(Thanks to Ali Alfoneh for his compilation)

Diplomacy

Economy and Trade

Military and Security

  • Military jet on fire at Mehrabad Airport.
  • According to Deutche Welle, U.S. warships fire warning shots above Iranian vessels in the Persian Gulf.
  • According to Asr-e Iran, pictures of the latest Iranian ballistic missile resemble a North Korean produced missile.
  • According to BBC Persian, the perpetrators of the blast in a Shiraz mosque which left 12 killed and more than 200 wounded have not been identified and no group has taken responsibility. More.
  • Photos.
  • Deputy chief of the Law Enforcement Forces of the Islamic Republic, Abbas Mohtaj claims the incident at the Seyyed Al-Shohada Hosseiniyeh in Shiraz was accidental. This statement is backed up by the Chief of Law Enforcement Forces of Fars Province, who claims the site has earlier hosted an exhibit on the ”Sacred Defense” [A reference to the Iran-Iraq war 1980-1988] at which “some ammunition was left unguarded and under poor conditions.” These statements are contradicted by Hojjat al-Eslam Anjavinejad, the main speaker of the mosque, who claims the incident was result of a “terrorist bombing.” Anjavi-Nezhad added: “Some try to depict this incident as an accidental affair to create a false image of security in the city, but we think it is very probable that the Wahabis and the Bahais are behind this explosion.”
  • Commander of Shiraz says it is inappropriate to use the word “martyr” about those who lost their lives at the Shiraz explosion incident, since according to the commander the explosion, is definitely not an act of terror.
  • Asr-e Iran considers the claim that the Shiraz incident was an ”accidental explosion” to be “highly improbable.”
  • Darabi, deputy general director of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting is surprised by the question of Iranian journalists on why the Shiraz bombing has not been reported by the state media. “Was there really no reporting of this incident? I am surprised,” he said at a press conference.
  • For more reporting on censorship of the incident in the state-run media, see here.
  • The Kurdish terrorist group PEJAK warns the Islamic Republic that they will retaliate in Tehran for any Iranian attacks against their positions in northern Iraq.
  • Two members of a terrorist organization are executed in Zahedan.
  • IRGC Commander Rashid claims the first president of the Islamic Republic denied the possibility of Iraq attacking Iran prior to the 1980 Iraqi invasion, but the founder of the Islamic Republic, Grand Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini had predicted the invasion.

Politics

  • The right is critical of the announced cabinet reshuffle which entails dismissal of Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi, minister of interior.
  • According to Asr-e Iran, Iranian minister of interior Pour-Mohammadi will not be dismissed.
  • Iranian parliamentarian, Akbar A’lami whose candidacy for parliament was rejected by the Council of Guardians, delivers a major speech from the tribune of the parliament challenging the right of the Council to dismiss candidates and exposing irregularities during the latest round of parliamentary elections in the Islamic Republic. A’lami started his speech by saying: “Somewhere I was reading that ‘Freedom is born out of justice, is sung by the means of thought and its poem is engraved on the walls of prison.’ That it is ’abolished when enforced by the foreigner, and dictatorship transforms it into a piece of bread.’ Despite the words not being mine, I firmly believe in this, and my speech today is another manifestation of this belief… George Orwell’s satirical book, Animal Farm and Briton’s important book on revolutions present a good case [for why some revolutions deviate from their original goals.]… According to this document [the Constitution of the Islamic Republic], the founders of the Islamic Republic have guaranteed that no authority is allowed in the name of securing our independence and preserving the territorial integrity of the country, to diminish legal freedoms, not even through legislation…”
  • Fatemeh Rajabi, wife of the government spokesman (and justice minister), attacks the rejection of the right of the members of Council of Guardians to have multiple official positions.
  • Influential Kayhan editor Shariatmadari (close to the Supreme Leader) asks Ahmadinejad” since when has changes of a couple of ministers been considered innovation?” with reference to the Supreme Leader´s designation of this year as the year of “Blossoming and Innovation.”

Religion, Culture, and Society

  • Iranian author Ali-Ashar Darvishian: “The only thing I dream of is the abolition of censorship.”

Nuclear Issue

  • IAEA General Director Elbaradei and head of the Iranian Nuclear Energy Agency, Aghazadeh´s meeting cancelled without explanation.
  • With regard to the former nuclear negotiator: Mohammad-Nabi Roudaki, member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Iranian parliament: “I said from the very beginning that Mousavian is innocent.” The Iranian minister of intelligence: “From the very beginning I knew that Mousavian is a spy.”
  • New Iranian proposal forthcoming to 5+1 in Shanghai. (English)
  • Ahmadinejad: Iran will share nuclear technology with all nations (English)

Human Rights and Labor

  • 600 civil rights activists demand freedom for Khadijeh Moghaddam, imprisoned women’s rights and environmental activist.
  • Rajab-Ali Shahsavari, head of the Contracted Union Workers of Iran says 50,000 Iranian workers have lost their jobs since the last days of the year 1386 (prior to March 20, 2008.).
  • Human Rights Watch warns against torture of imprisoned Iranian student activists.
  • Akhbar Rooz reports of strikes continuing among at the Haft Tapeh sugar cane plant in Shoush and among workers of Alborz Tier Company near Tehran. The strikes are a protest against lack of payment to the workers. More here.

Photos of the Day