Iran Digest Week of August 5 - 12
/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
John Bolton: Iranian man charged in US over alleged assassination plot
An Iranian man has been charged by the US with plotting to kill former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton.
US officials said Shahram Poursafi, a member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRG), was in Iran and wanted over the alleged plot.
They said Mr Poursafi was likely seeking revenge for the US strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, Iran's most powerful military commander.
Iran dismissed the charges it said came from a "failed policy of Iranophobia".
(BBC)
Nuclear Accord
U.S. and Iran Weighing ‘Final’ E.U. Offer on Nuclear Deal
Seventeen months after the United States and Iran began negotiating a possible return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal abandoned by President Donald J. Trump, the European Union has presented a “final” proposal for the two sides to consider before the talks collapse for good, Western officials said.
The negotiations have carried on through many pauses, crises and threatened conclusions, and it is far from certain that the latest proposal represents a final chapter. But U.S. and E.U. officials say their patience has worn paper thin, as Iran steadily expands its nuclear program.
“What can be negotiated has been negotiated, and it’s now in a final text,” the E.U. foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell Fontelles, said Monday on Twitter.
Health
Desperation and Unemployment Are Causing High Suicides Rates Among Youths in Iran
The sharp focus has recently been turned on Iran, once again, because of many bitter events. One such event is the high number of child suicides. As recent as August 7, news about two new suicides spread across the country.
9-year-old Amir Mohammad Abulofai and 12-year-old Farhad Khodayi, from Kohdasht city, Lorestan province, both committed suicide and put an end to their lives. Abulofai hanged himself, while Khodayi ended his life by using a gun.
According to analysis over the past decade, a total of around 250 children have committed suicide in Iran. It should be noted that this is just the number of the victims published by the Iranian regime’s media, so there is no exact number of the suicides of children in Iran, but it is likely to be higher than publicized.
Economy
Iran makes first import order using cryptocurrency - report
Iran made its first official import order using cryptocurrency this week, the semi-official Tasnim agency reported on Tuesday, a move that could enable the Islamic Republic to circumvent U.S. sanctions that have crippled the economy.
The order, worth $10 million, was a first step towards allowing the country to trade through digital assets that bypass the dollar-dominated global financial system and to trade with other countries similarly limited by U.S. sanctions, such as Russia. The agency didn't specify which cryptocurrency was used in the transaction.
"By the end of September, the use of cryptocurrencies and smart contracts will be widely used in foreign trade with target countries," an official from the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade said on Twitter.
(Reuters)
Women of Iran
Iranian women who need certificates to prove they are virgins
In Iran, virginity before marriage is important for many girls and their families. Sometimes men demand a virginity certificate - a practice that the World Health Organization (WHO) deems to be against human rights. But in the past year, more and more people have been campaigning against it.
"You tricked me into marrying you because you're not a virgin. Nobody would marry you if they knew the truth."
This is what Maryam's husband said to her after they had sex for the first time.
She tried to reassure him that, even though she didn't bleed, she had never had intercourse before. But he didn't believe her, and asked her to get a virginity certificate.
Inside Iran
Iran grants 5-day furlough for French-Iranian citizen
Iranian authorities granted a furlough for a French-Iranian academic who was sentenced to five years in prison for allegedly spreading propaganda, Iranian media reported Tuesday.
The semi-official ISNA news agency quoted Fariba Adelkhah’s attorney, Hojjat Kermani, as saying Adelkhah was on leave for five days but hoped that would be extended.
In January, Iranian justice officials ordered the re-imprisonment of Adelkhah, who was arrested in 2019. Adelkhah for a time had been allowed to serve a five-year prison sentence under house arrest.
(BBC)
Tehran museum unveils western art masterpieces hidden for decades
Some of the world’s most prized works of contemporary western art have been unveiled for the first time in decades in Tehran.
The Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, a hardline cleric, rails against the influence of the west. Authorities have condemned “deviant” artists for “attacking Iran’s revolutionary culture”. And the Islamic Republic has plunged further into confrontation with the US and Europe as it rapidly accelerates its nuclear programme and diplomatic efforts stall.
But contradictions abound in the Iranian capital, where thousands of well-heeled men and women looked at 19th- and 20th-century American and European minimalist and conceptual masterpieces on display this summer for the first time at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art.
Salman Rushdie attack: Iranians react with mixture of praise and concern
Iran has reacted cautiously to the attack on Salman Rushdie, with some citizens offering praise for the brutal stabbing, others claiming it harmed free speech, and several senior officials claiming it was a conspiracy to damage Iran’s global image.
Nuclear talks between the US and Iran were cited as a reason for the assault, which has left the acclaimed author on a ventilator in a New York hospital. Several state-aligned news organisations, meanwhile, linked the fatwa issued by late Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini to the violent attack 33 years later.
Senior government figures remained largely mute as outrage surrounding the attempt to kill Rushdie continued to grow. However, many pro-regime outlets in Iraq and neighbouring Iran welcomed the attack, which has been blamed on an American man of Lebanese origin, Hadi Matar.
Global Relations
US officials concerned as Russia launches Iranian satellite
Russia has successfully launched an Iranian satellite into orbit amid US concerns over its planned purpose.
The satellite, called Khayyam, was launched from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan.
Iran has said it will be used for environmental monitoring and will remain under Tehran's control.
But last week, US officials told the Washington Post that they feared the satellite could be used by Moscow to spy on troop movements in Ukraine.
(BBC)
Analysis
Iran and the US face obstacles in their goals in the Middle East
By: Ebrahim Meraji
The long rivalry between the United States and Iran reflects their differing views of an ideal regional order and contrasting methods of expanding influence. Both are facing obstacles and are unable to fully achieve their goals.
Since the 1979 revolution, Iran has sought to export its ideology of resistance and support for Islamic rule. A predominantly Shia country and linguistically different from many other countries in the region, Iran has tried to compensate for its strategic loneliness by establishing and expanding non-state actors in neighboring states. However, these actors have increased neighbors’ threat perceptions and undermined the formation of constructive ties with Iran.
The US has long been one of the Middle East’s most important players, seeking to protect its allies, such as Saudi Arabia and Israel, to secure energy exports and sell weapons. But it has also tried and failed repeatedly to pivot to Asia and reduce its military footprint in the Middle East.
