Iranian media outlets and websites have been commenting on the latest report from International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohammed ElBaradei, claiming that it includes numerous positive points that support Iran's arguments that its nuclear activities are designed for peaceful purposes, and publishing in detail the clauses that allegedly confirm the IAEA's tight monitoring of the Iranian nuclear facilities. For his part, Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltaniyeh, said that the new report "proves" that Iran is a responsible state that upholds its obligations in the framework of international laws and procedures. Any additional demands from Iran, Soltaniyeh added, would be "unreasonable and impossible to implement." 2. Speaking today to residents of the Zanjan Province, Iranian President Ahmadi-Nejad said: "The government is committed to defending national unity, and it will chop off the hand of anyone, from home or abroad, who tries to undermine national unity and create rifts in it. The Iranian people will chop off the hands and legs of anyone who tries to violate its rights."
3. Responding to comments about direct negotiations with Tehran that were made recently by an advisor to U.S. president-elect Barack Obama, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Motaki said that Iran was taking note of the American statements but was waiting to examine the U.S. positions after Obama takes office.
4. U.S. forces in Iraq have announced the arrest at the Baghdad airport of a senior member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps' Quds Force who was involved in the shipment of arms from Iran to Iraq.
5. The first Asian Mayors Forum opened in Tehran yesterday, with the capital's mayor participating in the opening ceremony alongside Iranian President Ahmadi-Nejad and the conference's honorary guest, former France prime minister Dominique de Villepin.
6. Under the headline, "The mass murderer from Israel receives British honor," the Conservative-affiliated Kayhan daily is carrying a report on the honorary knighthood that Israel President Shimon Peres is set to receive from Queen Elizabeth II of England.
1. The Basij Forces' public relations chief has announced the launch of a Basij Forces "hot line" designed to strengthen ties among Basij members and their commanders and senior officials. Basij Week is set to open in Iran next week, and Basij units under the IRGC will be participating in numerous events throughout the country.
2. Former Iranian defense minister Ali Shamkhani claims to have initiated the country's Sijjil missile program and says he was offended by the fact that his name was not mentioned at all when the new missile was launched recently.
1. Ahmadi-Nejad has criticized people (an allusion to Expediency Discernment Council Chairman Hashemi Rafsanjani) who have defined the government's economic policies as "the nurturing of poverty and wretchedness." There was an aspect of justice and social decency to his government's economic program, Ahmadi-Nejad said, adding that the subsidies-distribution program would continue and that the government would also be instituting an economic revolution in the field of production by means of privatization processes.
2. Iran's energy minister has reported progress in talks with the World Bank about a new loan for the purpose of developing sewage systems in a number of the country's provinces. The new loan would come over and above the $65 million that Iran is set to receive from the World Bank.
3. According to the deputy speaker of the Majlis, Iran's foreign currency reserve balance is in good shape. The deputy speaker also said that the government and the Majlis had begun talks to determine the oil price for next year's budget.
4. Iran's economics minister has commented on the banks' excessive withdrawals from their profits, stressing that the banks' expenses were larger than their revenues and that this was the main factor influencing the rise in inflation in the country.
5. Iran's Central Bank has stressed the need for healthy and proper competition among the banks with regard to the enlistment of sources of capital. The banks were warned, however, that they do not have the right to sign contracts for long-term capital deposits without the approval of the Central Bank.
6. Iranian websites are reporting that the U.S. Treasury Department has warned the UAE to cease its cooperation in the field of banking with Iran.
7. An Iranian economic delegation comprising representatives of the Trade and Agriculture ministries, the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, the private sector, companies providing technical and engineering services and others left this morning on a visit to Kurdistan.
8. A government circular distributed among all government entities calls for energy-saving during the winter months. Among other instructions, the various government offices have been directed to turn off their heating systems one hour before the end of the work day.
1. Addressing the General Seminar for Prayer Affairs, Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has stressed the need for erection of mosques at the country's underground, train and inter-city bus stations, as well as the airports. Khamenei also called on the relevant officials to amend their travel schedules to suit prayer times so as to allow travelers to pray before their journeys.
2. Iran's general prosecutor, Hojatolleslam Dari Najaf-Abadi, has commented on Khamenei's call for a determined fight against drug smuggling, noting that smugglers and criminals should not get leave from prison. According to Najaf-Abadi, drugs and organized crime have become a grave problem in the region and combating them requires a heavy hand and preventative measures such as increased security along the borders.
3. A motorcyclist who had been "snatching purses" from pedestrians in northern Tehran for quite some time was arrested today by police who, to their astonishment, revealed the thief to be a young woman dressed in men's clothing. She told investigators that she and her sister lived with their drug-addicted father and were forced to provide for themselves by stealing in this way.
4. The affair of the "Imam's mobile grave" has sparked a storm in Iran following the posting by a blogger of a picture of a mobile grave, on the back of a truck, with a sign indicating that it is the grave of the son of one of the Imams. The picture, which also shows people surrounding the grave and praying, has been slammed by senior Iranian religious figures who have issued vehement calls in recent days for a fight against superstitions that undermine the image of Islam.
5. Human rights activists are reporting the disappearance some five days ago of Kurdish minority student Rahman Rahim-Pour. In all likelihood, the activists say, he has been arrested by security forces.
6. Fifty-one Baha'i youths from the city of Shiraz who were detained by security forces some two years have been slapped with a one-year suspended sentence and have undertaken to attend Islamic propaganda lessons for a period of three years. The youths, who have been taking the classes for the past few months, claim that the lessons severely undermine the Baha'i faith and ideology; they were promised, they say, that the classes would focus only on discussions about the Aluki religion and its principles.
7. Two Kurdish singers, Ali Hosseyni and Mohammad Zarifian, have been charged with disseminating anti-regime propaganda. The two were arrested after participating in a memorial ceremony for a singer who was connected to anti-revolutionary groups in Iran.
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