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

Anniversary of U.S. Embassy Takeover

• Fars News Agency: "The magnificent presence of the people of Tehran at the November 4th demonstrations and their slogans of 'Death to America' and 'Death to Israel' angered the rebellious groups....Answering the call of certain political groups and foreign media, the rebels were present in groups of 50 to 100 people at the Haft-e Tir, Shahid Moffatteh, and Shahid Beheshti Avenues along with the Karimkhan Bridge and around the Enghelab Square, and engaged in a plot to chant iconoclastic slogans in the interest of the United States and Israel. Mehdi Karrubi, who in the past days had urged those planting discord to come to the streets, had to leave Haft-e Tir Square after being faced with demonstrators chanting 'Death to America', 'Death to Israel' and 'Death to the hypocrite'...Yaser Hashemi Rafsanjani directed the movements of a group supporting Mousavi and Karrubi in Shahid Beheshti Avenue..."

• According to Alef News, supporters of the Green Movement at the demonstrations were chanting "Death to Russia."

• Tehran University students used the occasion to demonstrate against the Ahmadinejad government, chanting: "Victory belongs to God and conquest is near. Death to the government of deception." Video.

• A video by BBC Persian shows clashes between police and anti-government protestors in Tehran streets.

• At Karim-Khan Street, demonstrators chanted "Ya-Hossein, Mir-Hossein" and "Political prisoners must be freed." Video.

• Green Movement's supporters in Rasht. Video.

• Representative of the Green Movement abroad, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, sent a letter to American embassies expressing solidarity with the American nation and condemning the 1979 seizure of the American Embassy in Tehran.

• Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel addressing a demonstration rally in Tehran: "Despite slogans in favor of human rights and democracy, the United States has never supported popular governments and regimes...After the election in Iran, the United States showed disrespect towards the principle of democracy and propagated the claims of fraud in the election...In their statements, the gentlemen [Mehdi Karrubi and Mousavi] don't say a word about the injustice and bullying by the United States. On election day, they declared themselves winners, and the next morning they claimed there was electoral fraud. But in reality, they have no documentation for their claims of fraud in the election..."

• Ayatollah Ahmad Alam al-Hoda: "Seizure of the American Embassy was the greatest slap in the face of the United States."

• Hossein Sheikh al-Eslam, a former hostage-taker remembers that then-foreign minister Qotbzadeh - later executed by the regime - refused even to take a look at the documents from the United States Embassy, saying "This belongs to their government. You have taken it illegally."

• Commander Ahmad Zolghadr, Greater Tehran Revolutionary Guards Force Deputy: "It is in situation of hardships when one finds out who is the follower of the Guardian Jurist and who not."

• Mobile phone system was disrupted in Tehran where the Green Movement held protest rallies.

• Mowj-e Sabz says security forces exercised direct shooting at supporters of the Green Movement near Haft-e Tir Avenue.

• Mohammad-Taghi Karrubi, son of Mehdi Karrubi, says two of his father’s bodyguards and a number of Karrubi's supporters have been wounded in the shootings by the security forces.

• BBC Persian reports Karrubi has been beaten and injured by unknown attackers at a protest rally in Tehran.

• Habib-Allah Peyman, one of the planners of the first seizure of the American Embassy in Tehran, is severely beaten by the security forces while demonstrating against the Ahmadineajd government.

Media

• Mohammad-Ali Ramin, newly-appointed Media Adviser to the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance addresses the Fars News Agency: "The discord which you see today is the result of 20 years history of movements calling themselves the Followers of the Line of the Imam...Every school of thought has its own discourse, and each discourse its own key words. They claimed that after the passing of Imam Khomeini 'We have no Imam'...Claiming they were respecting Imam Khomeini, they took the thought of Imam Khomeini which was 'continuity of the Imamate of the Guardian Jurist' and said the person who had replaced Imam Khomeini was neither Imam nor a source of emulation...They degenerated the Quranic key concept of Imam into Rahbar [Leader]...and they changed the word Ummat [Community of believers] into Mellat [nation], and said when there is no Imam no Islamic Ummat can be formed...They also took away other key Quranic concepts from us, such as the Islamic movement of Imam Khomeini and transformed 'justice' into 'development', 'the oppressed' into 'vulnerable class', and 'oppressors' into 'world powers' so they can create waves against the Guardian Jurist under the banner of those world powers..."

Diplomacy

• Emir of Qatar will visit Tehran tomorrow. Syrian Foreign Minister will also pay a visit to Iran.

Nuclear Issue

• Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel addressing the November 4th demonstration in Tehran: "The nation, the government and the Leader will never make a deal on the nuclear issue, national security, independence and the rights of the Iranian nation."

Photo

• Clashes between police and protestors.