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

Supreme Leader calls for national unity in run-up to polls; IRIB to air televised election debates on Tuesday; Ahmadinejad accused of presenting incorrect oil statistics at campaign video; Ayatollah Sanei urges against voting for Ahmadinejad; Mousavi receives endorsements from 59 former IRGC commanders; Ahmadinejad says open to dialogue with U.S.; Egyptian president invites Ahmadinejad to attend Non-Aligned Movement summit in Cairo; Supreme Leader says foreign spy agencies behind recent attack in Zahedan; Ayatollah Khatami accuses Israel, U.S. of plotting Zahedan bombing to divide Shias and Sunnis in Iran; Mottaki says Jundullah with support of foreign elements in Afghanistan behind mosque attack

Presidential Election: General

• Police forbid Radio Javan's program Mantagheh-ye Azad [Free Zone] to conduct interviews with university students.
• Interior Ministry Deputy and former Revolutionary Guards commander Ali-Reza Afshar condemns "unprecedented character assassination against the government and its achievements."
• Abbas Abdi points out the weaknesses of the polls, points at importance of preparing the public opinion rather than paying attention to the polls.
• (E) Supreme Leader Khamenei called for national unity in preparation for the upcoming presidential elections, condemning the violence sparked by the Zahedan mosque bombing last week.
• (E) Artist Saeid Moayyerizadeh chronicles the presidential elections in a series of collages, utilizing campaign posters and other materials.
• (E) Director of IRIB Channel 4, Reza Pourhossein, will conduct unprecedented televised presidential election debates on Tuesday.

Presidential Election: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

• Ahmadinejad's election video, parts 1, 2, and 3.
  • Akbar Torkan criticizes oil statistics presented at his campaign video and says they are based on wrong information.
• Ahmadinejad threatens to open the "box of economic performance of previous governments."
• Ahmadinejad speaking in Savoj-Bolagh: "In the past someone could through networking and connections use special privileges for exports, the banking system and the economy and this person could become a billionaire besides whom tens of thousands of people were living in absolute poverty...[In the past] all the problems arose out of special access of the few to the banking sector...Those belonging to the low income group had no chance of postponing their rent for a single month while the privileged few borrowed money from banks never to repay...And now I am being criticized for my economic policy...no government has been as unpopular among the privileged classes than my government."
• In an attack against Ahmadinejad, Grand Ayatollah Sanei says voting for liars is a sin. 
• In an unprecedented act, Ahmadinejad speaks at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad.
• Ahmadinejad says if he finds it expedient he will disclose the names of economically corrupt individuals who are to blame for Iran's economic ills.
  • Speaking in Robat-e Karim, Ahmadinejad threatens to disclose economically corrupt officials, says he will not stop the fight against economic corruption. 
  • Former Housing Minister Ali Abd al-Alizadeh ridicules Ahmadinejad's threats to disclose the names of the so called housing mafia and says inability of the government to solve the housing crisis is being displayed in such attempts at deflecting responsibility.
• In his latest blog posting, Ahmadinejad says he has "a lot to say about dirty money" but that he has chosen to delay disclosures "during these festive days of popular participation."
• Ahmadinejad’s campaign headquarter denies being behind election banners depicting Ahmadinejad and Mousavi with the text: "Sons of the Revolution."
• Marine Industries Association Secretary Mohammad Vaferi says contrary to Ahmadinejad's election video, not a single ship has been built during the last four years. 
• (E) Weightlifting Olympian Hossein Rezazadeh endorsed President Ahmadinejad, offering his support to “repay [the President] for all he has done for the (country’s) sports.”
• (E) In an address in Pakdasht, Ahmadinejad promised that if re-elected, he will stand up to leaders of the UN, stating: “I will tell certain heads of state in the UN that nobody should dare to threaten Iran” as part of his duty to “strongly defend the rights of [Iranian] people.”

Presidential Election: Mir-Hossein Mousavi

• Khatami, campaigning for Mousavi in Abadan, says "should popular presence become a wave, no one can change their vote," a reference to election rigging. 
• Combatant Clergy Association member Hojjat al-Eslam Moghaddam, speaking at Mousavi's Election Coordination Office, warns against spread of irrationality and superstition in society and in a veiled criticism against Ahmadinejad says one can’t administer the country by the means of revelations.
• Mousavi's election video, parts 1, 2, and 3.
• Iranian rappers in support of Mousavi's candidacy.
• According to Rahavar, Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani, daughter of the former president, plans to distribute green manteaus for women as an act of support for Mousavi's candidacy.
• Rahavar accuses members of the Rafsanjani clan of collecting money from corrupt individuals in support of the Mousavi campaign.
• (E) Mousavi remarked that he is open to negotiations with the UN Security Council but will not give up Iran’s right to develop its nuclear program.
• 59 former Revolutionary Guards commanders [from the early 1980's] declare their support for Mousavi.
• Speaking in Eslamshahr, Mousavi criticizes Ahmadinejad's foreign policy: "It is the nation which pays the price of such policies...I know that you people of Eslamshahr are worried about your dignity and [dignity of] the nation...but today our country has the fewest number of friends in the international arena."

