Selected Headlines

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. You can follow our news feeds on Twitter.

Ahmadinejad wants millions to quit Tehran over quake fears

AFP | April 11, 2010

At least five million Tehran residents need to relocate elsewhere because Iran's capital sits on several fault lines and is threatened by earthquakes, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday.

"We cannot order people to evacuate the city... but provisions have to be made. At least five million should leave Tehran so it is less crowded and more manageable in case of an incident," Mehr news agency quoted him as saying.

Ahmadinejad said the government could offer "land, loans at four percent interest and substantial subsidies" in the provinces to encourage Tehran residents to leave the sprawling capital.

Tehran province has nearly 14 million inhabitants, eight million of whom live in the city which straddles several fault lines. Experts warn that a strong quake in Tehran could kill hundreds of thousands of people.

Ahmadinejad said that 67 percent of Iran's 74-million-strong population lives in urban areas.

"We cannot predict when an earthquake will happen. But if anything happens to Tehran province's 13.8 million residents how can we manage that?" he asked.

Iran lifts ban on prominent pro-reform daily

Wapo | April 11, 2010

A prominent pro-reform daily reappeared on Iranian newsstands on Sunday after a three-year ban that reformists saw as an attempt by hardline rulers to silence critics of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Sharq was closed by the Press Supervisory Board, run by the Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry, in 2007 for publishing an interview with a "counter-revolutionary" poet abroad.

"The Sharq newspaper hit the stands again on Sunday... It will mainly pay attention to cultural and social issues," the semi-official ILNA news agency quoted the daily's editor-in-chief Ahmad Gholami as saying.

Critics say the closure of pro-reform newspapers is part of a gradual squeeze on political opponents and a clampdown on cultural activities the authorities see as encouraging "corrupt" Western values. The government rejects the accusations and says it does not censor the media.

Request to lift ban on Etemad daily rejected

Asr Iran | April 10, 2010

Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi said the request to lift the ban on the daily newspaper Etemad was rejected.

"The legal complex handling the case of this newspaper has rejected the request to lift the ban on it," Dolatabadi told ISNA.

"This paper's case is being heard in the government employees prosecutor's office," he said.

Ershad deputy criticizes prayers leader

Tabnak | April 10, 2010

The deputy for cinematic affairs at the Ministry of Islamic Guidance and Cultural Affairs issued a response to Hojjatoleslam Ahmad Alamolhoda after the Mashhad Friday Prayers Leader criticized Ershad's decision to lift the ban on a number of films.

"I heard that your Excellency delivered a fiery sermon and took a hard-line stance toward some of the cinematic policies of the Culture and Islam Guidance Ministry," Javad Shamaqdari said in a letter. "I was greatly surprised to see that your Excellency took such a stance without first hearing the justifications and explanations behind the Guidance Ministry's decision on the matter.

"Mr. Ahmadinejad's government is not the Reform government in which the opinions and contacts of the Friday Prayers Leaders are ignored. I, as the deputy minister in cinematic affairs, can be reached with a phone call to answer any question, and, if necessary, to discuss the matter face to face.

"Is it really acceptable to disturb the minds of thousands of worshipers about their Principlist, pro-[supreme] leadership government when it is possible to learn more about an issue with a simple phone call or an in-person meeting? It is not far fetched that after learning more about the matter you would not be passing judgment in such a fiery fashion?

"Your Excellency Ayatollah Alamolhoda, it is a source of pride for me and my colleagues to be the soldiers of the Leadership. Why is there insistence to distort the image of these servants of the people in the minds of the faithful? Which groups and movement will benefit from the planting of such doubts?

"I close by praying that God will soften the hearts of all the real servants and loyalists of the establishment toward one another and make peace between them."

Explosion rocks Ilam prison; two convicts still at large

Tabnak Asr Iran | April 10, 2010

An explosion outside the central correctional facility of Ilam city injured 16 citizens, and 3 military servicemen and helped 3 convicts to break from prison.

The explosion took place while prisoners were in the courtyard. Mehr News Agency reported that the explosives used in the incident was TNT.

"Two of the three convicts on the loose were murderers and one was on death row," said Alireza Babaei, the head of Ilam Prison affairs. "The convict was to be executed when the explosion this morning destroyed the prison wall and helped him flee."

"The third convict was serving time for inability to pay alimony and he was arrested within hours of being on the run," he said.

He added that efforts to capture the two others were ongoing.

Arabsorkhi returned to prison

Parleman News | April 10, 2010

Fezollah Arabsorkhi, a high-ranking member of the Islamic Revolution Mojahedin Organization, returned to Evin Prison on Saturday after his request for an extension of his leave from prison was rejected.

"This morning they called my father from Judge Salavati's office and informed him that his five-day leave was over and my dad has to return to Evin Prison," Sajedeh Arabsorkhi told Parleman News.

She said no reason was given for the rejection.

Arabsorkhi was granted a five-day leave from prison on April 5 after spending nine months in detention.

Khatami, Sadouqi grave desecrators arrested

Asr Iran | April 10, 2010

Fras News Agency reported that four people have been arrested in connection with the desecration of the graves in Yazd. Sources claimed that the acts of desecration were intended to revive the opposition movement.

"This move was completely organized and aimed at launching psychological warfare in order to revive the sedition movement of 2009 (1388)," Fars quoted an unnamed source as saying.

Two of the four detainees were reported to be illegal immigrants from neighboring countries and the other two convicted "thugs" from Kerman Province, the report alleged.

Pro-Green media outlets charged that those who splashed the graves of Ayatollahs Rouhollah Khatami and Mohammad Sadouqi belonged to the camp of their critics. But Fars News Agency said that "the detained individual has a political record and was a Reformist activist during last year's election.

"In his initial confession, he confessed to having cooperated with this political movement during the election and in the incidents following the election. He stressed that in order to carry out his mission he had cooperated with the Reformist figures of the province."

According to Fars, this individual has also confessed to having received money to carry out this mission.

The other detainees also allegedly confessed to having received money for their services and of having intended to carry out similar acts against the graves of other revolutionary figures. According to Fars, the suspects confessed to receiving orders from Tehran via email and telephone.

Hadi Khamenei meets with Mousavi nephew's family

Parleman News | April 10, 2010

Hojjatoleslam Hadi Khamenei, the Supreme Leader's brother, visited the family of Seyyed Ali Mousavi, who was killed on Ashura.

According to the Kalameh website, Khamenei underscored his longstanding relations with the Mousavi family and described dedicating two martyrs to the revolution as an indication of the spiritual greatness of the family. Mir Hossein Mousavi's other nephew and Seyyed Ali's brother were killed during the eight-year Iraq-Iran war.

China exporting Persian handicrafts to Iran

Tabnak | April 10, 2010

A flood of Chinese replicas of Persian carpets, handicrafts and other items on the Iranian market has reportedly sent shock waves throughout the country.

"Based on eyewitness reports from handicrafts markets in Isfahan, many of the handicrafts of this city have been replicated and imported from China and have reached a point where merchants are selling these replicated handicrafts," according to Iran Eqtesad.

These merchants say that the low cost of these replicas are the main reason for selling them. They say that these replicas are so close to the original items that many buyers cannot tell the difference between them.

Iran appoints new Norway ambassador

Asr Iran | April 11, 2010

Seyyed Hassan Rezavani was appointed as Iran's new Ambassador to Norway.

According to the Foreign Ministry's press relations office, Rezvani was appointed as the new envoy to Norway upon foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki's suggestion and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's approval.

Rezvani has previously served as the director-general for women's international affairs and human rights, Iranian chargé d'affairs in the Czech Republic, and foreign ministry advisor.