(Thanks to Ali Alfoneh for his compilation)
Politics
- Reformist theoretician Said Hajjarian says the greatest battle in Iran today is the one between the clergy and the supporters of the current government.
- Rumors of purge of provincial governors.
- Fars provincial governor Mohammad Reza Rezazadeh says he has not been dismissed.
- According to Aftab-e Yazd, not a single reformist member of the parliament has been included in the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Iranian parliament…
- …or on the Budget and Planning Committee.
- Ahmadinejad’s supporters rehabilitate Said Emami, the perpetrator of the serial killing of intellectuals in the 1990′s.
- Interview with Mehdi Riyahi, a former Intelligence Ministry official who was arrested and tortured.
- Statements by the wife of Said Emami republished by Nosazi.
- She says late husband was a close friend of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s household because of a mission to London during which he guarded the family, and that Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the Supreme Leader, was a close friend of his who called and asked for his company.
- Nosazi News Agency presents Abbas Palizdar as “a decent man,” “not close to the president,” and a “man who used his savings to start a dairy products factory.”
- Nosazi adds that people who accuse Palizdar of economic corruption are the people who constantly pursue a policy of “Bani-Sadrization of President Ahmadinejad.”
- Akbar A’lami, member of the seventh parliament whose candidacy for re-election was blocked by the Council of Guardians, confirms that Abbas Palizdar indeed was a member of the investigations committee of the Iranian parliament. A’lami adds that the cases Palizdar has pointed to are old cases to which no one had earlier paid much attention. Listing all the cases raised by Palizdar A’lami says no one can dismiss such facts, and challenges other members of the investigative committee to come forward and dismiss Palizdar’s accusations under oath.
- See also Shahrvand Emrooz’ report on the Palizdar affair.
- Mohammad Niazi, head of the Supreme Organization of Investigation, says Palizdar was an employee of his organization, but says he does not share Palizdar’s views on economic corruption in the Islamic Republic. But indirectly, while answering some specific questions on the issues raised by Palizdar, Niazi confirms Palizdar’s information.
- Condemning Abbas Palizdar’s “disclosures” of economic corruption in the Islamic Republic, Tehran mayor Qalibaf says playing with the honor and reputation of well known people is not the way to fight corruption and only generates “a crisis of trust.”
- Iran attacks the Tehran mayor and depicts his article as a smoke screen for “economic corruption in Tehran municipality” by “a former military commander who has utilized every channel to advance his career and gain wealth.”
- Judiciary chief Shahroudi says economic corruption must be fought with measures, not by slogans.
- Breaking Ahmadinejad supporters’ monopoly on disclosing economic corruption, Elias Naderan demands investigation on the long absence of “Soltan-e Shekar,” an unnamed clerical member of the parliament who has been on leave for some time.
- Ahmadinejad holds a nightly meeting with student activists supporting the government.
- Recently-ousted Interior Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi discloses secrets of his tenure:
- Regarding Revolutionary Guards intervention in the bureaucratic composition, Pour-Mohammadi writes: “When I talked to then commander in chief of the Guards, Brigadier General Rahim Safavi, he said that Mr. Zolghadr, deputy commander-in-chief of the Guards enjoys a certain position and respect. Now that he is going to the Interior Ministry, we in the Guards ask you preserve his [elevated] position and respect in the ministry. I agreed and said that I accepted. Mr. Zolghadr’s personality, and the respect that the Revolutionary Guards enjoys deserve such arrangement.
- At any rate, noting the occupational history of Mr. Zolghadr, I demanded that he should be given the security affairs department of the ministry and become deputy minister of interior. This was a very successful period.”
- Asked how commander Zolghadr was transferred from the Guards to the ministry Pour-Mohammad says: “Senior military commanders, and anybody appointed by the Supreme Leader, must also be transferred by the order of and acceptance of the Supreme Leader.”
- Pour-Mohammadi also says that he wrote a report to the Supreme Leader commenting on the latest parliamentary elections in the Islamic Republic, but does not believe his dismissal was been because of this report.
- Head of the National Trust Party Mehdi Karrubi defends Mohtashami-Pour who is engaged in a fierce battle against Ayatollah Mesbah-Yazdi.
- Moetalefeh’s Badamchian explains the ideological and practical differences between Moetalefeh and Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization.