Presidential Election: Mehdi Karrubi

• As the Amir Kabir University denies Karrubi and his followers access to the university's mosque for a campaign speech, the students break the door and force their way into the mosque and listen to Karrubi's speech.
  • E'temad-e Melli describes the story as "conquest of the Polytechnic.”
  • E'temad-e Melli publishes Karrubi's program for strengthening institutions. 
• Karrubi's wife Fatemeh says she was a lucky girl to marry her husband, says her husband will provide the best opportunities to realize women's rights. 
• Karbaschi applauds Karrubi's attempt at institutionalization as a precondition for decentralization.
• Karrubi's conversation with senior advisor Gholam-Hossein Kabaschi, parts 1 and 2.
• Fighting at Karrubi's speech in Bojnourd.
• Karrubi speaking at Ferdowsi University in Mashhad: "There is an intellectual current in Iran which does not appreciate the popular vote...At private meetings, I have heard them say: 'What is better? Vote of 500 commoners or the vote of two members of the elite?'...I'll not mention any names in order to avoid conflicts inside the country, but on several occasions I have heard them say at their private meetings that popular vote is only window dressing to satisfy the world...With regard to the Palestine issue, I have always said that a referendum must take place and the Palestinians should return to their home and that I believe in moral support to the people of Palestine. But I also say it is up to the people of Palestine to decide."
• (E) Mohammad Ali Najafi, Iranian politician and mathematician, has joined Karrubi’s campaign staff as his strategic planning advisor.
• (E) Gholam-Hossein Karbaschi, head of Karrubi’s campaign, looks forward to winning the election in the first round.

Presidential Election: Mohsen Rezai

• Rezai, speaking in Golestan: "Painting a black picture of state of affairs would be wrong and while criticizing the government we must not set aside sincerity. For the time being, the country has had good progress in the political, defense and military dimensions. But such victories must not let the government deny complaints about rising prices."
• Rezai says he intends to strengthen capital markets.
• (E) Rezai’s election campaign reached out to Iranian expatriates, sharing his plans on the formation of a coalition government.
• (E) The Iranian Parliament dismissed reports that Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani endorsed Mohsen Rezai for the upcoming election.  

Politics

• Mehr News Agency releases the names of candidates for Assembly of Experts midterm elections.
• Former President Mohammad Khatami says the video - widely distributed through youtube - of him joking about the Azeris is a forgery. 
• (E) Reports that former Minister of Culture Ataollah Mohajerani has returned to Iran from London were denied by his office in Tehran.

Diplomacy

• Ahmadinejad speaking on national radio says Iran is the equal of the United States in international affairs. 
• (E) President Ahmadinejad is open to dialogue with the United States, stating: "If the talks are held on an equal footing, we have no objection. We would like to discuss a whole range of international issues.”
• (E) Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak invited President Ahmadinejad to attend the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Cairo.
• (E) Iranian Vice-President Parviz Davoudi met with South African Ambassador to Iran Saleh Ebrahim Mohammad, looking forward to strengthening diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Military and Security

