- According to Mehr News Agency, all 16 members of the Law Enforcement Forces kidnapped by Jundallah have been killed.
Politics
- Joint meeting of the Association of Retired Public Servants with the Social Welfare minister and parliamentarians ends in chaos after some among the retired public servants sing the nationalist anthem of Iran, Ey Iran Ey Marz-e Por-Gohar [O Iran, the bejeweled frontiers], during which all officials leave the meeting.
- Rafsanjani at the Kargozaran technocratic faction’s two day seminar: “After the Constitutional Revolution, the political parties were not so strong. Today there is a great need for party politics and large parties in Iran. The greatest problem after the Constitutional Revolution was the lack of political parties which led to the annihilation of the Constitutional movement in the hands of Reza Khan [the founder of the Pahlavi Dynasty]… Without political parties administration of the country has become much more difficult.”
- Alef News Agency considers lack of political parties the greatest problem in relations between the government and the parliament.
- Former president Mohammad Khatami: “The situation that we are going through does not correspond with what we deserve… Our nation has sought a country which enjoys an elevated position in the world; a country in which Iranians enjoy better opportunities, freedom and progress; a country which reaches a position of strength and advancement which not only helps the country to neutralize threats, but transforms them into opportunities…”
- Zainab Society general secretary Maryam Behrouzi demands more competent governance.
- Hassan Rowhani says he has still not decided whether to run for president, and welcomes a broad alliance in favor of “Reformist Principalism.”
- Kargozaran technocratic faction general secretary Gholam-Hossein Karbaschi says political liberalization is the only way to prevent concentration of power and authoritarianism.
- Members of the Student Basij at Sharif University invite Ahmadinejad to the university to answers their questions in person at a panel discussion.
- Ayatollah Ha’eri Shirazi, representative of the Supreme Leader in Fars: “Had it not been for [support of Ayatollah] Hashemi [Rafsanjani] the [Ahmadinejad] government would have shut down this university.”
Military and Security
· Vice president Parviz Davoudi says capitalism is collapsing like communism, and adds: “the military missiles produced by indigenous Iranian forces are terrorizing the entire world.”
· According to Mehr News Agency, all 16 members of the Law Enforcement Forces kidnapped by Jundallah have been killed.
· Iran stages naval war games in the Persian Gulf.
Economy
- Reza Abdollahi, chairman of the Plan and Budget Committee of the parliament: “As long as we rely upon our national wealth and oil revenues, not even $500 per barrel oil can solve the problems of the country… We know from experience that one can’t administer a country with oil exports…We need to develop production… No reward is greater than private ownership which stimulates production.”
- Finance minister Shams al-Din Hosseini: “Momentary rise of prices is not the same thing as inflation.”
- Central Bank reports rise in price of eggs, rice, beans, fresh vegetables, red meat, and sugar in Tehran.
Trade
- Hormozgan governor Abd al-Al Saheb Mohammadi says foreign investments in Hormozgan over the past 15 years have surpassed $14 billion.
Religion, Culture, and Socierty
- Majid Omidi, director-general of the Cultural Directorate of the National Youth Organization, says the family is no longer the only source of upbringing for the youth, that Iranian youth think religiously but act in a secular manner, and that ”all deviances of the world have their own followers among the Iranian youth.”
Public Health
- On World AIDS Day, an HIV-positive young man in Tehran told Radio Farda that Iranians “are not well-informed about AIDS because there is little education.” As a result, he says, society looks at those infected with the disease as guilty of something terrible
Diplomacy
- (E) Iran asks Finland to extradite two Mujahedin al-Khalq members.
Photo of the Day
