Political
- “Supreme Leader gives 100 percent support (.pdf) to [Ahmadinejad’s] government,” writes Partov-e Sokhan [mouth piece of hardline cleric Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi].
- Seyyed Hasan Khomeini, grandson of the founder of the Islamic Republic: “The armed forces should not become an instrument in the hands of the politicians.”
Foreign Investment
- Tehran Municipality to buy German monorail with no bid process.
- Minister of Labour: Iran needs of $4 billion in foreign investment to create jobs.”
- Ultimatum to France’s Total and Netherland’s Royal Dutch Shell.
Diplomacy
- University of Tehran professor Elahe Koulai: “Iran should not pay the price of the collapse of the Soviet Union [when it comes to division of the Caspian Sea]… Russia utilizes the conflict between Iran and the European Union to extract concessions from Iran.”
- Rafsanjani, whom many in the State Department see as a potential pragmatic partner: “American tax payers receive their sons in body bag as souvenir from Iraq.”
- Putin says dialogue with Iran more effective than sanctions
- Ahmadinejad denies receiving any nuclear proposal from Putin.
- Background: See Oct. 18 Iran News Round Up.
- Headline: “Putin: Iran is a world power;” invites Ahmadinejad to Kremlin.
- White House backs away from Bush’s reference to “World War III”—it was just “bombast”
Human Rights and Labor
- Striking sugar cane workers publish demands.
- Background: See Iran News Round Up, Oct. 10.
- Assassination attempt on Kurdish labor leader?
- Bush, Rice, Clinton remain silent on as labor crackdown continues.
Military
- Russia dampens concern about Iranian ballistic missile capability.
Photo of the Day
- Iranian motorcycle police like Honda’s.
(Thanks to Ali Alfoneh for his assistance in compiling)