Iran News Round Up

  Politics

• Mobs gather in front of Mehdi Karrubi's residence to prevent him from participating in Friday prayers marking the end of Ramadan.
• Hassan Khomeini cancels his visit to Pakistan.
• Parliamentarian Ali Mottahari: Ahmadinejad should choose either guardianship of the guardian jurist or the guardianship of Mashaei.

Diplomacy

• Supreme Leader Khamenei's Eid al-Fitr prayer sermon: "The enemies of the Palestinian nation and supporters of the usurping Zionists arranged a summit in Washington called 'the peace conference' just to obscure their crimes [of Israel]. But peace with who? Who? Taken into consideration events and realities in the occupied Palestine, does this peace make any sense?... Some are trying to make Pakistan into their garrison, but we hope that the people and government of Pakistan leave this difficult situation behind."

• Finance Minister Hosseini to be appointed as the president's representative to Africa; Cooperatives Minister Abbasi will also be appointed presidential representative to South America.
• Professor Sadegh Zibakalam:
  • "We should not wonder why the Koreans have joined the group of countries sanctioning us... South Korea exports $40 billion worth of car parts to the United States. Should Korea not give into American pressure it could lose the American market... I believe the next countries to sanction Iran will be China and Turkey... Turkey exported $15 billion to 25 countries of the EU per year. Should the EU give Turkey trouble and should Turkey be forced to choose between Iran and the EU it is only natural that the Turks will choose them, just like yesterday and today when Japan and South Korea chose to do so and Turkey or other countries will choose the same path tomorrow... It would be most unpleasant if the Americans make trouble for the Chinese... China has for some time decreased its investments in and oil purchases from Iran. There was a time when we were the second largest oil exporter to China in the Persian Gulf region, but today we come in eighth. Our oil exports to China have decreased to 200,000 barrels per day from 800,000 barrels per day..."
  • "The claim that the sanctions have not worked and has forced us to blossom is all entertainment and propaganda. Sanctions have worked and many parts we need can't enter the Iranian market... There are those who say that sanctions have not affected our economy in a negative way, and the sanctions... have made us struggle harder. This viewpoint is not based upon reality..."
  • "The sanctions will not lead to stopping of enrichment, but it will increase the price of enrichment and advancing nuclear activities for us. One could have paid a lesser price for that... The foreign policy of the ninth cabinet has systematically moved in the direction of conflict and tension between us and the West. Unfortunately we have acted in such a way that rather than reducing tensions with the West we have increased them..."
• Imam Khomeini Relief Committee dispatches aid to Pakistan.
• [E] Iran announced that it plans to release one of the three American nationals who were arrested by Iranian security forces in July 2009 after crossing Iran-Iraq borders illegally.

Trade

• From March to September 2010, the Islamic Republic imported $2.2 billion worth of gasoline.

Religion, Society and Culture

• Supreme Leader Khamenei leads the Eid al-Fitr prayers at Tehran University.

• Ayatollah Sobhani: "Unfortunately, at some universities, there still is no trace of Islam and sometimes issues are taught which are totally against Islam and religion and presenting such things will make the light of religion go out among the students. We must pay more attention."
• [E] Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki strongly condemned Florida evangelical church's plan for burning Muslims' divine book, the Holy Quran, on the 9/11 anniversary, and urged Washington to respect Muslims' rights.
  • [E] Senior Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani also condemns the Quran burning plan.

Human Rights

• Abdollah Moemeni, student activist, writes an open letter to Supreme Leader Khamenei complaining about show trials, torture and forced confessions at Evin Prison.

Nuclear Issue

• [E] Former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Akbar Etemad said that the agreement between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) grants Iran the right to accept or refuse the agency's inspectors.

Photos of the Day

• Othello in Tehran: "Bad Hijab" and "Inappropriate behavior".
• Supreme Leader leads the Friday prayer.