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President-elect Hassan Rouhani may grab headlines in the West today after some defiant words on Wednesday at the “Veterans of Jihad and Martyrdom Conference”. Praising the valor of those who fought in the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, he continued:

Who is the Zionist regime to want to threaten us? It cannot truly threaten us and take military steps against this nation, due to the record of eight years of Sacred Defense. They know that if anything happens, the Islamic Iranian people will stand stronger with greater purity and greater courage.

Meanwhile, Masoud Jazayeri, the deputy head of the armed forces, wagged a finger at the US, blaming it for supporting Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and then declaring:

America has many debts to the Islamic Republic of Iran and has no choice other than to repay them….

There are many documents which indicate the serious presence of the Americans in planning and managing the sedition [protests after the dpsupted 2009 Presidential election], and the American government must answer public opinion regarding the implementation of this coup….

The resistance of the Syrian people and government against the foreigners’ greed and the enemies of Syria will bear fruit and the invaders have no choice but to retreat.

Jazayeri’s remarks played into another theme at the conference — the Iranian nation had unified around “moderation” with Rouhani’s victory in the Presidential election in June, thus defeating the US-led attempts at “sedition”.

Interestingly, this theme meant that those in the regime who had tried to block Rouhani and his patrons, former Presidents Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami, could now embrace them. Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani explained to the conference:

Five important statements by the Supreme Leader that created the public environment for the people’s maximum participation at the voting boxes include: naming this year as [the year of] political valor; announcing the lack of knowledge of the Leader of the revolution’s vote; declaring the lack of armed forces’ interference in or emphasis upon it; emphasizing the presence of every Iranian at the voting boxes even those who oppose the system, and; also the protection of the nation’s vote.

Of course, one must consider the role of intellectuals, especially Mr. Hashemi and Mohammad Khatami, who alongside Mr. Rouhani’s honest statements caused the voting boxes to be filled. We believe that this vote was a vote for change.


Latest Updates, From Top to Bottom

Glasgow Caledonian University Releases Footage Of Rouhani Receiving His Doctorate

Glasgow Caledonian University has released a 30-second clip of President-elect Hassan Rouhani receiving his doctorate in 1999. The younger Rouhani has a smaller beard, larger spectacles, and a terrible taste in footwear (like most people who survived the Nineties), but it is clearly him.

Ahmadinejad: Israel, “Hegemonic Powers” Want To Destroy Muslim World To Fix Their Economies

Outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — who earlier this month defended his Holocaust denial as a major accomplishment of his foreign policy — told an audience of foreign diplomats and ambassadors on Wednesday evening that “Zionists and hegemonic powers” are the enemies of “all Muslim nations”.

“The enemies want to see our countries in ruins, destroyed, underdeveloped, conflict-stricken and unstable,” Ahmadinejad opined during an Iftar meal at the Foreign Ministry, attended by Muslim ambassadors and representatives.

The outgoing President, who will be replaced by President-elect Hassan Rouhani next month, elaborated on his thesis: “The global hegemony wants to see all regional countries in tatters… They want us to be under their domination, [they want] to take our wealth and rebuild something [else] in our countries.”

Ahmadinejad did not explain further what Israel and “hegemonic powers” wanted to build in Iran and other Muslim countries. However, he did offer an explanation for their motive:

“To fix their bankrupt economies, the enemies want to destroy all our economies,” Ahmadinejad — whose economic policies and mismanagement have been widely criticized in Iran — revealed.

Camp of Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi Blamed for February Attack on Speaker of Parliament

Parliament’s National Security Committee has found that a group of students from the school of “hard-line” Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi were responsible for disrupting the speech of Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani during February’s anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

Rafsanjani: I Am Ready to Return to Friday Prayers

Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani continues his provocative signalling to others in the regime….

A week after posting his last Tehran Friday Prayer from July 2009 — in which he effectively upheld the right to protest against the disputed Presidential election — Rafsanjani has declared that he is ready to accept an offer to return to the podium.

Rafsanjani was removed from the rota of Tehran Friday Prayer leaders soon after he delivered the July 2009 address, seen by many as a challenge to the Supreme Leader.

See also Iran Feature: Rafsanjani Tells Rouhani and Supreme Leader “Listen to Me”

Prominent reformist Mostafa Tajzadeh, serving a six-year sentence, said from prison that the Supreme Leader should compensate for Rafsanjani’s disqualification from June’s Presidential elections by inviting him back to leadership of Friday Prayers.

Tajzadeh added that listening to Ayatollah Jannati, Friday Prayer leader and head of the Guardian Council, is like “walking in a graveyard of dead thoughts”.

Ayatollah Jannati Re-Elected as Head of Guardian Council

The 12 members of the Guardian Council have re-elected the 86-year-old Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati as their chairman.

The six legal experts and six Islamic jurists of the Council vet candidates for the Presidency and Parliament, supervise elections, and review passed legislation for “conformity with Islamic principles”.

Photo of Day: Husband-and-Wife Journalists Reunited After Prison Releases

Journalists Masoud Bastani and Mahsa Amrabadi re-unite after their prison furloughs — Bastani, serving a six-year sentence, was freed last week and Amrabadi, given a one-year term, was allowed a break on Tuesday.

IRAN 18-07-13 BASTANI AMRABADI

Tehran Holds Out Hope of Restored Relations With Britain

An interesting diplomatic contrast on Wednesday — while President-elect Hassan Rouhani played to the military with tough talk about Israel, Iran’s diplomats were putting out this message via State media:

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Araqchi says Tehran pursues a policy of expanding relations with all European Union (EU) countries, including the UK, based on mutual interests and respect.

Relations between Britain and Iran were effectively suspended in November 2011, after an Iranian crowd stormed the British Embassy compound in Tehran. London withdrew its diplomats and ordered the expulsion of Iranian counterparts from the British capital.

This spring, however, the Islamic Republic has been signalling that it might want a restoration of links, distancing itself from the invasion of the Embassy.

On Wednesday, British Foreign Secretary William Hague told the House of Commons that London was ready to restore relations “on a step-by-step basis”.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry’s Araqchi responded:

The President-elect [Hassan Rouhani] has stressed constructive interaction with the world on an equal footing and based on mutual interests and respect as well as the removal of tensions and reciprocal confidence-building.

[We] will reciprocate positive steps marked by goodwill.