Diplomacy
- Tabnak releases the official statement of the Qods [Jerusalem] Day.
- Lebanese Hezbollah spiritual leader Mohammad-Hossein Fadhlallah slams negligence of “some Arab countries” of the Qods day.
- Nateq Nouri, substitute Friday prayer leader of Tehran, says “the Zionists have managed to have the U.S. Congress in their firm grip, along with control of European countries…but Israel is decaying…as Hezbollah is rising.”
- Speaking in Sari, Interior Minister Ali Kordan says Iran is a victim of terrorism and that “Iran’s fight against Israel is not ideological. It is simply our struggle for freedom and justice for the Palestinians.”
- Seyyed Ali-Akbar Mohtashami-Pour, former Iranian ambassador to Syria, who is also general-secretary of the Qods International Conference Supporting the Intifada of the Palestinian Nation, criticizes the position of Ahmadinejad government on Palestine:
- “One day we say Holocaust was a myth, the other day we say we want to investigate it…We want to support the Palestinians… but Vice President Mashaei’s statements [extending a hand of friendship to the people of Israel] is not separated from the policies and discourse of the government…This is what I call fluctuating policy…One must establish the charity of Sandogh-e Mehr-e Qods [Love of Jerusalem Charity] through which NGO’s can support the Palestinians. the government has not recognized such activities…”
- Shahab News publishes the speech of Rowhani on the occasion of the Qods Day
- Iranian president Ahmadinejad leaves New York.
- Czech Republic wants to open an embassy in Iran.
- (E) In English.
- (E) Ghana to open mission in Iran.
Nuclear Issue
- (E) Iran blasts IAEA.
- (E) Ahmadinejad defends Iran’s right to nuclear fuel.
Religion, Culture, and Society
- Friday prayer participants in Qom sign petition against “spread of Bahaism in Iran.”
- Ayatollah Sobhani urges the maddahs [religious praise singers] to show prudence and caution while practicing their art.
- “Wahabi” sites attack Iranians as “the people of Kufa,” those who abandoned the Caliph Ali [sic].
Politics
- (E) Iranians react to Ahmadinejad’s claims of Iranian support for theocracy: Iran’s vociferous two percent.
- Tabnak News Agency asks why assessment of authenticity of the doctoral degree of Interior Minister Kordan is classified.
Economy
- National Geographic’s assessment of water in Iran shows significant decrease in subterranean water reservoirs in Iran.
- Presidential candidate Hassan Rowhani warns against decreasing purchasing power of the Iranians.
- Tabnak News Agency publishes Tehran electricity blackout schedule for next week.
- Minister of Housing and Urban Development says the government will start issuing 10,000,000 Rial housing loans to the needy next week.
- Tabnak News Agency publishes letter of resignation of Tahmasb Mazaheri from his post as director-general of the National Bank of the Islamic Republic. Mazaheri mentions the government’s irresponsiveness to his policy advice as the main reason for his resignation.
- According to Shahab News Agency, former Central Bank general director Mazaheri’s letter proves that his resignation was due to the bank’s publication of unpleasant truths about the state of Iranian economy.
Trade
- The Islamic Republic to invest in Bolivian natural gas fields.
Military and Security
- (E) Iran to launch satellite with own rocket into space.
- Two Iranian citizens kidnapped in Herat, Afghanistan, are released.
- An Iranian Air Force officer Jamshid Qasemi imprisoned in Thailand for purchasing dual use material to be released from prison, will not be handed over to the U.S. authorities.
- Presidential candidate Hassan Rowhani discusses his role as a political commissar in the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force during the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988). Rowhani says that the Defense Council was formed before outbreak of the war, and that the statute of the Revolutionary Guards was ratified by the council prior to parliamentary ratification.
- Rowhani also says that Syria, North Korea, Bulgaria and Libya exported arms to Iran at the time of the Iraqi invasion. According to Rowhani, the war effort was directed by “Supreme Defense Council composed of the president, the prime minister, representatives of the Imam [Khomeini], Armed Forces Staff Chief and the minister of defense… After establishment of the Revolutionary Guards Ministry, the IRGC minister also participated in the meetings of the council, along with…Mr. Ahmad [Khomeini.]”
- According to Rowhani, representatives of Grand Ayatollah Khomeini in the Supreme Defense Council were the hojjat al-eslams Ali Khamenei and Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani…”
Photos of the Day
- Celebrating Jerusalem Day.