This column features excerpts from the editorials, commentaries, and news articles of the leading Iranian newspapers.

Sunday’s headlines
KHORASAN: Salehi says a new chapter is being opened in Iran-Europe relations
JAME JAM: New plan to compute gas bill prices
TEHRAN-E EMROOZ: Civil servicemen’s salary to be increased only 6 percent!
JAVAN: Strong response of Iranian warships to Zionist regime, navy commander says
HEMAYAT: End to workers’ expectations: 200,000 construction workers are insured
KAYHAN: Sparks of revolution reaches gates of Saudi royal palace
IRAN: Railways managing director announces new trains will be put into operation during New Year holidays
TAFAHOM: The housing and urban development minister says housing plan finalized
SHARQ: Interior minister says the remaining share of metro and bus subsidy to be paid
FARHIKHTEGAN: Iran to issue Islamic sukuk bonds for first time; Iran to sell oil in advance
DONYAYE EGHTESAD: Worry grows over economically unjustified bank interest rates
Leading articles
In an interview with IRAN newspaper, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said the Islamic republic is emerging as a great power in the world. He also said that Iran has repeatedly said it is seeking justice, kindness, peace, stability, and interactions among all nations. He said defending such slogans are rooted in our religious teachings. Asked about U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s remarks against Iran and her support for seditionists, Salehi said Clinton thinks that she can “restore the grandeur” of the U.S. through an aggressive rhetoric but if the U.S. acts logically it can better resolve its internal and external problems. On his meeting with European Union Foreign Policy chief Catherine Ashton in Geneva, Salehi said “our negotiations were very constructive.”
HAMSHAHRI in an article says the next year’s draft budget bill, as far as the figures show, is drawn up based on an expansionary fiscal policy which will bring about considerable inflation. To get out of recession and reduce unemployment the administration has decided to abandon its contractionary policy, which was aimed at controlling inflation. It means the budget bill for the year 1390 (March 2011-March 2012) bids farewell to current policy and from now on the government will pursue expansionary policy in order to end economic recession and reduce unemployment. But the real danger is that if the expansionary policy is not enforced properly, it is possible that the economy face an inflationary recession which its consequences would be worse than both cotractionary and expansionary policies.
MARDOM SALARI in a news story quotes a Bahraini human rights activist that Bahrain has blocked access to Press TV website. Nabeel Rajab, who is one of the leading members of Bahrain’s human rights activists, said this move by the government is an open violation of human rights and freedom of expression. Rajab described the current situation in Bahrain as extremely volatile and said both UN Human Rights Commission and Amnesty International have confirmed that political prisoners in this country are tortured by various means including sexual abuse