Speaking in Qatar where he is attending the 6th Annual Conference on Jerusalem, Ali Akbar Velayati, advisor on international affairs to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said that "the Palestinians' success and victory will only be achieved through resistance and a firm stance. The United States is the enemy of the entire Muslim world, both the Shia and the Sunni."
1. The Iranian Foreign Ministry has denied an Al Jazeera report on the uncovering of a plot to assassinate the country's foreign minister and the arrest of a suicide terrorist on the minister's arrival at the airport.
2. In a meeting with his Zanzibari counterpart, who is currently visiting Iran, Ahmadi-Nejad stressed that in order to save its crumbling economy, the United States will soon set its sights on Africa and begin to plunder its resources. Ahmadi-Nejad expressed willingness to develop and expand ties with Zanzibar in the fields of industry, technology, commerce and agriculture.
3. During his meeting with the French parliamentary delegation currently in Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Mottaki assessed that the U.S. hegemony in the Middle East was crumbling and was being replaced by a new force with new and reasonable ideas. Calling for a continuation of the nuclear talks in an effort to reach an agreement, the members of the French delegation commented on Iran's right to develop and possess nuclear energy for peaceful purposes in light of its membership in the International Atomic Energy Agency.
4. In a letter to the speaker of the Majlis, the head of the parliament's research center, Ahmad Tavakoli, called on all Majlis members who do not need the $100,000 grant they recently received to return the money to the state coffers. According to Tavakoli, accepting the grant if it is not required severely undermines the image and credibility of the Majlis members in the eyes of the public.
5. Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani is in Geneva to participate in an inter-parliamentary conference taking place in the Swiss city.
6. The head of the Iranian General Staff's Culture and Public Relations Division has declared that statements and articles that are being made and written by some individuals affiliated with the Reformist stream are undermining national Iranian interests; undermining the principles of the Islamic revolution was tantamount to undermining national security, he said.
7. Iranian websites are quoting a Washington Post report on the official opening of a U.S. diplomatic mission in Tehran within a month. According to the Post article, the move will lead to a warming of the ties between the two countries and lay the ground for future dialogue between the next U.S. president and Iran.
8. Speaking in Qatar where he is attending the 6th Annual Conference on Jerusalem, Ali Akbar Velayati, advisor on international affairs to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said that "the Palestinians' success and victory will only be achieved through resistance and a firm stance. The United States is the enemy of the entire Muslim world, both the Shia and the Sunni."
9. Deputy President Hoseyn Dehqan, who also chairs the Shaheed Fund, will travel to Algeria in four days' time to sign contracts and memorandums of understanding that have been put together in the wake of the Algerian Mujahideen minister's visit to Tehran.
10. In a meeting with the Iranian ambassador in Madrid, the chairman of Spain's official news agency spoke of his desire to open an office in Tehran in the framework of an agreement signed with the Iranian news agency.
11. Iran's new ambassador in Moscow, Mahmoud Reza Sejadi, has submitted his credentials to Russia's deputy foreign minister.
12. The leader of Lebanon's Free Patriotic Movement, Michel Aoun, considered one of Hezbollah's most important allies, arrived this morning in Tehran on a five-day visit.
13. A Kuwaiti newspaper is reporting that Lebanese President Omar Suleiman will visit Iran in December.
14. Addressing a press conference Sunday morning, Iranian National Trust Party leader Mahdi Karoubi announced his candidacy for next year's presidential election.
1. According to the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps' Command and Headquarters College, Ahmad Mohammad-Zade: "The experience Iran accumulated during eight years of war serves as the basis for its war doctrine in the future. This experience and knowledge are being taught today in the college. Regarding the threats Iran faces, I must say that Israel is only a potential threat and could never turn into a real one. Israel's small army failed against the Hezbollah organization, and Iran's missiles could undoubtedly make all its territory unsafe. The price that Israel will be forced to pay in the event of an attack on Iran will be very high, and Israel will not be able to meet it. As for the United States, I cannot say that it doesn't want to attack Iran, but there are factors that are preventing it from doing so – and one of them is Israel's security."
2. The commander of the Sarallah military headquarters has announced that training maneuvers, codenamed "Lovers of the Motherland," began Friday morning in the Tehran Province. The maneuvers are designed to boost the units' capabilities with respect to dealing with natural disasters, as well as their defensive capabilities.
3. The operations commander of the Basij Resistance Forces has announced the establishment of special Basij units that will undergo specific training and instruction in the fields of aviation, the piloting of light aircraft, the operation of ships, parachuting from helicopters and airplanes, combat motorbike riding and more.
4. During a visit to the army's naval units in the Hormozgan Province, Iran's deputy chief of staff declared that one of the army's designated objectives was to closely, precisely and continually monitor the activities of the enemy, to study them and to incorporate them into the studies of the army's units.
5. Mohammad Haqiqat-Far has been appointed commander of the 88th Armored Division of the Iranian Army's ground forces. The division's previous commander, Qolam-Ali Qolamalian, has been named commander of the army's Operations Headquarters in south-east Iran.
6. General Radan, commander of the Internal Security Forces in Tehran, has been promoted in rank and appointed deputy commander of Iran's security forces. Azizollah Rajab-Zade will replace Radan as commander of the Tehran Province.
7. The Tabnak website has sent out an warning to government institutions and organizations, advising them to stop using a specific modem, which, the site claims, is fitted with electronic components that relay all information that passes through the device to the manufacturing company, along with the information stored on the hard drives of the computers to which it is connected. The site says that despite warnings issued by the relevant authorities, only one of the large government organizations has taken action to put the modem out of commission. Due to the low price and performance capabilities of the modem, however, many government organizations continue to use it, the site claims.
