Mr. Karrubi as a cleric, and at that one with a record of Islamic struggle to be ignorant of the identity of this party. Therefore, why and with what motives does his entourage speak of realization of this Israeli and American party which is a recognition of this Zionist and terrorist party? Mrs. Rahnavard [wife of Mousavi] in Mousavi’s campaign speaks of Shirin Ebadi with her known and black past record of cooperation with the Monafeghin [the hypocrites, reference to the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization] as a learned woman? Mrs. Kadivar from Mr. Karrubi's campaign speaks of the necessity of recognizing this party, and the like...Is all this accidental? Or is this - God forbid - but most likely without the knowledge of the candidates - an issue involving misinformed and fooled and those bought by the enemy?" 
• Aftab News claims dissident Grand Ayatollah Montazeri supports Karrubi.
• (E) Karrubi promises to fight for women’s rights, if elected, stating that “ensuring equality between men and women was one of the aims of the Islamic Revolution, and this desire was reiterated many times by the founder of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini.”

Politics

• Supreme Leader Khamenei ends his visit to Kordestan, returns to Tehran. 

Diplomacy

• Ahmadinejad, on Obama's meeting with Israel’s prime minister says: "It is possible that during such visits, they exchange some words. It does not mean that we should react. It is possible that two people speak, but in general it is not important."
  • Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani says Obama's statement that "Israel is an independent Jewish state" is an end to the U.S. President’s promised change: "Mr. Obama must know that by repeating the expression Israel the independent Jewish state he has declared his call for change null and void. Palestine is a country belonging to the Palestinians, not a Jewish state. Instead of recognizing the rights of the Palestinians you guarantee Israel's security and then you claim change…? Change is when you correct the path you have taken in the past. What is the difference between the present situation and the path the United States has taken in the past which has persuaded you to [embrace] change?”
  • ISNA's analyst claims "contrary to public opinion, Barack Obama in his first meeting with the Prime Minister of the Zionist regime talked of a deadline for negotiations with Iran and attempted to express positions with regard to Iran to the liking of Netanyahu. Positions which previously were expressed by George Bush, former radical U.S. President..."
  • (E) Khamanei claims that the United States has encouraged terrorism in Iran, stating that “they [the US government] directly finance operations and organize terrorist movements to undermine the Islamic Republic” and “that Americans have evil plans for [Kurdistan]... They're not planning to defend the rights of the Kurdish people but their aim is to dominate the Kurds and sow seeds of discord among them.”]
• (E) President Ahmadinejad stated that, despite increased pressure in recent years, the international sanctions on the Iranian oil industry have failed to weaken the Islamic Republic.
• Japan’s Foreign Minister thanks his Iranian counterpart for hosting him in celebration of 80 years of diplomatic relations between Japan and Iran.
  • (E) Iran’s ambassador to Japan, Abbas Araqchi, reported that Japanese companies are pushing their government to invest in Iranian oil and gas industries, after his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
• Islamic Republic ambassador to Bahrain meets Speaker of the Parliament in Bahrain.
• Foreign Minister Zebari of Iraq visits Tehran.
  • Foreign Minister Mottakki receiving his Iraqi counterpart says he welcomes "practical change in U.S. behavior."
  • Larijani, speaking to an assembly of Iraqi nomads and "cultural personalities," says the United States is a destabilizing factor in the region.
  • Khamenei, speaking at the eight day of his visit to Kordestan speaks in Saghez, says the "red lines of the regime is insult against the sacred matters of the Shi'a and the Sunnis." Khamenei also accuses the United States of "conspiring [against Iran] and training nurturing behind our Western borders."
  • (E) Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has arrived in Tehran for his two-day visit in which he will talk with President Ahmadinejad, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili, and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
  • (E) In a press conference with Zebari, Mottaki welcomed practical change in US policy towards Iran, stating, “We have shown different reactions to US change of behaviors at different junctures and once we witness a practical change of policy in the new US administration we will welcome it.”
• (E) In Moscow, Iranian cultural attaché Abouzar Ebrahimi-Torkamani identified cultural links between Iran and Russia as grounds for developing cooperation between the two countries, noting in particular Russian efforts against westernization and its large Muslim population.
• (E) The May 19^th summit for the Presidents of Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan has been rescheduled for May 24^th in Tehran. The three presidents will discuss ways to deal with extremism and regional drug trafficking as well as the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

Trade

• IRNA runs a background article on introduction of the gasoline smart card system. 

