Iran Digest Week of July 8-15
/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
Ukraine war: Iran plans to supply Russia with combat drones, US warns
Iran plans to supply Russia with potentially hundreds of drones for its war in Ukraine, some with combat capabilities, a US official has said.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the information the US had suggested Iran was preparing to train Russian forces to use the drones.
He added that it was unclear whether Iran had delivered them yet.
Iran said technological co-operation with Russia preceded the war, without confirming or denying the US claim.
(BBC)
Nuclear Accord
US willing to kill Iran deal to keep IRGC on ‘terror’ list: Biden
President Joe Biden has pledged to keep Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the US “terrorism” list even if it leads to the demise of the nuclear deal with Tehran.
In an interview with Israel’s Channel 12 – pre-taped in Washington and aired on Wednesday during the first day of his visit to the Middle East – Biden was asked, “Are you committed to keep the IRGC on the ‘foreign terrorist organization’ list, even if that means that it kills the deal?”
He answered with a simple, “Yes.”
Biden’s comments come amid a renewed push to revive indirect talks between Washington and Tehran to restore the agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), after a recent round of negotiations in Qatar.
Biden: US prepared to use force to stop Iran getting nuclear arms
President Joe Biden has pledged that the US is "prepared to use all elements of its national power" to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.
Mr Biden made the declaration with Israel's Prime Minister Yair Lapid on the second day of his visit there.
Israel considers the Iranian nuclear programme to be its greatest threat, though Iran insists it is peaceful.
The president will hold talks with Palestinian officials on Friday before a controversial visit to Saudi Arabia.
(BBC)
Economy
Iran’s Inflation Reaches 82.6% For Food Items
Iran’s point-to-point inflation rate has reached 52.5%, with a rise of 82.6% for food products, compared to June 2021 — and the problem is likely to get worse.
The Islamic Republic set a new record in the month ending June 21 with a 12.2% rise in monthly inflation. For food, the spike was 25.4%.
The shock was fed by the Government’s changes to subsidies at the start of May, which set off nationwide protests, and by the devaluation of the Iranian currency
The point-to-point inflation rate measures the prices of products compared to their equivalent 12 months earlier. Iran’s official consumer price index put inflation at 39.4% for the past year.
(EA WorldView)
Environment
UAE Minister Mariam Al Mheiri attends international environment meeting in Iran
The UAE's environment minister has stressed the need to tackle pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change during a meeting with counterparts from various countries, in Iran.
Mariam Al Mheiri, Minister of Climate Change and Environment and Minister of State for Food Security, spoke at the Ministerial Meeting on Environment Co-operation for a Better Future, state news agency Wam reported.
Held in the presence of the Iranian President Dr Ebrahim Raisi, the gathering brought together ministers from the Middle East and Africa as well as representatives of the UN Environment Programme, various NGOs, and academics.
Ms Al Mheiri said the international community needed to work together to find solutions to pressing environmental challenges.
Women of Iran
Activists urge Iranian women to publicly unveil to protest crackdown
Iranian rights activists have urged women to publicly remove their veils on "National Day of Hijab and Chastity" on Tuesday, risking arrest for defying the Islamic dress code as the country's hardline rulers crack down on "immoral behaviour".
Under Iran's Islamic Sharia law, imposed after the 1979 revolution, women are obliged to cover their hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothes to disguise their figures. Violators face public rebuke, fines or arrest.
But decades after the revolution, clerical rulers still struggle to enforce the law, with many women of all ages and backgrounds wearing tight-fitting, thigh-length coats and brightly coloured scarves pushed back to expose plenty of hair.
Critics and activists see the establishment's stepped-up efforts to enforce hijab compliance as part of a wider clamp-down on dissent amid deepening resentment over economic hardship at home and growing Western pressure on Iran over its disputed nuclear programme.
(Reuters)Turkey foils alleged Iran plot to kill Israelis in Istanbul
Inside Iran
Heightened Reign of Terror in Iran Under New Intelligence Chief
Less than a month after the intelligence chief of the Iranian military’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was replaced, a crackdown on dissent is being ramped up in the country.
“The new intelligence chief is clenching the state’s iron fist to crush the increasing attempts we’ve been observing at opposing repressive state policies and holding Iranian officials accountable,” said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).
“Now is the time for the UN and international community including the U.S. to register strong and forceful condemnation of the Iranian government’s blatant attempts to preserve its suffocating power and eliminate dissent,” said Ghaemi.
“At a time when people in Iran are refusing to back down in the face of harsh adversity, international silence sends a green light to the regime’s worst rights violators,” he added.
Regional Politics
Iran vows ‘harsh response’ for US and allies stoking ‘insecurity’
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Iran will have a “harsh and regrettable response” to any “mistake” committed by Washington or its allies.
The Iranian president spoke as US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid signed a joint pledge on Thursday to deny Iran nuclear arms, a show of unity by allies long divided over diplomacy with Tehran.
Raisi blamed the US and “its regional allies” for stoking instability in the region, state-run IRNA news agency reported.
“The great nation of Iran will not accept any insecurity or crisis in the region and Washington and its allies should know that any mistake will be met by a harsh and regrettable response from Iran,” Raisi said during a speech, according to the Reuters news agency.
Global Relations
Sweden hands life sentence to ex-Iranian official over 1988 purge
A former Iranian official has been sentenced to life in prison by a Swedish court after being convicted of committing grave war crimes and murder during the final phase of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.
The Stockholm District Court on Thursday said that Hamid Noury took part in severe atrocities in July-August 1988 while working as an assistant to the deputy prosecutor at the Gohardasht prison outside the Iranian city of Karaj.
Iran’s foreign ministry dismissed the verdict as “political”.
Tehran “strongly condemns this political statement, which consists of making unfounded and fabricated accusations against Iran and its judicial system, along with the life sentence against Hamid Noury”, Iran’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Analysis
Iran's Increasingly Decentralized Axis of Resistance
By: Nancy Ezzeddine and Hamidreza Azizi
On May 15, Lebanon’s voters denied Hizballah and its allies the majority they had enjoyed over the past 15 years. A few months earlier, Iran’s close allies in Iraq — the Fateh alliance — suffered a much larger blow as its opponents established a clear parliamentary majority against it. Nonetheless, both Hizballah and Fateh’s coalition secured a significantly larger number of votes than their opponents in absolute terms and still managed to steer post-election politics as they desired. These developments certainly reflect new challenges that Iran is facing. But they also portend a new, more decentralized approach to axis management that could help protect Iranian interests in the long run.
Over the years, Iran has been agile in devising tactical responses to regional developments. It supported Iraqis when they were threatened by the Islamic State’s onslaught in 2014 and managed to continue sponsoring Hamas despite the Israeli blockade of Gaza. However, Iran’s fast-growing array of partners, combined with shifting regional and domestic realities, have made it increasingly difficult for Tehran to respond to emerging threats. For example, the Iraqi and Lebanese elections both followed widespread protests in Baghdad and Beirut that called for radical political reform and the expulsion of foreign actors — Iran among them. This has forced some of Iran’s partners to distance themselves either politically or rhetorically from Tehran to retain their domestic legitimacy. And this comes as Iran was already dealing with challenges created by the overextension of its regional network, a weak economy, and divisions within the Shiite community over the doctrinal status of Iranian clerics.
