Iran News Round Up

Politics

• Agah-Sazi following up on Supreme Leader Khamenei's statements that he welcomes criticism of himself demands to know why individuals imprisoned on charges of criticizing the Supreme Leader are not freed from prison.

• Ahmadinejad on live television in Khorasan-e Razavi province promises school teachers a raise, aid to the local Abou-Moslem football team, governmental cooperation with the local authorities to start the city train system and a fast train service between Khorasan and Tehran, better sports facilities, and the like.

• Fars News Agency discusses the "Kiyan and Ayin circles" which according to the news agency "led the reform movement astray."

Diplomacy

• Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani says there are no "natural obstacles" in the way of Iran/United States relations and "In the end the viewpoint of the Supreme Leader is the final say in this issue and his viewpoint has been announced on numerous occasions..."

• Hojjat al-Eslam Ali-Akbar Akrami praises the 1979 seizure of the American Embassy in Tehran as "seizure of the Den of Espionage...which did away with the forlorn prestige and might of the United States..."

• Mehdi Mostafavi, presidential adviser and head of the Culture and Islamic Relations Organization, during a travel to Serbia says "President Ahmadinejad does not deny the Holocaust," but later denies his own statements in the Iranian press.

• (E) Mehman-Parast, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, criticized the US for its double standard towards its domestic Muslim population and its blatantly anti- Muslim stance. In his rebuke, Parast referred to the US veto of Goldstone report on Palestine at the UN Human Rights Council and US Attorney General Eric Holder’s recent comment as to the state of Muslims in America.

• (E) An Iranian ship stranded off the Chinese coast of the Yangtze River is at risk of capsizing due to strong winds. The Chinese government has sent a rescue ship and two helicopters to the area where the ship is stranded. The Chinese rescue mission has successfully saved 13 out of 36 crew members thus far.

• (E) Deputy Foreign Minister for European Affairs Ali Ahani discussed increasing cooperation between Iran and the European Union (EU) with Swedish Ambassador to Tehran Magnus Werndstedt. Ahani urged the EU to recognize the cultural distinctiveness of Iran and the importance of its national interests and offered Iranian cooperation in international affairs. Magnus expressed interest in a stronger Iranian connection to the EU.

• (E) In a meeting with the new Cuban ambassador to Tehran, President Ahmadinejad claimed that the current structure of the global system is in transition, paving the way for developing countries to establish a new world order. Ahmadinejad emphasized the opportunity for increased Iranian-Cuban ties.

• (E) Iran's ambassador to Islamabad Mashaallah Shakeri in Karachi refuted rumors relating to the spread of Taliban activity on the joint Iranian-Pakistani border. Shakeri also blamed the recent terrorist attack in Sistan-Balouchestan that killed 42 Revolutionary Guards Corp on US measures.

• (E) The Iran-Turkey Friendship Society has been established in Anakra in order to solidify ties between the two countries. Iranian Ambassador Bahman Hosseinpour expressed the importance of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Iran, calling it a turning point in the history of Iran-Turkey relations.

• (E) Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani is planning to visit Iraq at the invitation of Iraqi parliament speaker Iyad al-Samarrai. The goal of Larijani’s trip is to discuss the Iranian-Iraqi relationship and solutions to regional development issues.

Military and Security

• Basij Chief Mohammad-Reza Naghdi: "The tens of millions-strong Basij takes shape under the view of the Supreme Leader and in following the suggestions and viewpoints of the Basij members themselves...We have a great Basij force which could resist in the face of the discord but we have not used their capacity..."

• A certain Hamid Davoud-Abadi reveals the story of revolt of the supporters of Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri in the Revolutionary Guards against Mohsen Rezai in mid-1980's.

• As the "Fifteenth of Khordad Foundation" headed by Ayatollah Hassan Sane'i tries to silence its original prize for British author Salman Rushdie's head, the Revolutionary Guards, the Martyr Foundation, Headquarters for Preservation of Memory and Values of the Martyrs of the World Islamic Movement and Kayhan depict the late Grand Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa as active.

• Basij Chief Mohammad-Reza Naghdi says the Revolutionary Guards will "do their utmost...in support of formation of a media Basij."

• According to the Parliament's Special Committee on transfer of ownership of Iran Telecommunications to the Revolutionary Guards, the Islamic Republic Chief Inspectorate headed by Hojjat al-Eslam Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi has declared this transaction "illegal."

