(Thanks to Ali Alfoneh for his compilation)
Politics
- Council of Guardians spokesman says the results of the second round of parliamentary elections in Tehran constituencies are correct; he disputes the reformist candidates who have questioned the elections.
- Parliamentarian Adel Azar says the gap between rich and poor has widened during the last parliament, and the government has not been able to fulfill its promises.
- Parliamentarian from Qaem-Shahr says people have become more impoverished during the last parliamentary session.
- Reformist candidates say they will abstain from voting during the elections for the speaker of the parliament for which Larijani and Haddad-Adel compete.
- Aftab-e Yazd editorializes: “What difference does it make (.pdf) for the reformists who becomes the speaker of the parliament?”
- Aftab-e Yazd editorializes: “This government came to power by promising to bring oil money into the tables of the people… but the kindness of the government has only reached foreigners… this government is capitulating to other littoral states of the Caspian Sea, giving up Iranian maritime territory… and taking British sailors hostage was another sign of the kindness of this government to foreigners…”
- Aftab-e Yazd editorializes: “The Iranian president writes to his spokesman of the government that we will face a difficult year…But who is responsible for the difficulties?”
- General Secretary of Mardomsalari Faction says the Hojjatiyeh secret society is aiming at the Line of the Imam [Khomeini].
- Seyyed Mostafa Mir-Lowhi, head of the public relations office of the Imam Sadeq University, disputes earlier reports that claimed Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani criticized the Iranian president during his ethics class at the university.
- For background, see May 12 Iran News Round Up.
- Amir Kabir University student journal publishes the names of executives under 30 years old, appointed by the Ahmadinejad government: Mehrdad Bazrpash, 25 year-old former Student Basij member at Sharif University. Massih Mashhadi Tafreshi, executive at Pars Khodro, born in 1981. Ali Saleh-Abadi, head of the stock exchange organization, born in 1979…
Media
- The press court declares Alviri, former editor of Hamshahri, guilty of charges against him.
Diplomacy
- Iranian ambassador to Syria: Israel’s demise is imminent.
- Mohammad-Reza Khabbaz, member of the central committee of National Trust reformist party: “Creation of Israel only served the purpose of creating a cancerous tumor in the body of Islamic society.”
- Speaker of the Iranian parliament Gholam-Ali Haddad Hadel: “Those who participate in the festivities of the Zionists are partners in crime of this regime.”
- Spokesman of the Judiciary says Iran will make charges against Great Britain and the United States for participating in the bombing in Shiraz.
- Saudi minister of foreign affairs attacks the Islamic Republic and Hezbollah with “harsh words,” blaming them for the latest conflict in Lebanon.
- Khedmat News Agency claims to have discovered “Saudi footprints in the Lebanese conflict.”
- Saudi minister of foreign affairs accuses the Islamic Republic of aiming at establishing a Velayat-e Faqih [Guardianship of the Jurist] regime in Lebanon.
- British ambassador to Tehran receives a demarche at the foreign ministry after a British court’s ruling on the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization.
- In English.
Religion, Culture, and Society
- Law Enforcement Forces to increase their enforcement of Islamic dress law in the summer months.
- 100 units added to the Law Enforcement Forces enforcing the moral Islamic code in Tehran. According to Commander Ahmad Rouzbehani, the units will be fighting “Western groups” such as “Satanists, rappers, etc…”
- The commander also warned against those who display such “alien symbols” on their dress.
- Five unknown soldier “martyrs” from the Iran/Iraq war to be buried on the Yazd University campus.
- The Islamic Republic inaugurates a women-only public park.
- Minister of higher education promises more government spending on student housing and university dormitories.
Economy
- The Islamic Republic will soon receive a $300 million loan from the World Bank.
- Sarmayeh warns of worsening inflation.
- Nine petrochemical plants and five oil refineries to be privatized soon.
- Heidar Mostakhdemin Hosseini, deputy director general of the National Bank, says the interest rate should increase to limit liquidity.
- Abrar Eqtesadi says according to the Fourth Development Scheme, the interest rates of the banks will be reduced to single digit, making it easier for the public to obtain loans.
- Deputy director of employment at the ministry of Labour and Social Affairs says those creating jobs will receive loans without presenting economic guarantees or credentials to the banking system. More here.
- Abrar Eqtesadi discusses the “economic surgery” announced by the Iranian president, speculates what such expression means, and warns against transformation of one of the major banks in the country into an interest free bank.
- Director of the Money and Banking Institute, Mojtahed says the ministry of housing will provide 250 million rials for each housing unit built.
- Mohammad Farbod, board member of the Dairy Products Association, says due to rising prices, half of the subsidies to consumers are lost in the market and never reach the consumer.
- Proposals from the ministry of trade to make the subsidies system more efficient.
- Abrar Eqtesadi comments upon the Ahmadinejad government’s proposal to pay cash subsidies directly to Iranian citizens.
- Support for the scheme from an economist from the Imam Sadeq University.
- Vice minister of trade says the rice market has stabilized.
- Abrar Eqtesadi says rice prices have increased with 40 percent.
- Kamal Daneshyar, chairman of the Energy Committee of the Iranian parliament, disputes the Iranian minister of oil’s confessions that the government has made unauthorized withdrawals from the National Iranian Oil Company’s foreign exchange reserve, and says the government has done nothing wrong.
- The agricultural sector is in a great crisis, Sarmayeh reports.
- Iranian economist Mohammad-Gholi Yousefi: “There is no political will to reform the economy.”
- Deputy minisiter of energy of the Islamic Republic says power shortages will be inevitable if there is no popular will to cut down consumption.
- According to the head of the Iran Statistics, 25.6 percent of Iranian youth in the age group 15-24 are unemployed.
- Colonel Hossein Sheikh-Taheri, Construction Basij chief in Semnan, claims 300,000 youth from the province are engaged in development projects.
Trade
- French Total: “We are still interested in activities in South Pars Gas Field.”
- The Islamic Republic considers using domestic contractors for development of South Pars Gas Field.
- Commenting on increasing grain imports, former minister of agriculture says Iran’s self-reliance has been artificial.
- Russian mobile operator to invest $4.6 billion.
Nuclear Issue
- The Islamic Republic’s ambassador to France: “Iran ready to study all proposals in the nuclear issue.”
- Ali Larijani: “Russia is pursuing her own interests, but let’s not make it [Russia’s endorsement of sanctions against the Islamic Republic” bigger than it really is.”
Military and Security
- The Revolutionary Guards’ Khatam al-Anbia Construction Base finishes its first advanced ideological/political workshop.
- Commander in Chief of the Revolutionary Guard: “Preservation and continuation of the Revolution is even more difficult than winning the revolution in the first place.”
- Institute of Science and Culture of Sacred Defense releases the first volume of an encyclopedia of the Iran/Iraq war, mostly containing translations of foreign reporting on the war. More here.
- Asr-e Iran quotes an Iraqi official who says the United States is engaged in espionage against the Islamic Republic via Iraqi boats.
Human Rights and Labor
- Imprisoned Kurdish student activists publish an open letter to the Iranian public.
- Sugar cane workers on strike.
Photo of the Day
- Night-fishing in Gilan