Economy

• Deputy Planning Chief Rahim Mombin warns against budget deficit.
• In contradiction to its earlier comments Supreme Audit Court says there is no missing money from the oil revenue and the billion dollar void in the revenue is due to different accounting methods. 
• Hojjat al-Eslam Hassan Rowhani criticizes over reliance on the oil income, withdrawals from the foreign exchange revenue and lack of transparency in the oil economics of the Islamic Republic.
• (E) The opening of the steel mill in the Khuzestan Province next week will make Iran one of the world’s top ten producers of wide steel sheets and the dominant producer in the Middle East.

Military and Security

• Ahmadinejad, speaking in Semnan, says Sajjil-2 missile has been launched successfully from Semnan.
• Hojjat al-Eslam Mojtaba Zolnour, Supreme Leader’s Deputy Representative in the Revolutionary Guardsm speaking at the Imam Khomeini International University in Qazvin praises the ninth government and Ahmadinejad:
  • "Compared with our past presidents and many authorities of the regime, Ahmadinejad has a more ethical and more pious face and the tendency toward the religious discourse of the Imam [Khomeini] is reflected in Ahmadinejad's behavior..."
  • Zolnour also lashes out against Ahmadinejad's rival former IRCG chief Mohsen Rezai: "There are seventeen groups in the Principalist camp and for some of them the position of Mohsen Rezai is unclear since they believe that Mohsen Rezai has entered the campaign in order to covertly support the reformists because of his past record as war commander which reduces from Ahmadnejad's vote."
• Abouzar, Salman and Hamzeh military bases active in military maneuvers in Zahedan.
• Judiciary spokesman Ali-Reza Jamshidi refutes rumors of imprisoned dissident Abbas Palizdar being attacked by fellow prisoners, says Tehran Justice Administration has not made any formal ruling against Yas-e Now which was banned two days ago by Tehran Judge Said Mortazavi, adds the proceedings against U.S./Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi are not finished, and that labor activists imprisoned on May 1st are gradually being released.

Religion, Culture and Society

• Ayatollah Abol-Hassan Allah-Bodashti, prominent scholar in the field of eschatology: "In the era before emergence [of the Imam of the Era], Dajjal [anti-Christ] meaning great liars emerge. They are statesmen and liars who claim to be the Bab[gate] of the Imam of the Era...Scholars and theological seminaries are obliged to counter such methods decisively and the Islamic Consultative Assembly [the Iranian parliament] must resist such statements of the President and question him in this regard." 
• (E) The International Seminar on the Persian Gulf opened in Tehran, focusing on local literature of Persian Gulf coastlines, economic development, as well as anthropology, art and architecture of Persian Gulf islands, among other topics.
• (E) UNESCO has accepted the preliminary Shahnameh millennium program proposal which celebrates Shahnameh, the celebrated work of epic poet Ferdowsi.
• (E) According to the head of the state Prison Organization Ali-Akbar Yasaqi, drug convicts constitute half of Iran’s prison population. To combat the national addiction rate, Yasaqi applauds the methadone treatment programs in prison.
• (E) According to new research, 80 percent of Iranian women file for divorce in the first five years of marriage, which helps account for this year’s 11 percent rise in the country’s divorce rate.

Photos of the Day

• Agah-Sazi releases pictures of the young Ardebil Governor General Mahmoud Ahmadinejad welcoming and praising then President Rafsanjani as "Commander of Reconstruction.”
• Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottakki meets his Iraqi counterpart.
• Military exercises near the Iran/Pakistan border and here.