[(E) signifies English link]

Economy

  • Bahmani, director of the Central Bank: “In response to domestic recession and to stimulate production, the Central Bank will repay a 55,000 billion rial government debt back to the banking system… Melli Bank to which the government owes the most will receive 27,000 billion rials…”
  • Bahmani stresses that the relative isolation of the Iranian banks from the international banking system will shield it from the current international financial crisis, but declining oil prices will have significant effects on Iranian economy, and the Central Bank suggests a moratorium on the import of luxury goods to strengthen the foreign currency reserve.
  • Article, entitled “The wave will reach the Iranian shores too,” discusses immediate and long-term effects of global financial crisis on Iran’s economy. The author adds:
  • The continuation of global credit crunch will result in dramatic decrease in oil prices globally and will seriously hurt the Iranian financial system.
  • The government has set its budget on the basis that oil prices would reach up to $200/barrel, while the prices have reached a record low of $80/barrel due to the global financial breakdown. The government’s subsidy plan was designed as a result of such over-optimism about rise in oil prices.
  • Oil exports make 60 percent of Iran’s revenues. Iran’s Minister of Energy: “If OPEC does not take practical measures to stabilize oil prices, declining oil prices will seriously affect Iran’s economy.
  • According to recent statistics by Iran’s Central Bank, oil exports have decreased dramatically during Ahmadinejad’s administration. The drop in exports could be ascribed to an increase in domestic use. As a result, the United Arab Emirate has replaced Iran as the second largest OPEC oil exporter.
  • The Ahmadinejad government makes another $1 billion withdrawal from the foreign currency reserve to purchase natural gas for rural areas.
  • Central Bank Deputy Director Ramin Pashayee-Fam says “the price jump expected as an effect of the economic reform scheme of the government is not the same thing as inflation.”

Military and Security

Politics

  • Report quotes Interior Minister Ali Kordan as warning of security threats posed by expansion of civil society movements in Iran.
  • Kordan, who is being impeached by the parliament over his allegedly fake academic credentials, described democracy aspirant groups, human rights movements, cyber activists and the intelligentsia as part of social challenges that could jeopardize Iran’s security in future.
  • Saeed Jalili, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, also warned Friday prayers of new economic, cultural and media threats facing the country.
  • But Jalili also adds that Iran is prepared for all eventualities.
  • Kordan mentions the “ethnic challenge” as the “first challenge which could evolve into a security challenge.” Among other social movements, Kordan mentioned “ethno-nationalism, factionalism, democracy movements as opposed to rule of the people, secularism, internet movements, sick intellectual movements, superstition, environmentalism, feminism and modernism against tradition.” Kordan continued: “The human rights movement is also manifest.” Said Jalili, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, warned against increased level of threats against Iran.
  • Shiraz Friday prayer leader Mohi al-Din Shirazi warns parliamentarians against impeachment of Interior Minister Ali Kordan and urges them not to act just upon suspicion.
  • Moetalefeh faction’s Badamchian says the faction will not support candidacy of Mehdi Karrubi.
  • Deputy speaker of the parliament Hojjat al-Eslam Mohammad-Hassan Abou-Torabi, commenting recent strikes in the bazaars of Iran, warns the merchant class not to fall victim to conspiracies of the enemy.

Diplomacy

Trade

  • (E) Tehran mayor Qalibaf, meeting Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara and the Japanese foreign minister, urges Japan to invest in Tehran projects.

Public Health

  • AIDS Rate Increases: Following an Iranian Health Ministry announcement that the number of people infected with the AIDS virus has increased by 30 percent in the last year to 18,320, a former UNAIDS Officer for Iran tells Radio Farda the country has no dependable statistics for the number of those living with HIV/AIDS: “While developed countries usually document more than 80 percent of AIDS cases, in Iran only 20 to 30 percent are recorded.”

Religion, Culture, and Society

  • Student Protests at Shiraz University. A participant in protests against a lecture by Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani says the university was filled with security force, police and even fire department cars. Students chanted slogans against government policies when Larijani addressed Iran’s “scientific and nuclear achievements.”
  • Director Hatami-Kia, best known for his war movies, defends his latest controversial movie on abortion.

Human Rights and Labor

  • Sufis Arrested on “Political Charges.” Following another round of arrests targeting practicing Sufis (dervishes), a representative of the Nematollahi Gonabadi Sufi order says Iran’s rulers believe “whoever is not with me is against me… dervishes are not politically active against the regime, they merely follow their own master.”

Photo of the Day

  • 102nd and 104th divisions of the IRGC unit of Kohkilouyeh va Boyer Ahmad at desert camp.