Iran News Round Up

(Thanks to Ali Alfoneh for his compilation)

Politics: General

Khabar-Nameh-ye Amir Kabir, the news agency of Amir Kabir Polytechnical University, publishes the speech decrying rigged elections which Mehdi Bazargan, the first prime minister after the Islamic Revolution, attempted to give before he had been shouted down with chants of “Death to Bazargan!”
Ansar attacks Tehran Municipality’s daily, Hamshahri for reprinting an article which, in 1978, mobilizing Grand Ayatollah Khomeini’s supporters because of its offensive nature.

Religion, Culture, Society

Ministry of Science, Research and Technology and the University of Tehran publish the result of a poll on drug abuse and religious beliefs among 3,200 students from Tehran universities:
5.2 percent of the respondents claim they do not have any religious belief.
5.4 percent say they have little religious beliefs
23.6 percent say they have a religious belief to a certain extent
65.8 percent of the respondents say they have a firm religious belief.
36.1 percent of the respondents say access to alcoholic drinks in the Islamic Republic is very easy
19.4 percent consider access to “traditional opiates” easy
21.6 percent consider access to “artificial drugs” easy.
Ansar prepares the ground for physical attacks against Abdol Karim Soroush by the Ansar-e Hezbollah vigilante group after it highlights Soroush’s comments that the Qur’an is man-made, and not divine.
And Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi warns of “hidden hands who are attacking the religion of Islam.”

Diplomacy

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani praises Iranian President Ahmadinejad:
“Iran has provided extensive supports for Iraq in the past and we want this policy to be continued as before.”
Ahmadinejad forward to bolstered Iran-Iraq ties.
Grand Ayatollah Makerem Shirazi invites world monotheists to Islam.
’Adel al-Mo’avedeh, chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Bahraini parliament: “We don’t trust the U.S., but we also don’t trust Iran, but we hope commander Ja’fari [commander in chief of the Revolutionary Guards] is telling the truth [in his claim that Iran is not a threat against the countries in the Persian Gulf]…But in case Iran answers a U.S. attack against Iran by attacking Bahrain, we preserve our right to retaliate.”
Students rally to support Gaza with call for Israel’s death.

Military

Economy and Trade

Persian Gulf banks shield Iranian banks from U.S., international sanctions.
Alef warns against the infrastructural development in next fiscal year’s budget, which will increase inflation.

Human Rights and Labor

Khabar-Nameh-ye Amir Kabir, the news agency of Amir Kabir Polytechnical University, reports of “comprehensive crack down against students, in the shadow of the silence of the media.” The student news agency provides a list of student activists summoned to Disciplinary Committees:
Allameh University: Mahdiyeh Glrou, Ali-Reza Mousavi, Amir Yaqoub-Ali, Negin Farazmand, Asal Akhavan, Kourosh Jannati, Shima Farzadmanesh, Farhang Salami, Amir-Hossin Iraji, and Maziar Sami’i.
The University of Science and Technology: Amin Mehdi Shah-Zamanian, Sajjad Mohammadi, Ali Assad Allahi, and Majid Saqayati.
University of Hamedan: Porya Sharifian, Fatemeh Ma’soumi, Mohammad Sayyadi, Amin Nazari, Mehdi Jamalvand, Reza Ja’farian, Siyavash Hatam, Mehdi Mosafer, Sasan Menbari, Sirous Mohammadi, and Vahhab Karimi-Nezhad.
University of Kerman: Mohsen Khosravi, Hassan Hassani, Mahmoud Hadi-Pour, Hesam Sa’idi, Vahid Zare’ and an un-named student.
University of Isfahan: Unknown number.
Amir Kabir University: Unknown number.
University of Shiraz: Esma’il Jalil-Vand, Hamdollah Namjou, Nahid Afrasiabi and Sahar Yazdani.
University of Shahroud: Masoud Qorbani-Nezhad, Mehdi Chavoshian and Masoud Nazari-Fard.
University of Yasouj: Mojtaba Nazari, Amin Khosravi, Mohsen Mousavi and Elham Mousavi.
Azad University of Mashhad: Amir-Hossein Nourbakhsh, Adel Ta’eni and Mohammad Mizban.
Comprehensive list of sentences.
Judiciary chief bans detention without charge.

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