(Thanks to Ali Alfoneh for his compilation)
Politics
- Friday prayer leader of the city of Khorramshahr says the parliamentary elections in the city were “fraudulent.”
- The Revolutionary Guards clarifies its position on Guards’ intervention in politics in a short paper displayed on the IRGC’s homepage.
- Officials say that Principalist/Conservative win in the parliamentary election demonstrates support for Iran’s nuclear program.
Diplomacy
- Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in a letter to the U.N. General Secretary accuses the EU-3 of “harming Iran and Iranian interests” and demands compensation.
- Foreign Ministry spokesman protests fingerprinting of Iranian pilgrims on Iraqi border.
- Agahsazi hails White House display of Haft-Sin, an Iranian new year tradition. Political editor of the Partov-e Sokhan weekly, Qasem Ravanbakhsh says accuses “the enemy” of causing disunity among the Muslims.
- Speaking in Moscow, Zarghami, the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, claimed Iran and Russia have enjoyed “excellent” relations for the past 400 years despite territorial expansion of imperial Russia at the expense of Iran.
- Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak will not allow the Islamic Republic to join the Arab League.
- Commander Jazayeri of the Revolutionary Guard says cooperation between the countries of the Persian Gulf “blinds the eyes of the enemy.”
- BBC Persian depicts Bahrain as a “U.S. dam against Iranian influence in the region.”
- Diplomasi-ye Irani publishes a survey article on Iran-Pakistan relations under Pakistani president Bhutto.
- French president Sarkozy says France’ nuclear arsenal aims at deterring states like the Islamic Republic.
- The Islamic Republic applies for membership of the Shanghai Pact.
- Iraqi border authorities shut the Shalamcheh checkpoint and Basra checkpoint between Iran and Iraq.
Economy and Trade
- Iranian economist Bahman Arman says the Islamic Republic is spending oil revenue on increased imports, rather than investing it as the Arab states of the Persian Gulf do.
- Deutsche Welle suggests infusion of oil revenues into the Iranian economy is one of the major causes of high inflation.
- The Islamic Republic to expand radio and television cooperation with Russia.
- Two Indian oil and natural gas companies invest $20 million in oil fields in Iran.
- In English.
- Iran’s oil exports at highest level since Revolution.
Religion, Culture, and Society
- Former minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ahmad Masjed-Jame’i describes his meeting with Grand Ayatollah Sistani in Iraq and reflects the interest of the Grand Ayatollah in the works of Iranian religious revolutionary intellectual Mottahari.
- According to Raja News, “Muhammad” is the most popular name in England in 2008.
- 7 Sang magazine rates the 7 best publications of the Iranian year 1386, which just ended.
- Abdol-Ali Bazargan delivers commentary on the Iranian religious innovator Abdol-Karim Soroush.
Security and Military
- General Mohammad-Ali Ja’fari, commander in chief of the Revolutionary Guards, says the task of stopping and searching cars and individuals in Iran has been given to the Law Enforcement Forces.
- Islamic Republic of Iran Law Enforcement Forces will enforce order on the roads and highways with intensified patrolling.
- Asr-e Iran says more “invisible control” is to be expected as undercover police patrol in unmarked vehicles.
- British newspaper The Sunday Times says a certain Fakhrizadeh, professor at the Revolutionary Guards’ Imam Hossein University, is the Islamic Republic’s “Abdul Qadir Khan.”
Human Rights and Labor
- University students in Shiraz and Mashhad meet families of imprisoned student activists who have celebrated Nowrouz without their loved ones. Pictorial account.
- Mahmoud Salehi, imprisoned head of the baker’s guild, goes on hunger strike.
Photo of the Day