Iran News Round Up

[Thanks to Ali Alfoneh for the compilation; (E) signifies English link]

Politics

Advar reports mass demonstrations against lack of electricity and drinking water in Shahr-e Pishva [City of the Führer] section of Varamin, south of Tehran.
Mohammad-Hassan Abou-Torabi, vice speaker of the Iranian parliament, says “we observe today a reflection of the method of government of Mahdi [Imam of the Era] in the shadow of the Supreme Leader of the country.”

Abu-Torabi added: “In the era of waiting, we see traces of the leadership of the awaited Mahdi in the leadership of Imam Khomeini and his legitimate follower the Supreme Leader [Khamenei] and this is part of the eternal knowledge and infinite light of that Imam.”

Judiciary Head Shahroudi condemns “false claims of contact with Imam of the Era.”

Grand Ayatollah San’ei condemns “instrumental use of the Imam of the Era for political ends,” which he describes as an act of “betrayal against the benign world reformer.”

Mo’etalefeh General Secretary says the Iranian government should not be afraid of criticism and stresses that not accepting criticism will lead to its downfall.
Tehran parliamentarian Gholam-Reza Mesbahi-Moghaddam says Rafsanjani’s comments on clerical intervention against election engineering and vote fraud necessitates a “well ordered relationship between the state apparatus and the theological seminaries.”
Cultural Affairs Committee of the Iranian parliament condemns vice president Mashayee’s hand of friendship to the people of Israel and says a policy of friendship has never been the policy of the Islamic Republic towards “occupiers of the Quds [Jerusalem].”

Mohtashami-Pour, former ambassador to Damascus, attacks vice president Mashayee and says there is no such thing as the “people of Israel.”
Tah Hashemi, advisor to vice president, Mashayee resigns.

Ali Abbas-Pour Tehrani, chairman of the Higher Education Committee of the Iranian parliament, says his committee tasks parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani with investigating the much-discussed and apparently fraudulent Oxford degree of Interior Minister Ali Kordan.

Minister of Higher Education says he is still waiting for the interior minister to present his doctorate from Oxford University for authentication.
Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami tells the press and the parliament to end the issue of interior minister Ali Kordan’s Oxford degree.

Economy

Following a number of traffic accidents, executive director of the Bureau of Sales of Oil Products says he does not “deny” that some gasoline pumps have infused air into the cars of Iranian commuters, but adds “such a thing is impossible.”

Islamic Republic authorities say rise in the price of chicken is due to rumors in the market.

Parliamentarian Hassan Vanai says the economic problems of the country are due to “the government’s chaotic withdrawals from the foreign exchange reserve.”
According to executive director of the Export Guarantee Fund, despite economic sanctions, Iranian exporters have obtained $32 billion of unreported currency in export guarantees from foreign banks.
Systematic analysis of inflation to be transferred to Iran Statistics.

According to Aftab-e Yazd transfer of responsibility is due to the Iranian government’s allegations of partiality against the Central Bank.
Aftab-e Yazd wonders what statistics to believe, ridiculing conflicting statistical data on exports and imports from various governmental agencies.

Aftab-e Yazd reports discrepancies between governmental reports on decline in housing prices and the inquiries of the newspaper in the housing market.

Central Bank issues an ultimatum to the non-interest rate Gharz al-Hassaneh banks not following the rules and regulations of the banking sector.
Iranian experts identify the reason behind the rise of the U.S. Dollar against Rial.
Commenting the harsh criticism of Rafsanjani against the policies and initiatives of the Ahmadinejad government, Aftab-e Yazd says the direct criticism is due to the legitimacy of the critical arguments.

Trade

Turkish energy minister Hilmi Guler announces “major negotiations with the Islamic Republic soon to be conducted.”

(E) Denies that U.S. pressure led to cancellation of deal signing.
Turkish Changiz [Çengiz] Company purchases Al-Mahdi Aluminum Factory in Arak, the 1974 U.S.-financed IRALCO.
(E) Iran wants $20 billion trade with Turkey.

The Islamic Republic Coast Guard arrests 9 Iraqi citizens allegedly engaged in smuggling in a vessel passing through the Shatt al-Arab.
Iran to open free trade zone on Iraqi border.
With a slight decline, Iran becomes the fourth largest exporter to Japan following Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
Senior presidential advisor Samareh Hashemi says Iran will strengthen oil sector cooperation with Latin America and will aid the exploration efforts of Venezuela, Bolivia and Paraguay.
Commerce minister calls for improvement of private sector presence in Iraq.
Minister of Industries Ali-Akbar Mehrabian, speaking in Damascus, says Iran-financed projects in Syria exceed $1.3 billion and covering automobile factories, cement factories, electricity power plants, water pipe line projects, and agricultural silos.

Diplomacy

(E) Iran to help establish security in the Caucasus.
Al-Dabbagh, spokesman of the Iraqi government, says Iran should not decide for Iraq.
Head of the Islamic Republic’s Interest Section in the United States says the discussion of establishment of a U.S. Interest Section in Iran is in a discussion made by the press and there has been no formal U.S. request. More here.
Tabnak News Agency, close to former Revolutionary Guards chief Mohsen Rezai, slams Saudi Al-Arabiya Television’s “Campaign against Iran.”
(E) Can an Iranian player join the NBA without violating sanctions?
(E) Expanding the South American Axis? Iran represented at Paraguayan president’s inauguration.

Nuclear Issue

Bagheri, member of the Supreme National Security Council, says the enemies of the Islamic Republic have been forced into a defensive position in the nuclear negotiations with Iran.
United Arab Emirates takes the first step to build a nuclear power plant.
Ahmad Fayaz-Bakhsh, executive director of the Production and Development of Nuclear Energy, informs the public of having signed a contract on exploration of sites for nuclear power plants. The companies involved are the Sazeh-Pardazi, Lar, Ghods Nirou, Khatam al-Anbia Construction Base, Tehran Berkley and Mahab Ghods.

Military and Security

Religion, Culture, and Society

Ali Abbas-Pour Tehrani, member of the Higher Education Committee of the Iranian parliament, says the early retirement scheme at Iranian universities is not a political purge of the universities.

Donya-ye Eqtesad, on the other hand, reports that the scheme has been discussed in the Supreme Council for Cultural Revolution in the Islamic Republic.

Human Rights and Labor

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