LATEST: Detained Opposition Leaders Mousavi, Karroubi, and Rahnavard “Must Pay for Their Sins”

Iran’s officials continue to use the Israel-Gaza war to proclaim Tehran’s leadership of “resistance power”.

The Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, proclaimed on Sunday after a discussions with the leader of Palestine’s Islamic Jihad Movement, “The result of this war will also be another victory for the Palestinian fighters and increasing power and might of the resistance.”

Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian added in his meeting with the Islamic Jihad’s Ramazan Abdullah, “The resistance’s victories have disrupted all equations and assessments of the enemy.”

And the commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ naval forces, Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, directly connected the fight in Gaza with Iran’s might in a speech in Tehran:

When the enemies of the Revolution aren’t able to defeat Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad Movements that the enemies, themselves, say the Islamic Revolution has created…they certainly won’t dare to leer down at the Islamic Republic either.

The reason behind this fact is Iran’s deterrence power.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif conferred with other regional figures about the 20-day war, including Hezbollah’s Seyed Hassan Nasrallah; Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi; the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Iyad Madani; and the European Union’s foreign policy head Catherine Ashton.

Detained Opposition Leaders Mousavi, Karroubi, and Rahnavard “Must Pay for Their Sins”

Iran Prosecutor General Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei has repeated that opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard must remain under strict house arrest: “They have committed a great crime and have to be held accountable for it.”

Mousavi and Karroubi — both candidates in the disputed 2009 Presidential election — and Mousavi’s wife, activist and academic Rahnavard, have been detained since February 2011.

President Rouhani promised to free political prisoners in his campaign last year, but hardliners have warned him not to release the detainees because of their “sedition” against the Islamic Republic.

Mohseni Ejei said, “These leaders of sedition must not only be denied release, they should also be made to pay for their great sin.”

Journalist Mirdamadi Given 6-Year Sentence

Journalist Serajeddin Mirdamadi was given a six-year prison sentence on Sunday by a Revolutionary Court.

Mirdamadi, a reporter for reformist outlets, returned from Paris to Tehran after the 2013 election of President Rouhani. On arrival at the airport, his passport was confiscated.

He was subsequent charged with “propaganda against the regime” and “assembly and collusion to commit crimes against national security”.

Central Bank: Inflation Down to 25%

The Central Bank said on Sunday that the rate of inflation has fallen to 25.4%, as the Rouhani Government pursues economic recovery after record price rises during the Ahmadinejad Administration.

The Government inherited an inflation rate of more than 40% last year.

Economy Minister Ali Tayebnia has promised a rate of 15% by next year and said the Government is aiming for a rate below 10%.