Iranian press review: Tensions flare in Iraq and Iran over criticism of Sistani – Middle East Eye
Khamenei aides criticism of Iraqs Sistani reveals disputes
Iraqi officials have condemned criticism of thecountry's top Shia cleric by a senior aide to Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In an editorial piece for the conservativeKayhan daily, Hossein Shariatmadari, a close confident of Khamenei, criticised Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani's meeting with the UN secretary-general's special representative for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.
In themeeting on 24 September, Sistani urged the United Nations to send election observers to Iraq to monitor the countrys upcoming parliamentary elections.
One year on, has Iraq's anti-government protest movement changed the country?
Shariatmadari wrote of the meeting that "inviting the UN to observe the elections in one country is equal to announcing the bankruptcy of that country, of not believing in your own nation, and of having hope in outsiders".
Officials in Baghdad,from across the political spectrum, swiftly moved to condemn Shariatmadari's comments.
We strongly condemn the commentary published in an Iranian daily that offended the great leader (Sistani); such insults are offensiveto all Iraqis," said Iraqs former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Meanwhile, reformist Iranian politicians also voiced their support for Sistani.
"The great authority, his Eminence, Ayatollah Sistani is the fortress of Iraq, the security valve for the region, and an asset for the entire Islamic world," tweetedMohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister.
Esmail Qaani, commander of Irans Quds Force, also praised Sistanis role in stabilising Iraq.
Ayatollah Sistani is a symbol of glory and authority for the Shia [religious scholars], and an icon of mobilisation power in Iraq and all Islamic societies, he was quoted by the state-run ISNA news agency as saying.
The increasing pressure on Shariatmadari, who is an appointee of Irans supreme leader at the Kayhan daily, as well asa former member of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), forced him to officially apologise in a second editorial published on 29 September.
Reformist outlets used the controversy as an opportunity to criticise the usually untouchable Shariatmadari.
Does Shariatmadari have any understanding of Irans complicated [political] situation in the region, where the United Arab Emirates has signed a normalisation agreement with Israel and Iranian-Saudi relations are at their lowest point, the pro-reformist Etemad daily wrote.
Following a report by Reuters that Iran had doubled its oil exports in September, newspaper Donya-e-Eqtesad has revealed the means used by the country's oil ministry to sell oil and petrochemical products while bypassing US sanctions.
According to the daily, oil swaps and ship-to-ship oil transfers are the main tactics Tehran has employed to get around Washingtons full embargo on its oil exports and banking system.
Iman Nasseri, managing director for the Middle East at FGE Consultancy, told Donya-e-Eqtesadthat Iranian oil tankers cross international waters and store oil in Chinese ports.
Owners of oil tankers seized by US deny they were destined for Venezuela
The daily also revealed that Iran offers high discounts on its crude oil and condensate to attract customers who were previously scared off by the sanctions.
Ali Asghar Zargar, an Iranian oil trade expert, explained that not all tactics used by Iranian officials to get around the sanctions are known yet.
Iran has been exporting oil with tankers sailing with the flags of other countries, as well as tankers turning off their GPS devices to avoid detection by the US, Zargar was quoted by the paper as saying.
According to Zargar, Irans largest oil sales takes place on the sea and through ship-to-ship transfers.
Moreover, oil swaps and exporting crude oil to neighbouring countries through rail transfers are other tactics used by Iran, he added.
Experts say that recent fuel shipments to Venezuela, another nation heavily sanctioned by the US, also help explain the spike in sales.
In May, a five-tanker flotilla carried over 1.5 million barrels of gasoline and components from Iran to El Palito port in Venezuela.
The trade between Iran and Venezuela received a tough response from the White House, and in August the US seized four tankers carrying 1.2 million barrels of petroleum, saying the tankers had departed from Iran en route to Venezuela.
However, three Gulf companies owning the tankers rejected the US accusations, saying that the tankers destination was Trinidad.
On Monday, the Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the IRGC, confirmed that a three-tanker flotilla from Iran had entered Venezuelas territorial waters.
According to Tasnim, the three cargo ships carried 820,000 barrel of gasoline to Venezuela.
Despite an international outcry, three Iranian writers and members of the Iranian Writers Association (IWA), Baktash Abtin, Reza Khandan Mahabadi and Kayvan Bajan have beensummoned to the Evin prison in Tehran to begin their jail terms.
On 26 September, the IWA posted photos on its Facebook account of a group of IWA members accompanying the three authors at the entrance of the prison, moments before they began their sentences.
