Diplomacy
- (E) Iran sets preconditions for talks with United States:
- (1) U.S. Forces must leave the region
- (2) U.S. must abandon all support for Israel
- Commenting on the proposed establishment of a U.S. interest section in Tehran, political analyst Amir Mohebbian urges the political decision-makers to manage strategic issues like Iran-U.S. relations not at presidential level, but through a special council of the elites of the Islamic Republic.
- Asr-e Iran reports failed assassination attempt against Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottakki in Pakistan.
- The Islamic Republic builds medical clinics in Bolivia.
- Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega considers the financial sector crisis in the U.S. a “divine punishment.”
- Asr-e Iran reports desire of the Saudi government to conduct major changes in sectarian composition of Shi’a-dominated Western province.
- Ahmadinejad claims the “U.S. will soon begin to plunder Africa.”
- Zanzibar president visits Tehran.
- (E) Larijani to visit Switzerland, Finland.
Military and Security
- Mashhad Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Alam al-Hoda used his sermon to interpret the Supreme Leader’s statement that the Iranian Armed Forces are the symbols of the might of Iran: “The armed forces don’t belong to the periphery, but are the very core of the regime… Anyone who attempts to weaken this regime is flirting with polytheism…and what the Lord [the Supeme Leader] means is that our religious duty is to bow to the regime and its armed forces…the enemy is pursuing a soft regime change policy against us…”
Religion, Culture, and Society
- The Interior Ministry enforces prohibition against water pipes in restaurants and Coffee Houses.
- Ayatollah Javadi Amoli demands Islamization of science as a pre-requisite to Islamization of the universities.
- According to ISNA’s Health and Medical News Service, 40 percent of Iranian couples suffer from “sexual ailments…a fifth of all divorces are because of chronic sexual problems…with the slightest medical treatment the problem can be solved….”
Politics
- The Interior Ministry has drawn the map for the 31st governorate of Iran: Alborz.
- Hojjat al-Eslam Mehdi Karrubi officially announces his candidacy for presidential elections, stressed the need for monitoring of the vote, demanded that “one should not speak of intervention of the enemy [the U.S., Israel, and the like] in the elections, promised to be truthful.
- A number of parliamentarians, in an open letter, demand resignation of Interior Minister Ali Kordan.
- Former interior minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi, head of the Investigations Bureau, demands a public trial of Abbas Palizdar.
- The Student Basij, usually supportive of Ahmadinjead, criticizes his recent policies, and especially invoking the Supreme Leader for minor political affairs, the resignation of cabinet ministers, the censoring of news agencies, the use of a CIA middleman [an apparent reference to Houshang Amirahmadi] without protest, and stagnant living standards.
- Tehran Law Enforcement Forces chief commander Radan to be promoted, Ahmadi-Moghaddam to take his place.
Economy
- Alef News Agency discusses the Value Added Tax against which the bazaar has staged strikes.
- Executive director of the Industry and Mining Bank says $5 billion will be transferred to the industrial sector.
- Exchange rate now 10,000 rials to the dollar.
Trade
- According to the Wall Street Journal, Iran and UAE oil and gas company Crescent sign agreement on Iranian natural gas exports to the United Arab Emirates.
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