[(E) signifies English link]
Trade
- Tabnak News reports “suspicious activities of Chinese merchants in Iran.” According to Tabnak a Chinese economic delegation is visiting Iranian factories, urges them to stop production in Iran and start production in China.
Economy
- Tabriz Bazaar still on strike in protest of Value Added Tax.
- Kayhan discusses postponement of introduction of the Value Added Tax.
- Parliamentarians protest against how secret the status of Iran’s foreign currency reserves is.
- Chief public investigator Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi accuses the government of unauthorized cash withdrawals from the foreign currency reserve.
Politics
- Speaking to the Friday prayer leaders of Iran, Supreme Leader Khamenei claimed major [Western] ideologies insufficient to solve the spiritual needs of man. See also Rafsanjani’s statements.
- Karaj to become a province?
- Interior minister Ali Kordan’s impeachment postponed.
- E’temad Melli publishes an issue examining the candidacy of Mehdi Karrubi.
- Kayhan stresses differences of opinion in the reformist camp.
- War veteran Mojtaba A’laayee to be appointed Kohkilouyeh va Boyer-Ahmad governor.
- Ahmadinejad’s trips to the provinces made into a documentary.
- Parliament abandons attempts to separate the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization from the presidency.
Religion, Culture, and Society
- Shi’a News publishes statistics on Shi’a worldwide.
- Hojjat al-Eslam Nabavi, deputy chief of propagation at the Elmiyyeh Seminary, warns against “increased sectarian activism in Iran.”
- Shi’a News reports torture and execution of Shi’a prisoners in Saudi Arabia.
- Tabriz Friday prayer leader Shabestari warns against “spread of Satanism in Iran.”
- According to Shi’a News, Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr will continue his theological studies in Qom.
- Morteza Moqtadayee, dean of the Elmiyyeh Theological Seminary of Qom: “The false Imams of the Era, who even appeared in clerical robe, have made a huge source of incomes…” Warning against those who claim to know when the Imam of the Era will emerge, Moqtadayee said: “Even the Imam of the Era said he did not know when he would emerge…”
Diplomacy
- Tabnak News Agency, close to former IRGC chief Rezai, accuses the United States of seeking to transform Afghanistan in to a “new Andalusia” by “conversion of the Afghans to Christianity…and corrupting the Afghans morally.”
- Kayhan accuses the United States of making a deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
- Speaking with visiting former statesmen in Tehran, including Kofi Annan, Ahmadinejad said there would not be regional security until non-regional powers [i.e., the United States] leave.
- (E) Kofi Annan is backdrop for demand U.S. leave Persian Gulf.
- Khatami receives foreign dignitaries at his conference on religious tolerance.
- (E) Western officials come to Khatami’s religious dialogue conference
- Shahab News surveys anti-Iranian propaganda in Iraqi newspapers and television.
- Rafsanjani warns against “British attempts to take our scientists from us,” elaborates upon the “long history of British colonialism” and praises Mosaddeq.”
- The Revolutionary Guards mouthpiece Sobh-e Sadeq weekly assesses regional affairs: 1. “[In Egypt] 300 members of the Jama’at al-Islamiyyah Jihadist organization who were involved in Sadat’s assasination have recently been freed from imprisonment. 2. Saudi Arabia is spending considerable amounts to propagate Salafism in Egypt and other countries of the region and even supports the Egyptian government in the recent economic crisis. The two countries have otherwise been historical rivals…3. Sheikh Qaradawi…forgets all about other problems and contributes to Shi’a/Sunni divide…4. The U.S. is improving relations with the Taliban…5. Palestinian groups are becoming more radicalized, even in Syria…6. Bahrain’s foreign minister…has called for a regional security order including the Arab states, Turkey, Iran and Israel…This all shows U.S. defeat in its attempts to isolate Iran.”
- (E) Hassan Kazemi Qomi, IRGC Qods force member and ambassador to Iraq, says U.S. anti-Iran propaganda is futile.
- Sobh-e Sadeq refutes Saudi Al-Jazeera’s claim that the Islamic Republic utilizes its embassies in Arab states to “propagate Shi’ism.”
Military and Security
- Military service in “normal areas” reduced from 20 to 18 months and in ”unprivileged areas” from 17 to 16 months.
- Sobh-e Sadegh produces religious arguments for compulsory military service.
- E’temad Melli publishes a report on reorganization of Ansar-e Hezbollah vigilante group.
- Hojjat al-Eslam Ali Sa’idi, representative of the Supreme Leader in the Revolutionary Guards, explains the fundamental principles of the ideological and political indoctrination in the Guards.
- New Law Enforcement Forces commanders appointed.
- Tabnak reports increased Mossad activity in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq, areas bordering Iran.
- Iranian Army protests against documentaries shown on Iranian Television which downplay the army’s role in the war effort.
Media
- Kuwait to start a 24-hour Persian language television channel called JALIAT.
Nuclear Issue
- (E) Iran hails progress in Bushehr nuclear plant.
Photo of the Day
- Gilan province
