(Thanks to Ali Alfoneh for his compilation)

Political: March 2008 Parliamentary Elections

  • Grandson of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Seyyed Hassan Khomeini says intervention of the military in politics is the “gravest deviation from the line of the Imam.”
  • Declares his “sadness” over disqualification of parliamentary candidates.
  • Hossein Ta’eb, deputy commander in chief of the Basij commenting March 14, 2008 parliamentary elections: “The enemy is working to elect people in our parliament who duplicate their words and deeds.”
  • The Principalist Alliance claims Ali Larijani, former secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, is their candidate for the post of speaker of the parliament.
  • Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri from house arrest in Qom: “Free elections means the sovereignty of the people, not that of the Council of Guardians.”
  • Maryam Behrouzi of the Zeinab Association: “The candidate list of the political parties show nothing but patriarchy…Therefore I suggested a minimum of 8 percent of the lists to be preserved for women.”
  • Spokesman of the Council of Guardians screening candidates for parliamentary elections in the Islamic Republic: “We have received 3000 objections [to disqualifications] and 160 withdrawals from the elections.”
  • Longer version of report, here.
  • The Combatants of the Islamic Revolution faction issues a declaration in which they inform the public that their participation in the Revolution Day rallies in Iran does not mean support to the current government, but is a sign of protest against disqualification of their candidates for parliamentary elections.
  • Commander in chief of the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij to members of the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces: “Support to the principalist [faction] is a divine duty.”
  • Spokesman of the Council of Guardians claims the only reason Ali Eshraghi, grandson of Khomeini, was disqualified as a parliamentary candidate was because he had not documented his academic background.
  • Mehdi Khaz’ali, disqualified candidate, demands justice: “The fact that the writer of this letter has been disqualified with reference to the first clause of Article 28 of the Law on Elections, which is ‘lack of belief and practice of Islam, and lack of belief in the Islamic Republic as a regime, is in practical terms an accusation of apostasy which has grave legal and theological consequences, such as a license to kill, prohibition against marriage with such a person, etc…Therefore I demand the authorities to proof the fact that I in deed am an apostate, or revise their decision.”
  • After the widespread disqualification of reformist candidates to the Iranian parliament, Agah-Sazi’s political analyst classifies the remaining candidates in three main groups: (1) Reformist principalists, (2) Practical Principalists, (3) Centrist principalists.
  • Mohammad-Javad Larijani stresses the necessity of a unitary list for principalist candidates to parliamentary elections.
  • Ayatollah Nour-Mofidi, representative of the Supreme Leader in Golestan: “Disqualifications to the parliamentary elections can’t be defended under any circumstances.”
  • Ali-Reza Marandi, former minister of health: “The list of candidates is like a stew! With a spoon in their hands they sometimes consider you qualified, and at other times not!”

Political: General

  • Vice speaker of the Iranian parliament: “The very fact that former members of the [reformist-dominated] Sixth Parliament are still alive is due to the clemency of the Islamic Republic.”
  • IRGC chief Ja’fari says “Principalism” is the “logical end of revolutionary thought,” and warns against “counterrevolutionaries.”
  • Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former president and current chairman of Assembly of Experts and the Expediency Council, threatens certain individuals with publicizing revelations: “I was not the only one who had heard the Imam say it no longer is necessary to chant the slogan of ‘Death to America!’ …At the time of Grand Ayatollah Montazeri’s dismissal, we told the Imam that we don’t have any substitutes for him… and the Imam pointed at Mr. Khamenei and said, let it be him… And Mr. Khamenei said, please, declare it haram [religiously impermissible] for us to disclose this affair, and the Imam said it is haram.”
  • Famous preacher Seyyed Mehdi Tabataba‘i: “Those who did not play any role in the revolution have taken over the power in Iran.”
  • Raja launches new accusations of espionage against former nuclear negotiator and Rafsanjani protégé, accuses elderly sociologist Ehsan Naraghi of past “espionage for SAVAK.” Also accuses academics Janet Afary and Ali Banuazizi of being “advisors to Ashraf Pahlavi,” the twin sister of the Shah of Iran.
  • Agah-Sazi commemorates the “extreme simplicity” of the life style of Supreme Leader Khamenei at the time he was president of the Islamic Republic.

Military and Security

  • Yahya Rahim Safavi, former commander in chief of the the Revolutionary Guards and security advisor to Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: “The enemy faces total defeat in Iraq…U.S. defeat in Iraq and Saddam’s defeat in the hands of the Islamic Republic should serve as deterrence to everyone [harboring evil intentions against Iran.]”
  • Basij declares its willingness to “answer U.S. aggression” at Monday’s Revolution Day demonstrations in Iran.
  • Islamic Republic of Iran Army Chief: “Our advances in the military field have angered the enemy.”

Economy and Trade

  • IRGC chief Ja’fari referring to the IRGC’s contracting army (Khatam al-Anbia): “Developments of the South Pars Gas Field is a proof of our strong management.”
  • Mowj news agency reports of rising rice prices in the Iranian market ahead of the Iranian new year (March 21, 2008).

Religion, Culture, and Society

  • Jahan reports of spread of “Satanic graffiti” in both poor and affluent neighborhoods.
  • Theological seminaries dispatch 5,000 preachers to Iranian schools in a renewed Islamization scheme planned by the Ministry of Education.
  • Two high ranking officers of the Revolutionary Guards demand a “Second Cultural Revolution” in Iran’s university. During the first “Cultural Revolution” (1980-1981) universities throughout Iran were purged of most western educated professors and scholars.
  • The newly appointed dean of Tehran University, Farhad Rahbar considers economic reforms his most important goal for the development of the university.

Diplomacy

Human Rights and Labor

  • Quoting Bahai sources, Amir Kabir reports increased persecution of Bahai’s in Iran.
  • Young Turkmen fisherman injured during shootout between Coast Guard and alleged poachers in the Caspian Sea.
  • Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to pardon prisoners on Monday (Revolution Day).
  • Mother of imprisoned labor activist Mansour Ossanlou releases open letter to mothers of imprisoned university students: “As the mother, whose innocent son is imprisoned without any reason, I have this message to all mothers: A worker is a dignified person who has nothing for sale but his work. Therefore, such a person must enjoy all human rights. I beg the mothers of all imprisoned students not to abandon the struggle for freeing our sons [and not abandon the fight] for their inalienable civil rights.”
  • Seyyed Ahmad Khatami delivering Friday Prayer sermon: “Not a single person is imprisoned because of criticism of the regime.”
  • Amir Kabir reports Bakhtiar Rahimi, imprisoned labor union activist who has been in solitary confinement for the past seven months, and is currently being held in 209 section of Evin prison, is in critical condition.
  • Analyzing the latest round of unrest in the Tehran University campus area, Iranian student activist Farid Hashemi expects “More intervention of the Disciplinary Committee at Tehran University.”

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