In an article headlined 'Iran's Ahmadinejad demotes top advisor' the Los Angeles Times reports that the President replaced Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei as chief of staff on Saturday, April 9. The newspaper notes that Mashaei was mistrusted for his unorthodox views about religion, including the role of the clergy and the pre-eminence of ancient Iranian cultural values over Islam by the hard-liners. However, this opinion didn’t win him any substantial support among a seething opposition movement opposed to the president and his agenda. The newspaper quotes the Fars news agency, mentioning that Hamid Baqai, another Ahmadinejad confidant, will take over as chief of staff.
The Guardian has published an article 'Iranian commandos fire on pirates attempting to hijack tanker'. It mentions that the semi-official Iranian news agency Fars said that on Sunday, April 10, Somali pirates approached Voyager 1 in speedboats off the coast of Pakistan, supposedly attempting to hijack a supertanker. The report says commandos repelled pirates, who were approaching the vessel with two speedboats in an apparent attempt to hijack it – they fled after the commandos opened fire. The agency does not say if the tanker was carrying oil at the time.
The Hürriyet Daily News has reported that Leyla Zana, a former deputy from the now-defunct Democracy Party, or DEP, will be an independent candidate from Diyarbakır. Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party announced on Sunday its independent nominees for the June 12 general election, including six candidates who are suspects in the ongoing trial of the illegal Kurdish Communities Union, or KCK. The list includes six KCK suspects, with Hatip Dicle running from Diyarbakır; Faysal Sarı from Şirnak; İbrahim Ayhan from Şanlıurfa; Kemal Aktaş from Van; Selma Irmak from Şirnak and Gülseren Yıldırım from Mardin. The KCK is the alleged urban arm of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which is listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. Emine Ayna and Leyla Zana, a former deputy from the now-defunct Democracy Party, or DEP, will be independent candidates from Diyarbakır. Former deputies of the now-closed Democratic Society Party, or DTP, Ahmet Türk and Aysel Tuğluk will run from Mardin.
The Washington Post has published an article 'Iran official says pipeline blast caused by ‘sabotage’ ' on Sunday, April 10, telling that a large explosion at Iran’s main energy pipeline hub on Friday was caused by sabotage, an influential member of parliament said on Sunday. The newspaper also mentioned that the blast, which sent balls of fire into the air outside the Shiite religious center of Qom, targeted three major gas pipelines. The explosion comes amid an increase in mysterious blasts, assassinations and other incidents in the Islamic Republic, including a similar blast on February 11, which temporarily halted north-south gas transportation in the country. All pipelines are now back in operation, officials say.
The Washington Post has also published an article devoted to Iran’s confirmation of opposition claims about a factory producing centrifuge parts. Iran’s foreign minister on Saturday confirmed claims by an exiled Iranian opposition group that a factory west of Tehran is manufacturing centrifuge parts, but said the facility was no secret and that many other factories in the country were making components for Iran’s nuclear program.
Press TV has published an article 'Arab dictators commit political suicide', telling that the Chairman of Iran's Expediency Council, Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, said the authoritarian regimes in the Arab world are committing “political suicide” by suppressing their nations. Press TV quoted ISNA quoting Ayatollah Rafsanjani as saying, during a meeting with a number of Iranian officials on Sunday, that “Repressive methods will not be effectual in the long run and the countries which kill their people are committing political suicide.” He also said that “the experiences of the Islamic Republic of Iran at different stages of the post-Islamic Revolutionary [era] ... can be inspiring for the region (the Middle East and North Africa)”.
Ayatollah Rafsanjani, however, insisted that Iran has never intended to meddle in other regional countries' affairs. Elsewhere in his remarks, the top Iranian cleric made a reference to the revolution in Bahrain, saying the Bahrainis are the most oppressed people compared to other regional nations, because no Arab and Western countries, worrying about their own interests, is lending support to their movement.
In the article “Iran to mull decreasing ties with UK”, published on April 11, 2011, Press TV reports that the Iranian Parliament's (Majlis) vice speaker, Mohammad Hassan Aboutorabi-Fard, spoke about Iran’s plans concerning the decrease in ties with the UK. Press TV quotes Fars News Agency quoting Aboutorabi-Fard as saying on Monday that “the plan is already on the National Security Commission's agenda and it will be considered by the Majlis in due time.” The news agency also reports that earlier in January a group of Iranian lawmakers announced plans to set up a special faction in the parliament, tasked with pursuing initiatives to cut all relations with the British government, following remarks made by the British ambassador to Iran, Simon Gass, criticizing the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic. Iran has considered breaking off relations with Britain several times, due to London's meddlesome and undiplomatic approach towards Tehran.
Iranian officials have connected the past year’s incidents to actions by foreign-backed terrorist groups or to unexplained accidents. Iran’s leaders blamed the United States, Britain and Israel for two separate high-profile assassinations of scientists in Tehran last year. But a major explosion at a Revolutionary Guards base near the city of Khorramabad in October that killed an unknown number of servicemen was said to be caused by a fire at a munitions depot.
