According to the Conservative-affiliated Kayhan daily, Japan's selection over Iran for a non-permanent Asian seat on the UN Security Council is an unfair decision made under instruction from and with the support of the United States. The newspaper also writes that Tzipi Livni, "the foreign minister of the Zionist regime, arrogantly declared" that Japan's selection had spared the UN the disgrace of accepting Iran's candidacy. Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani's trip to Qom to meet with senior members of the religious establishment has been indefinitely postponed. Iranian websites are carrying reports meanwhile about Larijani's upcoming trip to Iraq to meet with senior Shia religious figure Ayatollah Sistani. Larijani, the Majlis member for Qom, is travelling to Iraq to convey a message to Sistani on behalf of the Shia sources of emulation in the city with regard to the security agreement between Iraq and the United States. According to the websites, following his Iraq visit, Larijani will go to Lebanon for talks with Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.
3. The Conservative-affiliated Fars News website is quoting "an Israeli website of dubious credibility" vis-à-vis an attempt on the life of the head of the Israeli Mossad, Meir Dagan, during his visit to Amman. According to Fars News, there have been conflicting reports on the outcome of the assassination attempt.
4. According to an announcement by the director-general of Iran's Management and Construction of Nuclear Plants Company, a number of Western countries are ready and willing to participate in the construction of the nuclear power station in Darkhovin. The director-general did not name the countries, but noted that the facility in Darkhovin, along the banks of the Karun River, would be a light-water nuclear power plant with a capacity of 360 megawatts.
5. The secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Abdul Rahman al-Attiyah, has announced that he will visit Tehran this month as a guest of the Iranian foreign minister to hold talks on the Iranian nuclear issue.
6. Former Iranian defense minister Ali Shamkhani, who now heads the Center for Strategic and Defensive Studies: "Israel is a camp made of glass and will certainly not be able to withstand Iran's crushing responses." Shakhani declared that Iran would not initiate any attack, but had the necessary means to respond to any treacherous and aggressive act on the part of Israel. Iran, he added, would leave Israel defenseless. Iran's chief of staff, meanwhile, made similar statements, commenting: "Mistakes can be rectified, but an attack on Iran would be an irreversible mistake; and we will not rest until we have totally destroyed anyone who tries to do so."
7. According to a Majlis member for Tehran, the parliament must require the government to prevent the sale in Iran of goods made by "Zionist" companies. The Majlis member said that some "Zionist" companies, such as Nokia, were currently doing well in the Iranian market and that the parliament must make plans to restrict their operations in the country.
8. Speaking at an officers' graduation ceremony, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that the Iranian people firmly supported the army and armed forces, and viewed them as an integral part of the nation. Commenting on what he defined as "the victory of the faith of the young Hezbollah Lebanon heroes over the armed Zionist army," Khamenei said that the victory was proof of the supremacy of the spirit over the body and that the young people of Iran should appreciate and value the strength of the Hezbollah fighters' faith and spirit.
9. Iranian President Ahmadi-Nejad's advisor has sent an open letter to Mohammad Khatami, harshly criticizing the former president for statements he has made and viewpoints he has expressed in recent weeks. Meanwhile, official Iranian websites are reporting that Khatami is set to announce shortly that he will not participate in next year's presidential election. According to the websites, Khatami's decision comes in the wake of charges by the former president that the post affords limited powers.
10. The president of the Kurdish autonomy in Iraq, Massoud Barazani, is expected in Tehran on Wednesday.
11. More governorship reshuffling: The governor of the Zanjan Province has been replaced, with Mohammad Raoufi-Zadeh named in his stead.
1. Yesterday saw the second phase of the "Lovers of the Homeland's Skies" aerial drill, which included testing of the newest methods of in-flight refueling in the dark.
2. Azeri minoriry websites are reporting that in the wake of increased activity on the part of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, the Party for the Free Life in Kurdistan, or PJAK, has also upped its activity in the area of western Azerbaijan. The websites are carrying reports on sabotage operations that are being carried out by the group, including attacks on Iranian vehicles and soldiers.
3. Quoting informed sources, the Jahan News website, considered the mouthpiece of the Iranian Intelligence Ministry, is carrying a report on the capture of a number of birds carrying spying equipment in the skies over the city of Natanz.