- Ayatollah Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani warns against making policy without listening to the experts.
- Agah-Sazi publishes an article on the “Eclecticism discourse” in the years after the revolution, which led to marginalization of a number of political forces in the Islamic Republic.
- Abdollah Ramezanzadeh defends the political legacy and track record of former president Mohammad Khatami.
- Commander in chief of the Revolutionary Guards meets speaker of the parliament Ali Larijani.
- Hojjat al-Eslam Hosseini Boushehri says the Ahmadinejad government has been subjected to increasing criticism by sources of emulation.
- Rafsanjani publishes yet another volume of his memoirs.
- The Iranian president’s sister gives an interview to Tabnak News Agency.
Religion, Culture, and Society
- Association of Islamic Pupil’s Associations produce a computer game about murdering Salman Rushdie.
- Nosazi criticizes archaic religious thinking limiting sexual freedom.
- Nosazi also claims sexual morality of the religious leaders has had adverse effect on the youth and that masturbation, homosexuality, and illegal sexual relations flourishes in the Islamic Republic.
- Kayhan condemns entrapment of the deputy dean executed by the Islamic Student Association of University of Zanjan .
- According to the newspaper, a female student entered the office of the deputy dean responsible for disciplinary committees of the university, leaves the door open and engages in “unsuitable physical contact” with him, after which the office is flooded by students who record the scene with cameras and stage demonstrations crying out the sexual scandal.
- More here. Video of incident and ensuing demonstration here.
- Report on the execution of the second phase of the societal security scheme.
- Member of the Assembly of Experts Seyyed Hashem Hosseini Boushehri says “Today, the enemy has come to the scene with all its being, and has targeted our youth through Zionist Christianity, cultural NATO and propagation of false Sufism.”
- Mayor of Pasargadae says the Sivand dam has increased humidity at a city hosting the mausoleum of the founder of the Persian Empire, Cyrus the Great.
Economy
- Iranian parliamentarians laugh at government spokesman Elham’s claims that housing prices have decreased by 30 percent.
- Parliamentarian Daryoush Ghanbarai from Ilam constituency says if the government had listened to the warning of the economists the economy would not be in its current sorry state.
- Hojjat al-Eslam Niazi, head of the National Investigation Organization, says economic corruption stems from state-directed economy.
- According to Fars News, since March 21, 2008, Iranian government has transferred $7 billion from the foreign exchange reserve to the account of the Iranian government.
- Mazaheri, director general of the Central Bank, says he has no knowledge of Melli [National] Bank’s transformation into a non-interest rate Islamic bank.
- Peasants in Iran say there is no economic incentive to grow tea in Iran.
- Chicken prices to rise in the Iranian market.
- The Electricity Syndicate of Iran condemns power shortages in Iran.
- According to E’temad, despite increasing energy consumption, increase in energy production in Iran is “zero.” More.
Trade
- Israel the biggest consumer of Iranian pistachios.
- Iranian companies SANIR and Ofogh along with Iranian contractors start building Al Sadr Electricity Plant in Iraq.
- Qatar is greatest winner with regard to exploitation of a shared oil field in the Persian Gulf because of Iranian hesitation.
- Iran ready to transfer ownership of national Iranian firms to Qatari interests in the Islamic Republic’s privatization schemes.
- Head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry expresses his worries on privatization of the phone company as a single entity in a letter to the Iranian president.
Diplomacy
- Asr-e Iran publishes the names of members of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Iranian parliament.
- Eight Bahraini citizens are arrested in Riyadh on charges of espionage on behalf of the Islamic Republic.
- The Islamic Republic’s ambassador to Rome is recalled to Tehran.
- Ali Hashemi Rafsanjani, son of the brother of the former president, reveals some information on the Iran-Contra affair from his perspective.
- Meeting a Cuban representative, the Iranian president says the era of great victories has begun.
Nuclear Issue
- Foreign Minister says Iran will answer the 5 1 Group’s Incentive Package at a suitable time.
Military and Security
- A member of Jundallah terrorist organization is executed in Zahedan.
- The judge of the Criminal Court of Saravan is assassinated.
Photo of the Day
- Second phase of the societal security scheme of the Islamic Republic of Iran government.