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  • (E) Russia opposes new sanctions.
  • Ahmadinejad declares his readiness to participate in a debate with U.S. presidential candidates.
  • (E) In English.
  • (E) UNICEF nominates Iranian state broadcaster’s children’s program for award.
  • Speaking on the Meshayee affair, Ahmadinejad says:
  • “Our position with regard to the Zionist regime is crystal clear. We have never recognized this regime. This regime is the root of corruption in the region and was created as a threat to the nations of the region, and the nations of the region do not recognize this regime…
  • The Zionists are in positions of power internationally, have monopolized the international media and propaganda machinery, and portray an image of being in a majority in this world. Their being Jewish is a big lie, since they are a bunch of irreligious liars of this world…Not only is the idea of ‘Greater Israel’ dead, the ‘small Israel’ is also dead, and more fundamentally, the very idea of Israel is completely dead…
  • I advise you [the Israelis] to stop from doing injustice and abandon the land of Palestine and pursue you own life. You have done criminal deeds for sixty years. Repent and allow the Palestinian nation to decide its destiny with its own hands…This is the right of the Palestinian nation to defend itself and counter the occupiers, but the words of Mr. Mashayee are the words of the cabinet.
  • Our nation and nations [in general] have no problem with people. We do not know any state belonging to the Zionist regime. We do not recognize a state called the Israeli state. But we do distinguish between the people who have been brought there with lies [to function as] protective shields, and the network of the Zionist regime…We are compassionate people. We are even compassionate when it comes to Bush.
  • If we say something, it is out of compassion, not motivated by vengeance, because we are against injustice…
  • Our attempts in the Holocaust issue serve the purpose of showing the true Holocaust [in Palestine]…
  • I do appreciate the sensitivities of the parliament with regard to the Mashayee affair, but I must say that Mr. Mashayee is innocent. He has never said the Israeli nation. Mashayee has been [active] in the revolutionary scene since he was eighteen years old and his position is the position of the cabinet.
  • Khamenei at the Friday prayers : “The informed and awakened Iranian nation will come to the streets this year at the Qods Day to defend the rights of the wronged innocent people of Palestine along with other freedom seeking Muslim nations…The Hamas government in Gaza is a legal and popular government which has taken office through the ballot, but those claiming to represent civilization and democracy, ignoring this fact, support the crimes and tough actions of the Zionists…The Iranian nation has no problem with the Jews, Christians and followers of other religions, but statements that we are friends with the people of Israel like all other peoples of the world is wrong, since they confiscate land and belongings of the Palestinian nation are partners in crime of Zionist authorities and confiscators of Palestine. This strong position is the official position of the [Islamic Republic] regime…Such statements are now history…”
  • (E) More, in English.
  • Vice President Mashayee writes an open letter to Supreme Leader Khamenei immediately after the Supreme Leader’s Friday prayer sermon in Tehran: “…I am convinced about the annihilation of world Zionism and find it within our reach.”
  • The Islamic Republic Broadcasting to show a documentary about Ahmadinejad’s speech at Columbia University.
  • Iranian-American academic Houshang Amirahmadi urges Ahmadinejad to make a deal with the United States if he wants to be reelected as president of the Islamic Republic.
  • The Non-Aligned Movement expresses support for the Islamic Republic in the nuclear issue.
  • (E) Quaker organization, American Friends Service Committee, to fete Ahmadinejad.
  • (E) [Previous Rubin/Gershowitz op-ed on AFSC]

