Iran Digest Week of November 29- December 6
/AIC’s Iran digest project covers the latest developments and news stories published in Iranian and international media outlets. This weekly digest is compiled by associate Samuel Howell. Please note that the news and views expressed in the articles below do not necessarily reflect those of AIC.
US-Iran Relations
US imposes new sanctions on Iran’s ‘shadow fleet’ of oil tankers
The United States has piled on additional sanctions against Iran targeting 35 entities and vessels that it says are part of a “shadow fleet of vessels” transporting cargoes of Iranian petroleum to foreign markets.
The sanctions are similar to those previously imposed two months ago in response to Iran’s October 1 missile attack on military sites in Israel and to its announced nuclear escalations, the US Department of the Treasury said on Tuesday in a statement.
The United States has piled on additional sanctions against Iran targeting 35 entities and vessels that it says are part of a “shadow fleet of vessels” transporting cargoes of Iranian petroleum to foreign markets.
(Al Jazeera)
Nuclear Program
Iran's uranium enrichment 'worrisome' - nuclear watchdog
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog has told the BBC Iran's decision to begin producing significantly more highly enriched uranium was "very worrisome".
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Iran was increasing its stockpile of uranium enriched to 60%, just below the level of purity needed for a nuclear weapon.
This will be seen by many in the region as Tehran's response to its military and diplomatic setbacks in Syria, Lebanon and Gaza in recent months.
(BBC News)
Women of Iran
Iran Releases Narges Mohammadi, Nobel Laureate, From Prison for 21 Days
Prosecutors in Iran have agreed to allow Narges Mohammadi, the jailed activist and Nobel laureate, to leave prison for 21 days to recover from surgery, her foundation said on Wednesday.
For weeks, Ms. Mohammadi’s lawyers have petitioned for her to be given the necessary recovery time and medical attention after an operation on her leg to remove a lesion that was suspected of being cancerous. The Narges Foundation is urging, based on doctors’ recommendations, that she be given at least three months outside prison, where they say overcrowding and unsanitary conditions are endangering her recovery.
“A 21-day suspension of Narges Mohammadi’s sentence is inadequate,” the foundation said in a statement. “After over a decade of imprisonment, Narges requires specialized medical care in a safe, sanitary environment — a basic human right.”
Environment
UNDP welcomes contribution from Japan to strengthen wetland management, climate resilience in Iran
Prosecutors in Iran have agreed to allow Narges Mohammadi, the jailed activist and Nobel laureate, to leave prison for 21 days to recover from surgery, her foundation said on Wednesday.
For weeks, Ms. Mohammadi’s lawyers have petitioned for her to be given the necessary recovery time and medical attention after an operation on her leg to remove a lesion that was suspected of being cancerous. The Narges Foundation is urging, based on doctors’ recommendations, that she be given at least three months outside prison, where they say overcrowding and unsanitary conditions are endangering her recovery.
“A 21-day suspension of Narges Mohammadi’s sentence is inadequate,” the foundation said in a statement. “After over a decade of imprisonment, Narges requires specialized medical care in a safe, sanitary environment — a basic human right.”
Regional Politics
Iran aims to send missiles, drones, military advisers to Syria, senior official says
Iran aims to send missiles and drones to Syria and increase the number of its military advisers there to support President Bashar al-Assad in his battle against rebels, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Friday.
"It is likely that Tehran will need to send military equipment, missiles and drones to Syria ... Tehran has taken all necessary steps to increase number of its military advisers in Syria and deploy forces," the official said on condition of anonymity.
"Now, Tehran is providing intelligence and satellite support to Syria."
(Reuters)
Global Politics
Turkey Confirms Syria Talks With Russia And Iran
Turkey confirmed Friday that it would meet Russian and Iranian foreign ministers for talks on the escalating civil war in Syria in Qatar Saturday.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan "will meet with the Russian and Iranian ministers... for a meeting under the Astana process" on the sidelines of the Doha Forum, a foreign ministry source said.
The so-called Astana process involving the three countries was launched by Kazakhstan in 2017 in a bid to find a political solution to the civil war in Syria, which has flared again after a lightning offensive by Islamist-led rebels over the past week.
(Barrons)
Analysis
Why do Iranian health authorities deny an HPV crisis?
By: Maryam Sinaiee
Iran's health ministry has come under fire for denial of a crisis requiring general vaccination against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) to please the religious and political hardliners.
Experts, the media, and social media activists have been warning about the alarming spread of sexually transmitted HPV. However, the ministry has so far resisted adding the HPV vaccine to its general vaccination program.
There are no official figures on the spread of HPV, however, and the ministry insists that there is no need to start a vaccination program. Currently, the HPV vaccine can only be procured privately at a very high cost.
Why is Iran so Central to US Policy? An Interview with Doyen of US Iran Experts, Gary Sick (Pt. 1)
By: Fariba Amini
Fariba Amini: There are Iranians as well as Americans who believe in conspiracy theories. They are convinced that the Iranian revolution was a byproduct of the meeting in Guadaloupe or that it was Jimmy Carter’s human rights policy that brought about the revolution in Iran. You said in an interview that while Jimmy Carter was president, the Shah and his aides were not worried about a revolution and that they claimed they had everything under control. You were at the White House while telegrams were coming from Tehran about the deteriorating circumstances. What do you say to these people?
Gary Sick: First of all, the Guadaloupe meeting [4-7 January 1979] was the very end of the revolution, not the beginning. It was after most of the revolution had already taken place, and demonstrations were still going on, Khomeini’s presence in Paris and then in Tehran, etc… The Guadaloupe meeting was an attempt by Western leaders, Carter and a handful of others, to literally decide what happened in the revolution and where it would lead. I’ve never heard that theory that the Guadaloupe meeting was the cause of the revolution, it was the effect of revolution. The quotation you were quoting was not the quotation by me, it was by Richard Helms, who was the head of the CIA and then was the ambassador to Tehran. He went to Iran in the middle of 1978 to seek for himself what was happening and what was going on, and because of his background he had access to everybody he wanted to talk to, including the SAVAK, the military and the Shah himself.
“Trump is the one to Blame” for Current Iran Crisis: An Interview with Gary Sick (Pt. 2)
By: Fariba Amini
Fariba Amini: How do you see Trump’s internal and foreign policy agenda in the coming year?
Gary Sick: Compared to chaotic time of Trump’s last administration, he may be better prepared this time. This is a good sign, but history is not linear. It doesn’t go in one direction. In this particular case, I think it was the combination of having gone through the pandemic and the worst inflation that people remember very clearly—showed the government of the United States did not handle the right way. There was a tremendous demand for change, and that was not only true in the United States, but throughout the world. It is a grand movement following the pandemic and economic problems. So, in all of the world, we have seen changes in governments, people coming out of nowhere, and people who previously believed unelectable suddenly finding themselves supported by the populace for somebody different who will shake things up.
Trump, as an agent of change, stands for truly challenging the government, our history and background, and the kind of things we grew up with. He is prepared to challenge all of those. That’s an enormous undertaking and hugely impactful, because he actually changes the way the United States leads many other countries in the world, changes the whole security balance in the world. One can imagine that he got a second chance to decide what he wanted to do in his first administration. I hope he does not, but he may. If he does, it’s going to mean that the United States is heading into a perilous security position.
