(Thanks to Ali Alfoneh for his compilation)
Politics
- Morteza Agha-Tehrani, a cleric, and the “master of ethics of the Ahmadinejad government” says there is no empty chair for the Imam of the Era in the cabinet meetings, that the Iranian president’s claims on the halo of light “is a different matter,” and does not answer the question if the people who do not see the halo of light of the president are “enemies of the Imam of the Era,” as the Iranian president claims.
- Ayatollah Yazdi stresses the necessity of supervising the work of the government in order to see to it that it is in accordance with divine laws.
- Ansar News publishes a picture of Abbas Palizdar as a soldier in the Iran-Iraq war, and links to a web page with more pictures of Palizdar.
- According to Jomhouri-ye Eslami, a female parliamentarian assisted Palizdar to “collect secret information.”
- In a vague reference to the Palizdar affair, former Greater Tehran police chief and Revolutionary Guards commander Talayi says “The Don Quixote’s have become more dangerous,” and describes the crisis he himself and other war veterans went through after returning home from the front in 1988.
- Agah-Sazi publishes Babak Miranbakhsh’s article on the Palizdar affair which says the entire affair serves to deflect responsibility for the economic mistakes of the Ahmadinejad government.
- Islamic Republic official historian Abdollah Shahbazi imprisoned after a lengthy battle between the historian and authorities of Fars province, whom he accuses of involvement in economic corruption.
- Mo’etalefeh representatives meet with Larijani.
- Iranian president Ahmadinejad to attend the meeting of scholars and professors at theological seminaries in Qom.
- Khatami running for president?
Military and Security
- General Ja’fari, commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guards, speaking at the Ideological/Political Bureau of the Guards: “One of the ways of reducing unlawful conduct among armed forces personnel is to solve the problem of the income of the members of the armed forces. How come we take such matters in consideration when it comes to judges, but not soldiers…? When we chant the slogan of justice, it means class differences and difference in income must also be abolished, both officially and truly, in an Islamic and revolutionary regime, because such anomalies will provoke trouble…Such anomalies makes people see discrimination. If we want to manage our organizations, especially the armed forces, according to Shi’a jurisprudence, we must reconsider the fundamentals, since there is an abundance of anomalies… If we don’t think how to solve the problem of idleness of the armed forces, our organizations will be facing trouble…Today, the mission of the Revolutionary Guards is to defend the Islamic Revolution. Who says only military threats target the revolution? There are also societal and security threats for which the Guards needs to have a program…Statutes of the various branches of the armed forces need to be distinct.”
- Alef News Agency publishes some examples from the Societal Security Scheme of the Islamic Republic fighting against immorality.
- 11 arrested in assassination of judge.
Diplomacy
- Mo’etalefeh spokesman hails Rafsanjani’s trip to Saudi Arabia.
- Iraqi officials says they will expel Mujahedin al-Khalq (MKO) terrorists.
Economy
- Central Bank freezes the accounts of the Industry and Mining Ministry as a reaction to president Ahmadinejad’s dismissal of the director general of the bank which the Central Bank says is illegal.
Religion, Culture, and Society
- According to E’temad, Morteza Agha-Tehrani who is expected to function as a bridge between the Iranian president and the clergy in Qom, has a Ph.D. in Pedagogy from the United States, where he has studied along with one of the sons of Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, and that he gives wrong religious advice to the Iranian president.
Photo of the Day
- Funeral of judge assassinated in southeastern Iran.