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1. Iran's OPEC representative has submitted a request to reduce oil production by 1-3 million barrels a day, citing the global economic crisis and drastic fall-off in the demand for oil as the reasons for his request. According to assessments by economists, in order for Iran to balance its budget, the oil price must stand at $70-75 a barrel at least.
2. According to an announcement from the director-general of Iran's Central Bank, the ongoing fall in oil prices will lead to a drop of some $54 billion in the country's foreign currency revenues. To overcome this problem, the director-general says, there is a need to encourage and boost exports of non-oil products; furthermore, he says, oil profits should go towards the field of financial infrastructure and not routine, day-to-day national operations and activities.
3. The National Iranian Gas Export Company has emphasized the need for the establishment of a joint Iranian-Bahraini investment company for the purpose of expanding cooperation in the field of the gas exports to Bahrain
4. Iran's deputy energy minister has warned that the supply of fuel to power stations during the winter is expected to encounter numerous problems. According to the deputy minister, Iran's lack of hydro-electrical power stations makes it very dependent on diesel and gasoline to produce electricity.
5. Iran's energy minister has expressed grave concerns regarding the water situation in the country, commenting that aside from Iran's northern regions, the country is in the throes of a serious water crisis. The minister said his office was looking for appropriate sites for the setting up of cloud-seeding stations.
6. The head of Iran's Privatization Organization has announced that the process of preparing the banks and insurance companies for privatization is in its final stages. He added that the process had run for longer than usual because of the special circumstances of these institutions.
7. The Roozna daily, which belongs to the Reformist National Trust Party, is carrying a report on a sharp increase in the cost of medicines in Iran. According to the newspaper, the prices of some medicines have risen recently by 50 percent, and the government insurance companies are not providing assistance to the needy as is required.
8. According to an announcement from the Central Bank, meat prices in Iran have risen 7 percent in the past two weeks. The Cattle Farmers Union says that the price hike is a result of the current drought and the increase in the cost of the feed for the livestock.
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1. The Office of the General Prosecutor has confirmed the directive from the Judicial Authority with regard to not imposing the death penalty on minors, clarifying, however, that it does not include murderers, who will face capital punishment unless the victim's family agrees to a prison sentence.
2. Radical Sunni groups have intensified their anti-Shia activities in the Bushehr Province, according to reports on Conservative-affiliated and religious websites. According to the websites, discs distributed recently throughout the province by the Sunni groups contain video clips and anti-Shia content designed to undermine the image of the Shia faith and present it as a violent and non-humanitarian religion.
3. The representative of Iran's supreme leader in the Hamedan Province has harshly criticized what he defined as "too much freedom" for the Iranian women, commenting: "The women enjoy too much freedom and this creates many social problems." He called on the women of Iran to take an example from Islam's holy women and not to lose their values.
4. In an open letter to Iran's spiritual leader from his jail cell, opposition religious figure Ayatollah Broujerdi tells of the harsh torture that he and his people are being subjected to, charging also that the Islamic revolution is no different to the Iranian monarchy that oppressed its opponents and turned the country into one big graveyard.
5. Political prisoner Dr. Saeid Maouri, whose death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, has been transferred from Tehran's Evin Prison to Gohardasht Prison in the city of Karaj. The Gohardasht facility is used to hold dangerous convicts.
6. Although Iranian authorities arrested Asha Momeni, an activist in the "One Million Signatures" campaign for women's rights, some five days, her family was informed only yesterday that she is being held in Wing 209 of the Evin Prison.
7. Hoseyn Rahim, a blogger and Azeri rights activist, has been released on bail following his arrest approximately month ago during an Iftar meal held by Azeri activists in Tehran. Four other Azeri activists remain in detention.
8. During the course of a four-hour meeting, President Ahmadi-Nejad promised Iranian directors and filmmakers to take action to solve the problems facing the Iranian film industry. Ahmadi-Nejad also promised to continue meeting with the filmmakers in order to discuss their problems and understand the difficulties they face.
9. Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami has announced a plan to establish a satellite television network designed to support inter-cultural dialogue. Khatami said that the only obstacle in the way of the plan was the financial cost and that he was working legally to obtain the required donations and funding.
10. According to the head of the Health Department at the Faculty of Medicine in Tehran, "Based on assessments, some 10-20 percent of Iran's population suffer from mental problems of varying degrees." A failure to fulfill the public's greatest wishes and social restrictions are major causes of depression and unhappiness in Iran, the department head says.
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