• Ayatollah Ha'eri Shirazi speaking in Qom: "The enemies of the regime do not want Islam and Islamic Iran to progress and therefore they use every second to deal blows to the regime..."

Nuclear Issue

• Ahmadinejad:

  • The world order does not want Iran to be a global great power and there are some who do not want a new power to emerge on the world stage. Therefore they are looking for excuses and do not want Iran to reach its real position... In the nuclear issue the enemy has raised the greatest and most complicated challenge since the revolution against Iran and they used all their capabilities. Even inside the country there were some who said that should the pressure increase Iran would capitulate and step back, but we told them not to think so since the mistakes of the past will not repeat themselves... Those who have become super revolutionary today, what did they say back then…? 
  • The government, like the entire nation, the negative past of the Western powers taken into consideration, looks at the negotiations with mistrust, but the realities dictate them to cooperate with the Iranian nation...Today the Westerners know that without cooperation with Iran they can't administer the world since Iran is controlling international public opinion and is administering [it]...We hope that the negotiations continue and that the devils don't engage in Satanism since the Zionist regime and hegemonic powers are unhappy with the negotiations..."

• (E) Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, at the 12th ministerial meeting of the D8 Group in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, declared that discussions underway in the International Atomic Energy Agency meetings in Vienna regarding Tehran’s purchasing of enriched uranium are unrelated to domestic enrichment programs. Mottaki clearly stated that if Tehran’s ability to obtain uranium abroad is compromised, the Islamic Republic will strongly consider fuel production enrichment programs in the country.

• (E) Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki announced that the technical committee of the International Atomic Energy Agency is due to hold meetings to discuss Iran’s enrichment program. The current program dictates that Iran send 5 percent enriched uranium to the UN watchdog and receives 20 percent enriched uranium from the West in order to fuel its nuclear reactor.

Economy

• Parliamentarian Ali-Reza Mahjoub warns against the reform of the subsidies system which he says will "prove inflationary, and prohibit income correction" in the public sector. Mahjoud also demands a referendum on the subsidies reform.

Trade

• Norway’s Statoil says it has stopped its activities in the Iranian market because of U.S. pressure.

• (E) Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki announced that Iran is drafting a Memorandum of Understanding to establish an investment fund for the D8, eight developing Muslim countries. Iran plans to allocate 20 million dollars to the fund and urges D8 members to do the same. The D8 is comprised of Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Egypt and Nigeria.

• (E) According to Ambassador Hassan Kazemi Qomi, 51 Iranian companies are participating in the 6th Baghdad International Exhibition. The various industries represented vary from the medical, construction, textile, technical and engineering fields.

Human Rights and Labor

• E'temad-e Melli editor Mohammad Ghouchani is freed from Evin Prison after 131 days.

• Revolutionary Guards veteran and Khatami supporter Morteza Alviri freed after 53 days in prison.

• Fifty employees of a pipe-making factory in southern Iran were arrested after protesting over unpaid wages. According to one of the employees, police surrounded and beat the demonstrators. "They fired tear gas at us, and beat us with batons," he said. "What have we done? We have not been paid for 12 months and we only want our wages."

• The wife of jailed journalist Ahmad Zeidbadi has expressed grave concern about her husband's treatment in prison. Despite authorization from a prosecutor, Mrs. Zeidabadi said she had been denied the right to visit or speak with her husband. "The last time I saw Ahmad, he told me his interrogator had tortured him and threatened that he would not let Ahmad leave jail as a hero." (audio)

Public Health

• (E) Five new cases of swine flu were found in the student population in Tehran. These cases have severely alarmed Iranian officials attempting to control the virus’s spread. According to Ali Soleimani, the Head Pubic Relations at Tehran Education Organization, the discovery of these swine flu cases students brings the number of affected students in Tehran to 17.

Religion, Culture, and Society

• (E)A Span of Heaven, an Iranian film directed by Ali Vazirian, is scheduled to be screened at the 4th Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival in Florida.

• (E)  Tehran Symphony Orchestra is planning to perform a selection of western classical music in Tehran. The orchestra will present pieces by Mozart and Edvard Hagerup Grieg.

Photos of the Day

• Severed head of the perpetrator of the suicide bombing in Sistan va Balouchestan.