Iran News Round Up

Politics

• Tabnak News Agency releases a Persian translation of Foundation for the Defense of Democracy scholar Michael Ledeen's blog post on ‘death’ of Supreme Leader Khamenei. Release of the news provokes a great number of angry comments on Tabnak site, accusing it of "expressing its own wishes through the mouth of the enemy."

• Hossein Kachouyian, member of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution issues a warning to the Azad University (close to the Rafsanjani family) to change its statute.

• Mowj-e Sabz news discloses the servers which have launched attacks against the green movement's websites: The Physical Training Organization, Aseman Airlines, Iran Khodro Car Manufacturing Company, the Information and Technology Ministry. 

Diplomacy

• Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, head of the Office of the President:

  • "Israel is an illegitimate entity...If they want to establish a country for the Jews they can do it elsewhere..."
  • "Tehran has no plan against the Zionist regime since the Palestinian nation must decide for its own future..."
  • "But at the same time we don't believe in Israeli threats. We don't think this regime is capable of doing such things..."
  • "Since receiving the Nobel Peace Prize Obama is under growing pressure..."

• Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi, attending the Shanghai Cooperation Pact's summit in Shanghai says Iran is interested in joining the pact.

Military and Security

• Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri lecturing in ethics:

  • "There are some who think because they are armed, they must use the power and arms everywhere. Any society which wants to be just must have members of the armed forces who are not merciless, but who are merciful and forgiving. It should not be so that they give arms to everyone. Those who are engaged in the armed forces must be subjected to expert analysis and they should also be taught psychology. One must investigate to what degree they pay attention to the life, property, honor and civic rights of the people. If - God forbid - the employees are not recruited correctly, the arms they are given will be abused..."
  • "There is a sentence said by Ayatollah Khomeini which has become famous, and justly so. This is it: The armed forces should not intervene in politics. This is very true, the reason is clear. Because they are armed it is possible that they abuse it and by using military power they intimidate the people..."
  • "The armed forces should aim their weapons against the enemy and not against the people and friends..."
  • "These days it is being said that preservation of the regime is a necessity. But preservation of the regime is not an absolute necessity. If preservation of the regime means violating Islamic laws the regime can't be preserved..."
  • "If one, with the excuse of preservation of the regime, engages in anti-Islamic acts, neither the regime nor Islam will remain..."

• The townships of Pardis, Roud-e Hen, and Boum-e Hen in Eastern Tehran lose mobile phone coverage.

• Ahmad-Reza Pour-Dastan, Army Ground Forces Chief, inaugurating a new garrison in Zahedan says the Army has successfully moved its garrisons out of towns in Zahedan, Birjand, Tabriz, Shiraz, Zanjan, Qazvin, Oroumiyeh and Tehran.

Nuclear Issue

• Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, head of the Office of the President:

  • "Everybody has seen that the Americans were more positively inclined to engage positively in these negotiations (in Geneva) but we must wait and see how the next negotiations will take place and how serious the Americans are..."
  • "The nuclear issue is being understood better now and provides an opportunity for Washington to prove its sincerity towards Iran..."
  • "Washington has understood that Iran is the most important state in the most important region of the world..."
  • "They have no option but accepting it. Problems of the region will not reach a positive solution without Iran's participation..."
  • "The nuclear issue is an issue which unites all the Iranians including Ahmadinejad's election rivals..."

Human Rights

• Mowj-e Sabz discloses that Mohammad-Reza Zamani, allegedly a member of Monarchist Association, was misled by the judge to plead guilty after which he was sentenced to death.

Economy

• Head of the Tehran Stock Exchange for the first time reports the composition of the owners of stocks: "Investment companies [own] 2.25 percent, pension funds, social security funds and special funds such as Steel 9.15 percent, the state and related companies 5.16 percent, state owned banks and private banks 9.4 percent, cooperatives 2.1 percent, Justice Stocks and Provincial Investment Funds 19 percent, the people and legal individuals 21 percent."

Trade

• Ali Vakili, Director General of Pars Oil and Gas Company, says the South Pars Gas Field is not shared with Qatar.

• Following the British government's sanctions against the Islamic Republic Shipping Company, the company refutes British accusations of being involved in transport of nuclear devices.  

Iran in the Afghan Media

• Afghan security forces have seized 860 Iranian-made landmines in separate operations in northern Afghanistan. Gen. Abdul Jamil Junbish Azizi, head of the Crime and Investigation Department at the Interior Ministry said that the seizure of vast number of Iranian mines was unprecedented.          

• [E] Iran’s ambassador to Kabul visits eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar.

  • Fida Hussain Maliki said he was in Nangarhar in response to an invitation from the governor of the province Gul Agha Sherzai, who wanted to explore the possibility on Iran-funded business, agriculture and cultural projects in eastern provinces.
  • In reply to a question, the ambassador said: "We don't need to send soldiers to Afghanistan to defeat U.S. troops; we are ready to deal with any problem that America may create for us in any part of the globe."
  • Maliki rejected recent reports that Iran had opened its borders to allow illegal Afghans to enter the country. "There is no reality in such claims. Afghan passengers crossing the border into Iran were allowed some facilities in relaxation of rules."
  • To another question about the seizure of Iran-made bombs in western and northern Afghanistan, Maliki said: "These allegations are leveled by foreign troops in Afghanistan, especially by the British soldiers under command of NATO-led ISAF."
  • Scotching speculation that Iran is pushing for a coalition set-up in Kabul, Maliki insisted his country wanted a strong government of national unity in Afghanistan. The Iranian government, having launched a number of reconstruction projects in Kabul, Herat and Kandahar, planned to execute similar schemes in Nangarhar, he concluded.

Photos of the Day

• Ahmad Khomeini.