Abtin and Khandan Mahabadi, both board members of the IWA, were found guilty on charges of propaganda against the state and collusion against national security at Irans Islamic Revolution Court, and were each sentenced to six years in prison.
Iran rejects Saudi accusation it trained terrorist cell uncovered in kingdom
Kayvan Bajan, a former board member of the IWA, was given a three-and-a-half-year jail term on the same charges.
According to the IWA, Irans security forces had filed the charges against theauthors to force them to stop publishing the IWAs internal magazine and halt their participation in the writing of a book about the history of the IWA.
During the trial of the three authors, the IWA slammed the government for putting pressure on independent writers, demanding it end the suppression of freedom of expression in Iran.
The only reason to put three members of the IWA on trial is due to their activities in advocating freedom of expression, and because of their opposition to censorship, the statement read.
At the same time, the international PEN organisation condemned the lengthy prison sentences for the Iranian writers and demanded the immediate release of the authors.
We stand in solidarity with our Iranian colleagues who are targeted due to their writing and peaceful activism,"said Rebecca Sharkey, campaigns and communications director of PEN International.
"We call on the Iranian authorities to drop all charges against them and to respect their right to freedom of expression.
The IWA, one of the most progressive art associations in Iran, was founded in 1968.
Despite its vital role in organising writers and poets against the Shah's administration, the association was banned after the Islamic Revolution in 1981, and a number of its members were arrested and killed.
*The Iranian press review is a digest of reports that are not independently verified as accurate by Middle East Eye.
Read more here:
Iranian press review: Tensions flare in Iraq and Iran over criticism of Sistani - Middle East Eye
- I will never regret coming: Amid Israels devastating strikes on Iran, a woman traveling solo had to find her way out - CNN - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- A text, a Telegram link, then an offer of money: how Iran sought to recruit spies in Israel - The Guardian - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Tucker Carlson says to air interview with president of Iran - Reuters - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- CNN in Iran: Behind the scenes with our team - CNN - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- A fragile ceasefire in the Israel-Iran war tests the harmony of Los Angeles' huge Iranian community - AP News - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Nuclear Inspectors Leave Iran After Cooperation Halted With U.N. Watchdog - The New York Times - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Israel concealed information about Iran's destruction of five military sites, satellite images show - Tehran Times - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Only diplomacy will stop the atomic bomb: Reflections following the war against Iran - EL PAS English - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Readers sound off on what Iran achieved, Diddys jurors and Sen. Lisa Murkowski - New York Daily News - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- American Solo Traveler Was in Iran When It Was Bombed. She Documents How She Fled the Country (Exclusive) - People.com - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Iran hit five Israeli military bases in 12-day war The Telegraph - - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Why Hamas can keep fighting without Iran, and what that means for Israel - opinion - The Jerusalem Post - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Iran's uranium supply chain must be thwarted as nuclear program grows - The Jerusalem Post - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Why Im banned from Iran, Israel and the US despite breaking no rules - The Telegraph - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Why Trump stopped calling on Iran to surrender - The Spectator World - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- A week into the fragile Israel-Iran peace agreement, heres what we still dont know - AP News - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Dont look away from whats happening in Iran - The Boston Globe - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Its offensive: voices from Iran as fans face 2026 World Cup travel ban - The Guardian - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Tucker Carlson interviews the president of IRAN - Daily Mail - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Divine justice: IAF is Gods army, striking Iran as prophesized in the Bible - The Times of Israel - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- New Cold War?: US faces long-term battle to contain Iran after Trump's strike on their nuclear facilities - Fox News - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- The Israel-Iran war has not yet transformed the Middle East - The Economist - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Opinion | Iran Is Terrorizing Its Own Citizens. The World Needs to Respond. - The New York Times - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Trump meets with Saudi defense minister at the White House and discusses situation in Iran - Axios - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- US issues first wave of Iran sanctions after ceasefire in 12-day war - Al Jazeera - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- France demands immediate release of French couple held in Iran for three years - Reuters - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- US-Iran nuclear talks to resume in Oslo next week for first time since war report - The Times of Israel - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Will Trumps Strikes on Iran Really Stop Its Nuclear Program? - The New York Times - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Between Gaza and Iran, Israel's Hidden War in the West Bank Is Flaring Up - Newsweek - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- After ceasefire, Iran is preparing for the long war with Israel - Middle East Eye - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Iran becomes the latest Russian ally to discover the limits of Kremlin support - Atlantic Council - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Trump says Iran wants to meet 'very badly' after US strikes - - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Iran can still build nuclear weapons without further enrichment. Only diplomacy will stop it - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Pentagon says US strikes set