Politics

  • According to Al Hayat, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will win the 2009 presidential elections.
  • In the internal bulletin of the Moshrekat reformist party, a certain Azar Mansouri says Ahmadinejad came to power with the help of the “garrison party,” failed to deliver on economic promises and will probably also tell the voters that he wanted to distribute cash among the citizens, but was hampered in the effort by “others.”
  • Agah-Sazi pulishes Seyyed Morteza Mobbalegh’s recommendations to the reformist camp ahead of the presidential elections.
  • Office of Former President Khatami refutes rumors that Khatami is not running for the 2009 presidential elections.
  • Presidential candidate Hassan Rowhani ridicules the Ahmadinejad government’s “claims of having contacts with the Imam of the Era.”
  • Ahmadinejad calls the Iranian parliament’s attempt to separate the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization headed by Vice President Meshayee from the presidency “contrary to the constitution of the Islamic Republic.”
  • Semnan general-governor Ali Abdollahi details his implementation plans development in Semnan.
  • According to Baztab Online political deputy at Ministry of Interior, former Revolutionary Guard commander Ali-Reza Afshar will soon resign from his post and current governor general of Tehran Kamran Daneshjoo will take his place. Former East Azerbaijan general governor Me’marzadeh rumored to be slated to take over as governor general of Tehran.
  • Deputy Interior Minister Afshar says he has not resigned from his post.

Trade

  • Sistan va Balouchestan governor Ali Mohmmad-Azad discusses exports from his province.

Economy

Religion, Culture, and Society

Military and Security

  • Commenting the United Arab Emirates’ decision to construct a pipeline reducing the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz, former chief of the Revolutionary Guards (and current secretary of the Expediency Council) Mohsen Rezai says that Iran’s threats of closing the Strait does create regional insecurity:
  • “Our defense in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf stabilizes the security of the Persian Gulf. If we are attacked and we don’t respond this will not produce security in the region. It is our defending the Strait which creates security and stability. Therefore, if we move in a defensive direction with regard to the Strait of Hormuz and the broader security and stability of the region it would not be a threat towards anyone. Our discourse is the discourse of stability.
  • We will counter anyone who wants to disrupt the security of the region… It is possible that disruption [of the flow of oil out of the Strait of Hormuz] will bother us [in Iran], but the global implications of it would harm those who started the crisis even more…
  • It is enough to give the wrong signal to Mr. Bush and he thinks that in case he enters this fight, it would be as swift as Afghanistan and Iraq. Such flawed information must not reach Mr. Bush. It has to be explained to him that Iran possesses deterrent capabilities. In such a way, both parties reduce the threat of misreading.
  • In case Iran truly is capable of closing the Strait, it is better that the U.S. or [any other] counter part not to be surprised, and this must be explained to them [the U.S.]. When this capability is explained to the U.S. or any other party, the counterpart will make better calculations in its game theory and will end up making he right decision.
  • But it is important for us to think about how we communicate this message. Our rhetoric is not offensive nor adventurous, and I favor not alarmism or offensive rhetoric, but calm rhetoric…
  • During the past two years, Mr. Bush decided to attack Iran or devise harsher sanctions, but Iran’s correct moves foiled those attempts…If the wrong information reached Mr. Bush [about Iran’s capabilities] grand events would have evolved in the region. On the other hand, Iran used a stratagem based on preserving calm and stability of the region which was very effective…
  • Our disputes with the United States are not about developing a nuclear capability at all, and the Americans are well aware of this. The discussions they start mostly serve the purpose of making an atmosphere in which they can squeeze us more.
  • Another matter is cheap oil, which is important for the Americans, and I think we should pursue rational reasoning [in this case.] High oil prices, or very cheap oil does not serve our interests.
  • Law Enforcement Forces kill an unknown number of “armed villains” in Sistan va Baluchistan province.
  • Tehran public prosecutor Morazavi says a more intensive phase of the “societal security scheme” will start after the end of Ramadan and will target hooliganism.
  • Former defense minister Shamkhani says “some people who did not even participate in the war have become the experts of the Iran/Iraq war…One must protect the culture of the holy defense against corruption.”
  • Basirat News publishes a report by Radio France (Persian service) on the Revolutionary Guard’s Navy.
  • Kuwaiti coast guard arrests six Iranian citizens in a boat in Kuwait territorial waters.

Human Rights and Labor

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