[caption id="attachment_90899" align="alignright" width="206"] Tehran interim Friday Prayers Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Khatami addresses worshippers in Tehran on March 28, 2014.[/caption]
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.

• Interim Tehran Friday Prayer Leader Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami addressed a gathering in Fordow about the culture of resistance in combating the “excessive pressure placed on [Iran] by America and its allies.” Khatami also discussed nuclear talks and said:
  
  
  
  • “The negotiations will continue based on the framework specified by the Supreme Leader.”
  
  
  • “We explicitly say the negotiations will not be warm; [Western countries] are looking for excuses. They know we do not possess nuclear weapons, so they immediately pose the ballistic missiles as an issue.”
  
  
  • “Our missiles are pointed to the sensitive centers of the occupying Zionist regime and if they take a wrong step, Tel Aviv will be razed.”
  
  
  
  

• Head of the Basij Organization Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Naghdi spoke at a gathering of Basij members on the anniversary of Operation Ala Beitol Moghaddas [Towards Jerusalem] during the Iran-Iraq War. He said that on the anniversary of the prideful operation that military exercises and cultural events will be held and said:
  
  
  
  • “The enemy has tried with all his effort to stop the movement within these borders from the time of the Revolution until now, and sanctions in the field of culture imposed against the nation and the system are more than economic and scientific sanctions.”
  
  
  • “The Arrogant have attempted since the beginning of the victory of the Revolution to suppress the system by using  people in provinces like Kurdistan and they planned divisions in society and to turn the war against Iran.”
  
  
  • A large military exercise, “Towards Jerusalem,” began in Kurdistan. The exercise involves 15,000 Basij forces and takes place in ten cities throughout Kurdistan province.
  
  
  
  

• Islamic Republic of Iran Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari announced that Iran’s new destroyer “Damavand” is equipped with advanced Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology and cruise missiles. “We have been using sea-based [UAV] technology in the navy and now have managed to equip Damavand destroyer, which is undergoing final tests, with reconnaissance and combat UAVs.”
  
  
  
  • IRGC Navy Deputy Commander Rear Admiral Majid Zamani-Qaleh said naval speedboats will be equipped with “sophisticated” radars and telecommunications systems “…that are not conventional in the world.”
  
  
  
  

• Vice President for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Elham Aminzadeh reiterated the Supreme Leader’s message of resistance during a press conference. Aminzadeh announced that an official commission has been formed to find legal ways to circumvent sanctions and said “This [commission] needs to further investigate the [Joint Plan of Action deal]and the subject of sanctions.”

• Fatemioun Brigade members Seyyed Ahmad Hosseini and Hossein Mahmoudi were beheaded in Syria; both were Afghan Shi’a refugees that joined the Iran-backed group to “defend the Seyyeda Zeinab shrine in Syria.” Funeral services were held in the holy city of Qom, where Ayatollah Haeri-Shirazi addressed a large gathering of mourners to praise the two martyrs for their sacrifices. 

• Cooperation, Work, and Social Welfare Organization signed an agreement with Hezbollah-operated Lebanese Jihad Construction Institute for "job creation and technical and professional training." Minister Abolhassan Firouzabadi said "Our relations will not be limited to this agreement, and this ministry is interested to have close cooperation with Jihad Construction in all arenas."


• National Iranian Oil Company Managing Director Roknoldin Javadi announced that all phases of the South Pars gas field would be completed by 2017.