A selection of the latest news stories and editorials published in Iranian news outlets, compiled by AEI�Critical�Threats Project Iran Analyst�Will Fulton and Iran Intern Amir Toumaj.
 

Politics

• The funeral procession for senior Shia cleric Ayatollah Jalaleddin Taheri Esfehani�transformed�to a protest scene, as attendees shouted slogans such as �death to dictator� and�called�for the release of 2009 presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi from house arrest.


• Several�members of�President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration and other supporters�announced�their candidacies for Tehran city council elections, which is held on the same day as the presidential election on June 14. Current city council member and Ahmadinejad�s sister Parvin Ahmadinejad and presidential advisor Ali Zabihi will run for council seats, and the current Minister of Transportation and Housing Ali Nikzad will run for Tehran mayor.


• Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei�said�he does not support a candidate in the upcoming elections and added that every vote would be considered a vote for the Islamic Republic.


• Tehran MP Mohammad Esmail Kowsari�stated, �Service during the 9th�and 10thadministrations was exceptional, according to the eminent Supreme Leader�s interpretation; therefore, individuals must not undermine government services to attract the people�s vote.�


• Assembly of Experts member Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami�criticized�some presidential candidates for �giving America a green light� because �they pretend that if we reconcile with the West all our problems will be resolved.� He added, �The Western world will not reconcile with Iran because it has a problem with your religion.�


• Presidential candidates�Gholam Ali Haddad Adel,�Ali Akbar Velayati,�Mohammad Gharzi�and�Said Jalili�affirmed their obedience to the Supreme Leader.


• [E] Candidates�Mohammad Reza Aref,�Mohsen Rezai,�Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, andMohammad Gharazi�discussed the roots of the country�s economic malaise and elaborated on their respective policy solutions to lift the struggling economy.

• Mass protests have�spread�to over ninety Turkish cities and a third protestor was�killed. Labor unions have condemned Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan�s administration and threatened to strike in protest.


• Iranian media�report�that the Syrian army has been successful in capturing the Jubar area in northeastern Damascus.


• The Syrian army has reportedly�advanced�and secured the southwestern area of al-Qusayr.


• Armed individuals�fired�two artillery shells at the Russian embassy in Damascus.


• Lebanese Hezbollah�condemned�yesterday�s assassination attempt against Sunni cleric Sheikh Maher Hamoud. Hamoud has vocally supported Hezbollah.


• Violent clashes between Syrian government supporters and opposition in Tripoli, Lebanon,continued�into the second day, leaving five dead and more than nineteen inured.


• Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah and Lebanese senior official representatives�attended�a ceremony in Beirut commemorating the death of Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini.

• Following yesterday�s Ministry of Intelligence announcement regarding the discovery of a �terrorist� network related to �one of the regional Arab countries,� the Ministry of Foreign Affairs�summoned�the Qatari charges d�affaires in Iran and reportedly conveyed Tehran�s serious protests to Doha.


• Head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Parliamentary Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi�warned�Qatar on alleged attempts to disrupt the internal security of the Islamic Republic.


• Iran was�elected�the head of the United Nations Planning and Coordination Committee at the 53rd�session of the committee.

• Head of the Committee for Determining Criminal Instances Abdolsamad Khorram Abad�denied�the committee had issued an order to filter Mehr News Agency.


• IRGC Greater Tehran Mohammad Rasoulollah Unit�issued a statement�that reads in part:��Certainly maximum participation in the elections means absolution from the world of blasphemy, a reaffirmation of allegiance with the�velayat, loyalty to the high ideals of the revolution�s grand architect and continuation of the martyrs� path. The aware and history-making people of Iran, be it the revolution�s veterans or the youth generation who are the primary hopes of the revolution and future helmsmen of the holy Islamic system, will defeat all of the enemy�s political attacks with their stunning presence on [June 14]. They will transform the sweet dreams of [Global] Arrogance to a horrific nightmare by electing a fit individual�and will not allow Imam Khomeini�s legacy to be placed in the hands of non-confidants.�

• Oil Minister Deputy and National Iranian Petrochemical Industries Company Managing Director Abdolhossein Bayat�announced�plans to equalize liquid and gas feeds of petrochemical units.