• Revolutionary Guards mouthpiece Sobh-e Sadegh issues guidelines for its readership to recognize and vote for the line of the Imam [Khomeini].
• Hojjat al-Eslam Ali Saidi, representative of the Supreme Leader in the Revolutionary Guards, speaking to the IRGC Zanjan unit, urges the public to vote for a candidate working in the path and line of Khomeini, warns against deception of some candidates. 
  • Hojjat al-Eslam Ali Saidi explains what role the Revolutionary Guards should play at presidential election, explains that the public reaction against IRGC intervention is based on the misunderstanding that the Guards are a classical army.
• Lebanese Hezbollah General Secretary Nasrallah says Iran has not and will not deliver arms to Lebanon. 
• Aftab-e Yazd depicts opening of a U.S. consulate in Khaneqin as "establishment of an espionage center...near the Iranian border" 
• Basij Chief Hojjat al-Eslam Taeb reports establishment of Basij centers in the regular Army bases.
• Basij of the Clergy and Theological Students to train 3,200 clerics to tell the tale of the Iran/Iraq war.
• Threat of tsunami in the Caspian Sea.
• Mohammad Marziyeh, Zahedan General Prosecutor says three individuals have been executed for the bombing of a mosque in Zahedan. 
  • Supreme Leader Khamenei condemns the Zahedan terror bombing: "It is quite possible that the perpetrators of this crime may have committed this mortal sin because of anger and ignorance, but one should also have no doubt that the hands of political planners of some interventionist powers and their espionage agencies is also polluted with the blood of the innocent victims of this affair." 
  • Kayhan analyzes the terror bombing in Zahedan as a reaction to Supreme Leader Khamenei's call for unity among Shi'a and Sunnis in Iranian Kordestan, suggests that the bombing was meant to spark sectarian violence, blames the Americans, and suggests the Americans want to partition Pakistan and Afghanistan.
  • Supreme Prosecutor General Dorri Najafabadi condemning the bombing says it benefits world imperialism. 
  • (E) Ayatollah Khatami accused the United States and Israel of being involved in the Zahedan mosque bombing in order to “drive a wedge between the Shia population and the Sunni minority in Iran.”
• Former Defense Minister Shamkhani says the Armed Forces are above factional politics. 
•  Basij Chief Hojjat al-Eslam Taeb, speaking at the Housing Association of the Army: "Change only happens in U.S. policies when they understand their real mistakes and do not follow the path of others and don't repeat mistakes [of the past]...The Americans had expedited their units to establish a new world order, create a village with a single headmaster. But today they have lost their ability to intervene and the nations have - where ever they had intervened - severed their hands...The Americans attempted to create regimes subservient to them in Afghanistan and Iraq but even by using a thousand billion dollars in the region, they have not benefited the least politically...The Americans attempted to change the political geography of the region, but today their slogan of change is their way of saying that they have accepted mistakes of the past..." 
• The Islamic Republic Army activates a drone and a submarine.
• Armed Forces Command Council Cultural Deputy Masoud Jazayeri warns the candidates against "using the sacred name of the Basij" in their campaign headquarters and prohibits establishment of Basij groups in the campaign.
• (E) Iran added three Ghadir submarines to its navy, each equipped with the latest military technology.
• (E) An arson attack on Mehr Financial and Credit in Zahedan killed five people, continuing the sectarian violence sparked by the Shi’a mosque bombing last week.
• (E) Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki stated that the Rigi terrorist group has support from foreign elements in Afghanistan and is connected to the Zahedan mosque bombing.
• (E) A bomb discovered on a Kish Air jet headed to Tehran was successfully defused.
• (E) Gunmen arrested by Iranian police after opening fire on Ahmadinejad’s campaign office in Zahedan.

Trade

• Germany denies involvement in Tehran/Mashhad rail road project.
• Iran and China negotiate price of natural gas extracted from the North Pas Gas Field.
  • Abrar-e Eghtesadi reports Chinese companies are augmenting oil production in Masjed-e Soleyman.
• Behrouz Ali-Shiri, head of the Foreign Investment Organization, says representatives from Germany, Denmark, Sweden, the United States, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, China, Turkey and some other countries attended the international seminar on foreign investments in Iran. According to Abrar-e Eghtesadi foreign interest in investment in Iran is attracted towards the oil and gas sector, petrochemicals, aluminum and steel, food industry, pharmaceutical industry, car manufacturing, fishing, housing and urban development, railroads and communications. 
• (E) Iran’s Chamber of Commerce Mohammad Nahavandian stated that Iran’s economy is free from the global crisis, inviting Japanese companies to invest in the Iranian market.
• (E) Iran, Iraq and Turkey agreed to connect their power networks with Syria in the hopes of one day linking up with Europe as well.

Economy

• Housing and Urban Development minister Mohammad Saidi-Kia-Bakhsh says 1.6 million housing units are needed per year. 
• Central Bank Director General Bahmani promises improved service and guarantees to foreign investors.
• Central Bank Director General Bahmani promises publication of economic statistics on government performance "later."
• Bar code system becomes mandatory on all products in Iran. 
• (E) Head of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce Mohammad Nahavandian stated that Japanese companies are interested in investing in Iran’s economy, but “if the Japanese companies fail to seize the opportunity, their Asian rivals will grasp it.”
• (E) Deputy Oil Minister Nureddin Shahnazizadeh stated that Iran will become self-sufficient in gasoline production by 2012, noting a nine percent increase in its production in the past four years.
• (E) He also announced plans to construct a semisubmersible oil drilling rig in the Caspian Sea.

Nuclear Issue

• (E) In a meeting with Iranian scientific elites, President Ahmadinejad maintained his position on Iran’s nuclear program, saying that it safeguarded Iran’s dignity.

Religion, Culture, and Society

• (E) The Parisian film festival “From East to West” showcases thirteen Iranian films.
• (E) The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art is displaying famous works by Vincent Van Gogh, Andy Warhol, Paul Gauguin and other contemporary artists.
• (E) Iranian chess player Ehsan Ghaem-Maqami won the second Philippines Subic Chess Competitions in Manila.

Photos of the Day

• Karrubi at Tehran Polytechnic. 
• Ahmadinejad and Mousavi supporters at Vali-Asr Square in Tehran.