A selection of the latest news stories and editorials published in Iranian news outlets, compiled by the AEI Critical Threats Project's Iran research team.

• Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Secretary Maj. Gen. Ali Shamkhani met with the Syrian Ambassador to Iran Adnan Mahmoud and said “The expansion of terrorist elements from Daesh [Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS)] and their violent measures in Iraq has been a warning call for regional security. It requires attention and serious measures from international organizations and governments.”
  
  
  
  • Law Enforcement Forces Commander Brig. Gen. Esmail Ahmadi Moghaddam announced increased security measures near the Iraqi border and said that the SNSC will possibly cancel pilgrimage travel to Shi’a holy shrines in Iraq.
  
  
  • Haj and Pilgrimage Organization Deputy Nasser Khadrnejad announced that all flights to Baghdad were cancelled and the prohibition of travel to Kazemein.
  
  
  • National Security and Foreign Policy (NSFP) Parliamentary Commission member and former Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commander Mohammad Esmail Kowsari said of the ISIS takeover of Mosul:
    
    
    
    • “Iranian armed forces are aware and a small group like [ISIS] is nothing and does not dare create problems within Iran’s borders. The Iraqis, however, must be more vigilant than this.”
    
    
    • “[ISIS] is seeking to fulfill the goals of its supporters and Israel. Their goal, in reality, is creating division and the disintegration of Iraq.”
    
    
    • “The Westerners went to Iraq when they saw that they could not reach their goals in Syria. This will certainly end in their disadvantage.”
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  

• NSFP Parliamentary Commission Chairman MP Alaeddin Boroujerdi said the ISIS assault is “the reaction to the defeat of America and its regional allies in Syria” and expressed confidence that Iraqi security forces would “crush” ISIS.

• Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh announced that Iranian crude oil exports have increased to 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) and that “after the lifting of sanctions, we can produce 4 mbpd within less than four months.”

• Armed Forces General Staff Strategic and Oversight Affairs Deputy IRGC Maj. Gen. Mostafa Izadi, addressing the first Conference on the Introduction of Defense, Security, and Military Strategic Science and Technology Arena, emphasized the importance of Information and Communication Technology (ICT):
  
  
  
  • “If we want to have a living armed forces it must be full of knowledge-based –technology and for it to be ready in various arenas with attention to the sophistication of the opposing scenes.”
  
  
  • “The Islamic Republic of Iran seeks scientific alignment in [2025] and global scientific superiority in [2061].
  
  
  
  

• IRGC Political Deputy Brig. Gen. 2C Rasoul Sanaei Rad told an IRGC Navy Forces political gathering in Bushehr that “America is presently the clear example of…decline.” He added:
  
  
  
  • “One of the most important signs of the decline of a super power is its inability to achieve its desire.”
  
  
  • “During the Syrian events, America first threatened this country and even determined the date and time for this attack. Just as the world saw, however, they were incapable and this distress was the wave of defeat of America’s dominance in the world. Islamic Iran had a special role in this.”
  
  
  • “The enemy’s present policy inside the country is the creation of division and breaking the unity among officials and the people, the creation of a bipolar environment, and the penetration of elements, related to the West, in the body of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran. These conspiracies must be neutralized with awareness.”
  
  
  
  

• International and Legal Affairs Deputy to the Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said talks with the US lasted 12 hours and were “positive.”
  
  
  
  • The Iranian nuclear delegation, led by Araghchi, held a bilateral meeting with the French nuclear delegation in Geneva.
  
  
  
  

• Parliament Legal and Judicial Commission approved the “Political Crimes” legislation:
  
  
  
  • The legislation defines political crimes as “any of the following crimes with political motivation by individuals or political groups possessing legal permit against government structure, institution, or officials towards their performance or against the political rights of citizens.”
  
  
  • “Political motivation is the motivation to reform the affairs of the country without striking the fundamental of the Islamic Republic of Iran system.”
  
  
  • The legislation would effectively criminalize “insult, objection, defamation, and publication of false news regarding the heads of the three branches, Head of the Expediency Discernment Council (EDC), presidential deputies, Judiciary Branch deputies, MPs, Assembly of Experts representatives and Guardian Council members.”
  
  
  
  

• Conservative MP Ali Motahari, in a meeting with reformist Pouyesh-e Omid group members, criticized IRGC interference in the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and politics:
  
  
  
  • “The IRGC, despite its many services inside and outside the country, defending the borders, has sometimes exited the scope of its duties. For example, the IRGC must not interfere in the work of MOIS. The Parliament can question a MOIS Minister but cannot do so with the IRGC. In my opinion, the IRGC can only interfere in matters related to this where an armed measure is taking place against the system.”
  
  
  • “The Imam wanted the IRGC to abstain from meddling in politics any Guard can have personal views, but the IRGC as an organization must not meddle in politics. The extent of the IRGC’s entrance in the economy must be determined, for example to take over projects that the private sector is incapable of executing. It also must not find ownership and transform to a cartel or a trust.”
  
  
  
  

• Representative of the Supreme Leader in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Hojjat al-Eslam Ali Saidi announced the operationalization of the IRGC Imam Sadegh University Islamic Sciences Research Institute. The institute’s mission includes “securing the cadre and political and ideological necessities of the Artesh, Ministry of Defense, and Law Enforcement Forces” and “supporting armed forces political ideologies.”
  
  
  
  • Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and Representative of the Supreme Leader to the IRGC Hojjat al-Eslam Ali Saidi issued messages of condolences for the passing of IRGC Commander Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari’s father-in-law.
  
  
  
  By AEI Critical Threats