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.

• President Hassan Rouhani announced “This year is the year of economic growth and the resistance economy. We must strive to stand on our own feet in various fields of science and technology and make the country no longer dependent on importing foreign products [in these fields].”

• Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to the Supreme Leader and the Head of the Expediency Discernment Council Strategic Research Center Ali Akbar Velayati said that the upcoming Syrian presidential elections “will strengthen the legitimacy of the Bashar Assad government.” Velayati considered Western acceptance of these elections as “unimportant” and added “It is clear these days that the Westerners do not seek to establish justice and democracy in the region…”

• Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Deputy Commander Hossein Salami addressedworshipers during Friday prayer in Tehran and urged nuclear negotiators to:
  
  
  
  •  “Stand like men in defending the revolution’s achievements. Know that we have accumulated strength to such an extent that all the enemy’s options, even if executed simultaneously, will have no result for them other than defeat, retreat, and humiliation.”
  
  
  • “The organ of diplomacy will stand relying on the capacity created by the IRGC and will not retreat even a single step.”
  
  
  
  

• Armed Forces General Staff Headquarters Basij Affairs and Culture Deputy IRGC Brig. Gen.Massoud Jazayeri responded to President Barack Obama’s recent statements regarding “all available options” against Iran: “If America and its allies had the ability to attack Iran they would not hesitate to execute their barbaric act. They know that attacking the Islamic Republic of Iran means the destruction of Tel Aviv and the continuation of war inside the United States. The words of the head of the American government stating childish dreams are therefore unachievable.”

• Representative of the Supreme Leader in Fars Province, Governor, and IRGC Fajr Unit (Fars Province) Commander issued a joint statement praising former Head of the Fars Province Foundation for Martyrs and Self-Sacrifice Affairs and former IRGC Ground Forces commanderAbdollah Eskandari, who was killed in Syria this past Saturday “defending the Seyyeda Zeinab shrine.” Eskandari’s funeral ceremony is scheduled for Sunday in Shiraz.

• Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met with Kuwait’s ambassador to Iran Sabah al Khaled al-Sabah to discuss “a new chapter” in bilateral relations.

• Iranian Ambassador to Russia Mehdi Sanaei announced that the “difficult operation” of connecting Iran and Russia via the Republic of Azerbaijan with a railroad will soon conclude.

• Head of the Interior Ministry Public Affairs Ruhollah Jom’ei rejected reports that kidnapped Iranian border guard Jamshid Danaeifar has defected to the United States. Jaish al-Adl kidnapped five Iranian border guards in Saravan last year and released all but Danaeifar.

• Lebanese Hezbollah held a funeral ceremony for its slain senior commander Fouzi Ayub AKA Abu Abbas, “martyred defending the Great Hazrat-e Zeinab shrine” in Syria.

• Head of the Privatization Organization Mir Ali Ashraf Abdollah Pouri Hosseini reports of “heavy pressures” when the organization transfers a State Owned Enterprise (SOE) to the “true private sector.” He added “There are no problems if the buyers are related to SOEs and quasi-government companies.”
  
  
  
  • Hosseini also announced that 186 SOEs valued at 100,000 billion tomans [approximately $39 billion] are scheduled for privatization this year.
  
  
  
  

• Mashhad Friday Prayer Leader and Assembly of Experts member Ayatollah Ahmad Alamolhida announced “social and satellite networks must be controlled and/or closed.”

• National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Health, Safety and Environment Director Abbas Razmi warned about the urgent need to upgrade oil pipelines; the average age being 40 years old. Upgrading requires “tremendous capital” and an estimated figure “cannot be announced due do the massive costs.” Razmi added that NIOC efforts are to protect “these pipelines and installations.”

• Deputy Interior Minister Hossein Ali Amiri announced that that Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli accepted the resignation of his political deputy Kazem Mirvalad earlier today on the account of Mirvalad’s health.