Tehran's Daily Newspaper Review
Saturday was what Iranians call bein-ot-ta’tilein, an Arabic phrase meaning “between two holidays”, that is, Friday, the official weekend, and Sunday, the 15th of Hijri lunar month of Sha’ban, the birthday of the 12th Shi’a Imam, Mahdi (AS). Most Iranian newspapers took a day off and will publish again Monday.
Iran's top headline was Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's remarks in the opening ceremony of two industrial projects in Eastern Azerbaijan province. The president stated that “the government will keep moving in the bright path of velayat and justice, adding that “those who shout against the government are the ones whose hands have been cut off from the country’s treasury”. Meanwhile, director general of Keshavarzi (Agriculture) Bank –affiliated with the Ministry of Agriculture- promised a “transformation in the agricultural sector with the injection of 500 million dollars” of financial facilities.
The top headline of Jomhouri-ye Eslami was a bitter remark by the Conservative chieftain Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani, head of the Assembly of Experts, who asked the Principlists “not to tear the Revolution like a prey among themselves”. Ali Larijani, speaker of the parliament and Qom MP, who represents the marja’s –religious leaders- of Iran's religious capital as a key group of his constituents, stated that “the goal of intellectual typhoons is to detach the people from religious scholars”, an implicit reference to the Sufistic undertone of Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei’s religious remarks.
Kayhan reported Minister of Intelligence’s ‘disclosure’ in his speech in yesterday’s Friday prayers in Tehran that “creating political gap and hollow tensions is the West’s new scenario against Iran”. For Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani’s remarks, Kayhan preferred to choose a less pessimistic headline, namely his statement that “Principlists will reconstruct the 8th parliamentary election model” for the upcoming parliamentary poll in early winter 2012. In a speech in the southwestern city of Ahwaz, Kayhan’s Editor-in-chief Hossein Shari’atmadari spoke of the chronology of West’s attempted ‘velvet coup’ plots against Iran paved by intellectuals such as Richard Habermas, Richard Rorty and Michael Ignatieff, who visited Iran during the Reform era.
Shargh covered the second anniversary commemoration of the victims of the Kahrizak detention center. Families of the victims insisted that they will follow the case until the trial of the main perpetrators of the crime. Shargh also reported comments by the Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi that the 2009 post-election Fetneh has not diminished and it will use any opportunity to undermine the Nezam. Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi’s office also denied remarks attributed to the influential former supporter of Ahmadinejad that he still believes in the president.
* Note: Vatan-e Emrooz does not publish on Thursdays.
Trouble with understanding some terms? Check our Glossary of Iranian Political Terms.
Briefing
Hamshahri (Citizen) is the official daily newspaper of Tehran's Municipality. Its general directions in politics, culture and economy are determined by the mayor of Tehran, currently Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.
Iran is the official organ of the administration.
Jomhouri-ye Eslami (The Islamic Republic) was known as the official organ of the Party of the Islamic Republic, founded in 1979 and disbanded in 1987. Currently, it is an open critique of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's policies and is known to be a mouthpiece of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Kayhan (Universe) is a hard-line conservative newspaper. Its editor-in-chief –currently Hossein Shari’atmadari- is appointed by Iran's Supreme Leader. Shari’atmadari’s editorials often spark off controversy and debate inside Iranian political circles.
Khabar (News) is a principlist daily newspaper which adopts a critical stance towards Ahmadinejad's policies.
Resalat (Mission) belongs to the moderate wing of the principlist camp. Resalat’s best known analyst is Amir Mohebbian, its political editor.
Shargh (East) is a moderate reformist newspaper. It was the most popular and influential reformist newspaper in its first period of publication which lasted from August 2003 until September 2006.
Tehran-e Emrooz (Tehran Today) is a ‘principlist reformist’ newspaper, connected to Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.