Tehran's Daily Newspaper Review

“The best defense is a good offense.” Iran proved its genuine belief in the adage publishing a banner headline which, amid the heaviest attacks against the government for the 3 billion dollar embezzlement scandal, read: “Abuse of Tehran Municipality’s resources upsets gold and stock exchange market.” According to the government’s organ, Jahan Company affiliated with City Bank –Tehran Municipality’s bank- has created its own economic backyard through which it has engaged in gold brokering. The newspaper did not miss the chance to attack another major obstacle to the government, namely the parliament, over the controversial bill which proposes regulatory and corrective measures for members of Majles. Ahmadinejad's meeting with Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan was also covered in arge by the newspaper.

Jomhouri-ye Eslami reported Majles setting off probation of the financial turnover of trade agencies linked to the 3 billion dollar bank fraud. Minister of Economy Shamsoddin Hosseini will be also impeached by the MPs as the major accountable figure for the scandal, the newspaper reported. Universal suffrage in Saudi Arabia, terrorist explosions in Karbala, Iraq and Hashemi Rafsanjani’s meeting with the leader of Medina’s Shi’a community were also covered by Jomhouri-ye Eslami. In the newspaper’s editorial, “The Wounded Dictator and the Tattered Rope”, Jomhouri-ye Eslami warned the Yemeni dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh about clinging to the Saudi Arabia support to repress his own nation.

Kayhan’s top headline came from Burhanuddin Rabbani’s last interview, in which he maintained that “the younger generation of the Muslim World follows Ayatollah Khamenei.” The Wall Street protests and crackdown on Shi’as by the Saudi regime were also covered by the newspaper.

Resalat focused on Mohammad-Javad Larijani (another member of the powerful Larijani family who hold two out of the three powers) and his remarks in an interview he made with the Fars New Agency. “We should try to minimize astray thoughts in the parliament” Larijani stated, mirroring worries about supposedly covert plans of Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei and his inner circle to dominate the next parliament. Javad Larijani also added that Reformists are enemies of democracy and do not deserve running for the elections. “BBC has a Baha’i-Zionistic nature” Resalat quoted Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi, following the detention of five Iranian directors on charges of cooperation with BBC Persian. In the newspaper’s editorial, Saleh Eskandari warned the Principlists not to bask in the sweet memory of their consecutive electoral victories of the recent years and keep in mind that the voting pattern of the Iranian citizens is yet a mystery.

“Mashaei Returns” Shargh published with large fonts, to dismiss rumors that Ahmadinejad's right hand had planned to stay in New York after the UN General Assembly (for reasons which were food for analyses of the Iranian media during the recent days.) “Hashemi has no electoral activities” the newspaper quoted PR Office of the last bastion of Iran's former strongman, the Expediency Council, to add to the list of Reformist figures who have so far denied any plans to participate in the upcoming parliamentary election in winter. In Shargh’s editorial, Davoud Hermidas Bavand argued that even the recognition of a Palestinian state by the UN Security Council won’t change the situation significantly. The question is, Bavand argued, that: what is Tehran going to do if groups like Hamas defy Palestine’s statehood in its current proposed form?

“Minister of Economy, the First Victim of the Great Embezzlement” Tehran-e Emrooz reported. Some members of the parliament have already started negotiations to impeach the minister, mainly based on their assumption that the “Astray Current” has been involved in the scandal. Tehran-e Emrooz’ editorial took a cynical look at the recent reforms in Saudi Arabia, calling it another part of Washington’s solution to keep its closest allies in the region. Nevertheless, fundamentalist groups and the popular wave of “Islamic Awakening” may challenge the United States’ attempt to contain the regional upheaval, the editorial argued.

* Notes:

The editorial section of Iranian newspapers is not always the work of the editor-in-chief or the senior editorial staff of the newspaper, but can be a contribution by experts and politicians (typically agreeing with the newspaper’s political stance.)

Vatan-e Emrooz daily 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.