Selected Headlines

Press TV | Jan. 4, 2010

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday that the Iranian nation would not give up on its rights as it is more than "tenfold stronger" than it was a year ago.

Addressing Iranians residing in Tajikistan, where he is on an official visit, Ahmadinejad said Iran is now so powerful that it even plans to demand compensation for its rights that were violated in the past.

In December 2009, he promised to seek compensation for the damages Iran sustained during World War II.

The Iranian president's remarks came after an Israeli official claimed that the United Nations Security Council plans to adopt new sanctions against the country over its nuclear program due to the unrest in Iran.

Three security personnel killed by 'insurgents' in west Iran

Siasat Rooz | Jan. 4, 2010

Three officers of the Law Enforcement Force were killed by members of an insurgent group in Mahabad.

Two days ago, some Law Enforcement Force officers had gone to Goltapeh village in Mahabad Township at about 7 p.m. to investigate a reported accident and were shot dead by an insurgent group. Two others were injured.

The shootings were under investigation.

Leader's rep meets with Mousavi family to offer condolences

Farda News | Jan. 4, 2010

A representative of Iran's Leader met with the family Ali Habibi Mousavi Khameneh, who was killed in the Ashura protests, to convey Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei's message of condolence.

According to Jahan, there is also the possibility that after Ali Habibi Mousavi Khameneh's assassination is proven, he will be proclaimed a martyr.

Farda claimed that earlier a high-ranking Iranian official said, "I knew the deceased well, he was a religious person and while he could have been a critic [of the establishment] he was not against the establishment."

Ali Habibi Mousavi Khameneh was opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi's nephew.

Iran claims foreigners arrested in Ashura unrest

Press TV | Jan. 4, 2010

Iranian Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi says that "several foreign nationals" have been detained during the last week unrest.

"Some of the detainees are foreign nationals pursuing propaganda and psychological warfare," Moslehi told reporters on Monday, IRIB News reported. "They had entered Iran only two days before Ashura. Their cameras and equipment have been confiscated."

The minister did not mention the number or the nationalities of those arrested.

Monarchists, Marxists behind Ashura unrest

Press TV | Jan. 4, 2010

Marxist and monarchist groups outside Iran's boundaries have been behind last week's riots in the capital Tehran, the intelligence ministry says.

Members of the Iranian Intelligence Ministry and the Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission met Sunday to examine the anti-government unrest that broke out during Ashura ceremonies marking the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein.

"In the session, the main elements of the recent unrest in the country were examined and intelligence officials responded to questions of the lawmakers," Mohammad Karimi-Rad, a member of the commission, said on Monday.

The members of Iran's intelligence apparatus, the lawmaker continued, concluded that the violence on the day of Ashura was coordinated by "monarchist groups and Iranians residing outside the country."

"Baha'i and Marxist groups were also represented," he said, adding that security forces had arrested four people connected to anti-revolutionary Marxist groups.

Safai-Farahani refuses 10-day jail break over overdue verdict

Rahe Sabz | Jan. 4, 2010

Member of the Islamic Iran Participation Party and the Iran Commerce Chamber, Mohsen Safai-Farahani, refused to use his 10-day leave from prison in protest to the lack of progress in determining his fate.

According to the Kalameh report, Safai-Farahani has said he will refuse to go on a break from prison until he is acquitted of all charges or is released on bail.

Safai-Farahani has been incarcerated for six months without having been handed a sentence. While Safai-Farahani's court hearing has concluded, he has yet to receive the verdict.

Earlier, 22 former economic officials had requested that Safai-Farahani's fate be determined immediately.

Reyshahri wants to resign as Leader's hajj rep

Asr Iran | Jan. 4, 2010

The Leader's representative in Hajj and Pilgrimage Affairs said he had asked Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei to relieve him of his duties.

"Considering my research activities, I have asked the supreme Leader to appoint another person as his representative in the Hajj Organization," said Ayatollah Mohammad Mohammadi Reyshahri.

"I have had the honor of representing the leader in Hajj and Pilgrimage Affairs for 20 years and I have asked him twice to appoint another person as his representative in this field, but he did not accept. I have recently asked again and I hope he will accept this time."

"Presently, I am preoccupied with research activities which only allows me to tend to the Hajj and Pilgrimage affairs one day a week and given that hajj is a major activity and requires the person appointed as the Leader's representative to devote more time to tending to its affairs, I hope that [my request] will be met with approval [this time]."

IRIB to make Iranian-style 'Lost' show

Tabnak | Jan. 4, 2010

The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting said that airing the popular American series, "Lost," is not in line with its policies and that the broadcaster would be using the plots of "Prison Break" and "Lost" to make an Iranian series.

"Twenty episodes of the series [Lost] was sent to IRIB and it was approved to be aired within the coming years," said IRIB deputy Morteza Mir-Baqeri.

He added that about 24 episodes of the series had been "cleansed" [gone through the censoring process].

"Seda Sima [IRIB] will not waste its cleansing [censoring] and dubbing capacities on series like 'Prison Break' and 'Lost.'"

Mirbaqeri added that instead, the IRIB would be using the plots of the two series to make an Iranian series.

Report of Khomeini family's move to Najaf 'rejected'

Asr Iran | Jan. 4, 2010

Farda claims that the Khomeini family has strongly dismissed reports about immigrating to the city of Najaf in Iraq.

Earlier reports had suggested that the Khomeini family was adamant on leaving Iran for Iraq in a show of protest over the present situation of the country.

Press Roundup provides a selected summary of news from the Iranian press, and excerpts where the source is in English. The link to the news organization or blog is provided at the top of each item. Tehran Bureau has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. Please refer to the Media Guide to help put the story in perspective.