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1. The head of the Iranian Businesses Union will hold a special meeting today with the director-general of the country's tax organization to conduct an in-depth review of the problems and reach an agreement with respect to the way in which to implement the VAT increase. Meanwhile, the commercial strike in the Tehran bazaar continues; and according to the Conservative-affiliated Kayhan daily, it is being orchestrated by enemies of the revolution. Official Iranian media outlets are claiming that the strike is politically motivated and that a certain political faction has forced the shop owners to close their businesses. Click here for pictures of the closed bazaar. Meanwhile, in light of the commercial strike in Esfahan, Tehran and other cities, a member of the Majlis' Industry and Mines Committee has announced that the parliament will reconsider the manner of implementation of the law to increase VAT, commenting: "The law did not enjoy good public relations, and the relevant information was not properly conveyed; therefore, it has sparked complaints and criticism. In order to reduce the complaints, we have decided to reconsider the manner of its implementation." Human rights activists are reporting that two prominent activists and Reformists from the market in Esfahan have been arrested because of the strike.
2. Points from an interview given to the Fars News website by economics affairs expert Aboalghasem Hakimi-Pour: At present, there is a lack of coordination between senior economics officials and the president's advisors on the matter, and this lack of coordination is the reason for the disputes that have arisen among policymakers such as the Central Bank and Economics Ministry and Ahmadi-Nejad's advisors; the president's advisors insisted that lowering interests rates would help to reduce inflation, but in practice, it led to an increase; the lesson that Iran should learn from the economic crisis in the United States is that lowering interests rates could lead to the collapse of financial and economic institutions; the establishment of a joint Central Bank-Economics Ministry team to examine the implications of the U.S. crisis is a positive and welcome move; the independence of the Central Bank is of vital importance with respect to solving Iran's economic problems, and the inflation problem in particular; as long as the government remains in control of the Central Bank, Iran will continue to suffer from a lack of order and serious problems in its financial institutions.
3. Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia have signed a joint memorandum of understanding on the construction of a rail line from Iran's northern cities to Azerbaijan. Under the agreement, signed in Baku, the project will involve the construction of a 360-kilometer-long rail line, of which 300 kilometers will pass through Iran. The rail line will speed up the transportation of goods between countries in South East Asia and Europe.
4. Urging the Iranian National Gas Company to prepare for any potential crisis on the matter, Iran's oil minister has stressed that his office is gearing up to cater for the gas needs of all sectors of the population through the coming winter. The minister also said that at the OPEC meeting in Vienna next month, Iran would submit a request to reduce oil production.
5. According to Iran's labor and welfare minister, there are some 2,200,000 unemployed individuals in the country. The minister said that the 23,000 projects currently under implementation would create around one million jobs for Iranian citizens.
6. The director-general of the National Iranian Gas Export Company has denied reports concerning the signing of a deal with UAE-based company Crescent, noting: "Iran will not be signing any contract if its interests in this field are not satisfied." The contract sparked an outcry in Iran after it emerged that the price stipulated for the deal was a lot lower than the true price of the gas. Iran's leading newspapers accused those involved in putting the deal together of receiving bribes from the UAE.
7. Fifteen people were injured in a fire that broke out at an oil refinery in Esfahan. According to a statement from the facility's general manager, the fire broke out in a section of the refinery that had been closed off a few days earlier for renovation purpose; in all likelihood, the oil in the pipes in that section of the plant, he added, had not been drained completely and this had caused the fire.
1. A "Beauty and Health" festival that has taken place over the past two in one of Tehran's northern quarters is featuring pictures of "half-naked" Iranian women and models advertising bridal dresses, cosmetic and beauty products, aesthetic surgery clinics and the like. Conservative websites are questioning how the festival was given permission to go ahead and why, after two days, is it still running.
2. Kambiz Hosseyni, one of the accused in the affair of Ayatollah Broujerdi (the Opposition religious figure who was arrested for calling for a separation of religion and state), was again summoned to the special court for religious figures and immediately arrested to begin the two-year sentence that was imposed on him. Aside from Hosseyni, another eight individuals involved in the affair face jail sentences of five years or two years imprisonment in exile.
3. Iran's Revolutionary Court has slapped a sentence of 3.5 years imprisonment in exile on Mehran Bandi Amir Abad, a Baha'i rights activist convicted of undermining national security and disseminating anti-government propaganda. Abad has also been banned from working in his profession (the computer trade) for a period of five years, during which time he will also be stripped of his civil rights.
4. The Tabriz University's Supervisory Committee has suspended Student Union activity at the institution for one year. The move comes in the wake of protests organized by the union last year.
5. Ayatollah Sobhani, one of the Shia sources of emulation, claims that the high divorce rate in Iran is the result of acquaintanceships between men and women at the country's universities. Sobhani says that men and women must be separated at the universities, despite the high costs involved in such a move. According to the ayatollah, marriages based on traditional introductions between the spouses will last the test of time.
6. Iranian officials have yet to release any information on the condition and fate of Saeid Moqanli, a prominent Azeri-minority poet and journalist who was arrested about a month ago during an Iftar meal along with 18 other Azeri activists. Also among the activists arrested was Hassan Rahimi, a member of the Human Rights Activists Committee, who is being held in Wing 240 of the Evin Prison.
7. American football is becoming a popular sport in Iran: Iranians who lived in the United States and then returned to their native country brought back their love of the sport, and a game that was held last Monday at a stadium in Tehran attracted a large number of fans.
8. Iran's two Olympic medalists will be immortalized in the form of statues in their image that will go on display in Tehran's "famous people park" that is currently under construction.
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