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.

• Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) Deputy Hojjat al-Eslam Ali Khazaei, addressing Mashhad Friday Prayers, announced the arrest of 30 individuals connected to the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) in the past month in Iran.
  
  
  
  • He blamed Israel and the United States for the expansion of ISIL in Iraq and pointed out the organization’s hostility with both Shi’as and Sunnis, citing “recent crimes in Mosul, Iraq.”
  
  
  • Khazaei emphasized MOIS’s efforts in “indiscriminately confronting matters related with al-Qaeda in the country following the September 11 incident” and highlighted that “one of the MOIS Khorasan-e Razavi Office personnel lost both of his hands during a fight with one of the al-Qaeda elements over the past years.”
  
  
  • “The Islamic Republic of Iran is a lion in which the Takfiri terrorists cannot play with. Just like they felt the sharp wrath of [Iran] in Syria, they will face the same fate in Iraq.”
  
  
  
  

• Minister of Intelligence and Security Hojjat al-Eslam Mahmoud Alavi vowed to crush any threats to Iranian internal security from “terrorist groups”, as “Unknown Soldiers of the Imam of the Age have plunged their iron fists into the throats of the enemies of Islam and have deprived the opportunity to conspire.”
  
  
  
  • “Services who imagine that they are taking measures against Iran in the real cyber realm organized and anonymously are very complacent. They must know that all of their activities are within the powerful fists of the Iranian nation.”
  
  
  
  

• Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to the Supreme Leader Ali Akbar Velayati expressed Iran’s “deep concern” regarding the situation in Iraq in a meeting with Germany Foreign Ministry  Political Director Hans Dieter Lucasand said “matters will be resolved quicker if other governments refrain from interfering  in the affairs of regional countries.”

• Ahlul Bayt News Agency (ABNA) announced that senior cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani has issued an edict of Jihad directed at anyone who can take up arms and is able to volunteer in combating ISIS.

• Head of the Isfahan Province Foundation for Martyrs and Self-Sacrificers Propaganda and Publications Mohammad Reza Alaeddin announced the burial of Mostafa Hosseini, who was killed “defending the Seyyeda Zeinab shrine in the vicinity of Damascus.”

• Representative of the Supreme Leader in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Hojjat al-Eslam Ali Saidi said that Iran facilitates the arrival of the 12th Shi’a Imam Mahdi and that “The coming requires preparedness at the individual, regional, and international level…The region of the Middle East must undergo a fundamental transformation.”
  
  
  
  • “The perseverance of the Iraqi and Syrian people on matters, policies, and comprehensive Islamic principles and the teachings of Imam [Khomeini] and the Supreme Leader are towards creating this type of preparation, which we are witnessing today.”
  
  
  
  

• International and Legal Affairs Deputy to the Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said achieving a comprehensive nuclear deal is possible despite “differences” between Iran and the P5+1. He added “it would be disastrous for all if a comprehensive deal is not reached…Iran will resume 20 percent enrichment.”

• Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif contacted his counterparts from Turkey, Qatar, and the UAE and urged “Islamic unity, joint measures, and coordination in confronting terrorism and supporting the government and nation of Iraq against the growing wave of terrorist attacks.”