Tehran’s Daily Newspaper Review

30 October 2010 | 20:27 Code : 9135 Tehran’s Daily Newspaper Review

Tehran’s newspapers on Wednesday, 5th of Aban 1389; October 27, 2010.

Basirat, fetneh, khavass and avam. These are the keywords in Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s post-2009 election discourse, circulating widely among pro-Ahmadinejad citizens, Principlists, and moderate reformists. Fetneh, a Qur’anic term, describes a situation in which the distinction between the wrong and the right becomes difficult, as in the post-election chaos in Iran, in which many of the well-known figures of Revolution supported, whether overtly or covertly, the protestors and leaders of the Green Wave. To dispel doubts over the Nezam and to weather daunting situations, one needs to have basirat –insight or the power of distinguishing right from wrong. Ayatollah Khamenei has criticized some khavass, literally ‘the elite’, top political and religious figures of the country, for lacking basirat (or being bi-basirat –without basirat) during the chaotic post-election days and not supporting the Nezam to the extent it deserved. Nonetheless, avam, i.e. ‘the common people’, evinced their basirat after the election, according to Ayatollah Khamenei, by supporting the Nezam and showing their loyalty to Velayat-e Faqih.

Yesterday, in another speech in Qom, this time for the academia, Ayatollah Khamenei criticized some members of the elite for their continued lack of basirat and aafiat-talabi (circumspection) once again, and in stronger terms than usual, called the last year fetneh an act of subversion; one that was a sequel to the 1378 (1999) demonstrations in Tehran –triggered by the shutdown of Reformist newspaper Salam- and that was just a hint of the coming 2009 unrest.

Hamshahri

Cloudy Sky at Last; 8-Degree Fall in Temperature, Raining in 7 Provinces

Deputy Trade Minister [Hamid Alikhani]: Bread price to become realistic instantly

New Central Bank Directive: Tax debtors deprived from banking facilities

Iran

Pointing to the ‘88 Fetneh [2009 Post-election unrest], Supreme Leader of the Revolution in Meeting with Thousands of Youth, Students and Academia Warns: Continued lack of basirat by some figures unacceptable

Two Cases of Espionage [for Israel] on the Way to Trial

With Start of Fuel Injection in the Heart of Bushehr Reactor: Nuclear electricity in the national grid in Bahman [second month of Winter, 21^st of January- 19^th of February]

Jomhouri-ye Eslami

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Friendly and Enthusiastic Meeting with Thousands of Qom Province Academia Members: Completion of 30-year achievements the duty of the youth

Initiation of Fuel Injection in the Heart of Bushehr Atomic Power Plant Reactor

Kayhan

Supreme Leader of the Revolution in Enthusiastic Meeting with Students of the Qom Province: Circumspection and personal interests behind the silence of some ‘elite’ in the ‘88 Fetneh

Initiation of Fuel Injection in the Heart of the Bushehr Atomic Reactor

The Unspoken Words of Minister of Intelligence [Heydar Moslehi] about the Formation of the ‘88 Fetneh

Khabar

Supreme Leader of the Revolution in the Gathering of Qom Province Students: Continued lack of ‘insight’ unacceptable

Speaker of the Foreign Ministry [Ramin Mehmanparast]: Even the Westerners don’t believe in sanctions

Resalat

Supreme Leader of the Revolution in Enthusiastic Meeting with Qom Students: Last year’s Fetneh a subversion

Minister of Intelligence: People will cooperate [with the government] on the Purposeful Subsidies according to surveys

Tehran Prosecutor: 7 Cases of espionage under investigation

Shargh

[Head of General Inspection Organization] Pourmohammadi’s Hot Afternoon: Ahmadinejad presented no documents in his accusations [in electoral debate with Mir-Hossein Mousavi] against Hashemi [Rafsanjani]

Minister of Intelligence: We have to shape an atmosphere of intelligence security on the internet

Deputy Head of the National Confidence Party (1) [Rasoul Montajab-nia] Announces in an Interview with Shargh: We will resume the party’s activities

Tehran-e Emrooz

Supreme Leadership in Meeting with Qom Students: The 1378 [1999] incident and ‘88 Fetneh enemy’s plans

Minister of Intelligence: The ‘88 Fetneh had a twenty-year history

Vatan-e Emrooz

Leader of the Revolution in Enthusiastic Gathering of Qom Province Students Pointing to Middle-Term and Long-Term Planning of the Enemy against the Islamic Nezam: ‘88 Fetneh a subversion

Today in Conjunction with Leader of the Revolution’s Trip to This Province: Cabinet’s meeting in Qom

Minister of Intelligence Underscoring the Role of the Army: New details on seizure of [Leader of the Separatist Baluch Group, Abdol-Malek] Rigi

* Note: Khabar and Vatan-e Emrooz do not publish on Thursdays.

(1) National Confidence Party is the party founded by Mahdi Karroubi after his electoral defeat in the 2005 presidential elections. The party is at the ebb of its activities since the 2009 controversial presidential election.

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.

Vatan-e Emrooz (Motherland Today) -which started its publication in November 2008-, belongs to Mehrdad Bazrpash, the thirty-old pro-Ahmadinejad politician who is also head of Iran’s second largest auto manufacturer company, Saipa. Vatan-e Emrooz is a supporter of the president’s policies.