back Iran nuclear program one to two years - The Guardian - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Assessing the U.S. Article 51 Letter for the Attack on Iran: Legal Lipstick on the Use of Force Pig - Just Security - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Suspected Iran spies accused of plotting assassination of senior figure in Israel - The Times of Israel - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Will Iran conflicts aftermath drive Israel, Saudi Arabia towards normalization? - Breaking Defense - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Israel's economy can't survive a long war with Iran - and Trump knows it - Middle East Eye - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- US slams Iran for unacceptable suspension of ties with UN nuclear watchdog - The Times of Israel - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- U.S. Launches Eighth Round of Sanctions Targeting Iran's Oil and Tankers - The Maritime Executive - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Opinion | John Bolton: Trumps Work in Iran Has Only Begun - The New York Times - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Iran assesses the damage and lashes out after Israeli and US strikes damage its nuclear sites - AP News - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Iran Suspected of Scouting Jewish Targets in Europe - WSJ - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Opinion | War With Iran Exposes the Emptiness of the Axis of Autocracy - Politico - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Iran Pivots Toward China, But Is Beijing Ready To Play Ball? - Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- The global implications of the US strikes on Iran - Brookings - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Iran readied to mine Strait of Hormuz after Israel began strikes US sources - The Times of Israel - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Hackers tied to Iran preparing calculated smear campaign on Trump, cyber agency says - Politico - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Refinery hit by Iran missiles emitting 100 times higher than usual levels of benzene - The Times of Israel - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- US calls reported threats by pro-Iran hackers to release Trump-tied material a 'smear campaign' - AP News - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Trump and Noem want CNN prosecuted for Iran, immigration reporting - Axios - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Israel-Iran live updates: Trump says he is not 'talking to' Iran - ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Donald Trumps Attack on Iran May Have Made the Nuclear Crisis Worse - Rolling Stone - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Israel and Iran Have Set the Stage for the Next War - Jacobin - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Iran says needs time before talks with US, claims it can start enriching again quickly - The Times of Israel - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- The attacks on Iran didnt achieve anything more than harm nonproliferation - Al Jazeera - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Iran: More than 900 killed in war with Israel - The Hill - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- First it was regime change, now they want to break Iran apart - Responsible Statecraft - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Iran Threatens To Release 100GB of Trump Aides' Emails: What To Know - Newsweek - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Israel was facing destruction at the hands of Iran. This is how close it came, and how it saved itself - The Times of Israel - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Sleeper cells and threat warnings: how the US-Iran conflict is spinning up fear - The Guardian - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Iran raises death toll from war with Israel to more than 900 - AP News - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Iran's foreign minister doubtful talks with U.S. will resume quickly, but says "doors of diplomacy will never slam shut" - CBS News - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Senate votes down measure restricting Trump from further military action in Iran - CBS News - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Iran says Fordo, other nuke sites seriously damaged by bombings - The Times of Israel - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Iran Issues Safety Warning to Nuclear Inspectors - Newsweek - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- UK, France, Germany condemn threats against IAEA head after Iran newspaper calls for his arrest - Reuters - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Tuesday briefing: How weakened is Iran after Operation Midnight Hammer and where might it go from here? - The Guardian - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Column | After Iran-Israel clash, theres more reason to fear a nuclear bomb - The Washington Post - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Trump considers forcing journalists to reveal sources who leaked Iran report - The Guardian - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Iran crackdown deepens with speedy executions and arrests - ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Will Iran double down on its nuclear programme after the war? - Al Jazeera - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- How Fox News helped champion Trumps attacks on Iran: I agree with the president - The Guardian - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Iran could start enriching uranium for bomb within months, UN nuclear chief says - BBC - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Trump continues to project optimism that strikes on Iran obliterated its nuclear program - Politico - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- How to Assess the Damage of the Iran Strikes - The Atlantic - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Dont count on the Iran-Israel ceasefire lasting. What Netanyahu really wants is a forever war | Simon Tisdall - The Guardian - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Trump threatens to force journalists to reveal who leaked report undermining his narrative on Iran bombing - The Independent - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- A week of shifting descriptions of Iran attack spark ongoing questions about extent of damage and goals - ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and... - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Senate rejects Democratic bid to restrain Trump on Iran as GOP backs his strikes on nuclear sites - PBS - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]