Iran Digest Week of May 20 - May 27
/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 associates Tony Liu and Cynthia Markarian.. Please note that the news and views expressed in the articles below do not necessarily reflect those of AIC.
Nuclear Accord
US official defends Iran deal but says return ‘tenuous at best’
Robert Malley, US President Joe Biden’s special envoy for Iran, has defended Washington’s efforts to return to the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, but he acknowledged that prospects of restoring the agreement are “tenuous at best”.
Testifying before the United States Congress on Wednesday, Malley stressed that the multilateral pact, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), “was working” until Washington withdrew from it in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump.
Malley said the Biden administration will continue to pursue a deal as long as it assesses that the non-proliferation benefits of an agreement are worth the sanction relief that Iran would receive.
Hours prior to Malley’s appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, the Biden administration announced new sanctions against what it said was an “international oil smuggling and money laundering network” linked to the IRGC’s Quds Force, which is responsible for the group’s foreign operations.
(Al Jazeera)
Inside Iran
Sensitive Iranian Military Site Was Targeted in Attack
A drone strike this week targeted a highly sensitive military site outside Tehran where Iran develops missile, nuclear and drone technology, according to three Iranians with knowledge of the attack and to a U.S. official.
The strike on Wednesday evening hit the site of the Parchin military complex, about 37 miles southeast of the capital, with quadcopter suicide drones, according to the Iranian sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly. The drones exploded into a building used by the Ministry of Defense for research on drone development, killing a young engineer who worked at the ministry and injuring another person, they said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the attack fit a pattern of past Israeli strikes on Iran and Lebanon in a covert campaign of hostility that has been going on for years. A statement from Iran’s Ministry of Defense indicated that it viewed this as an attack, not an accident.
(New York Times)
Two pilots dead after fighter jet crash in Iran’s Isfahan
Two pilots have died after their fighter jet crashed during a training run in Iran’s Isfahan province.
State media confirmed on Tuesday that an F-7 aircraft crashed in Anarak, approximately 200 kilometres (124 miles) east of the city of Isfahan, killing both pilots.
Many of the jets employed by the Iranian army date back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution and, due to sanctions and embargoes, Iran is unable to buy spare parts and has to maintain the planes itself.
Those difficulties extend to Iran’s civilian aircraft, which are ranked poorly by airline safety websites.
(Al Jazeera)
Death toll in building collapse in southern Iran rises to 19
Rescuers at the site of a collapsed building in southwestern Iran recovered five more bodies on Thursday, bringing the death toll from the disaster this week to 19, state-run media reported.
It remains unclear how many more people are buried beneath the rubble after the collapse on Monday of the under-construction 10-story tower of the Metropol Building in the city of Abadan. Emergency workers have rescued 37 people so far.
The deadly collapse has raised questions about the safety of similar buildings in the country and underscored an ongoing crisis in Iranian construction projects that has seen other disasters in this earthquake-prone nation. Authorities have arrested the city’s mayor and several other suspects in a widening probe.
(ABC News)
Regional Politics
Iran summons Swiss envoy over US oil seizure
Iran’s foreign ministry has reportedly summoned the envoy of Switzerland, which represents Washington’s interests in Tehran, to protest against the American seizure of Iranian oil from a Russian-operated ship in Greek waters.
The ministry also called for the immediate release of the ship and its cargo, the IRNA state news agency reported on Friday.
“The Islamic Republic expressed its deep concern over the US government’s continued violation of international laws and international maritime conventions,” IRNA and other media outlets quoted the foreign ministry as saying.
The Swiss envoy told Iranian officials he would convey Tehran’s message to Washington, IRNA reported. The developments came after the cargo ship was seized on Wednesday.
(Al Jazeera)
Israel Tells U.S. It Killed Iranian Officer, Official Says
At the funeral in Tehran for a colonel in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, thousands of mourners packed the streets around the cemetery chanting “Death to Israel” and calling for revenge for his killing.
The commanders of the Guards and the Quds Force — the powerful unit within the Guards responsible for operations outside Iran’s borders — were both in attendance, hinting at the colonel’s importance.
Col. Sayad Khodayee, 50, was fatally shot outside his home on a quiet residential street in Tehran on Sunday when two gunmen on motorcycles approached his car and fired five bullets into it, according to state media. Iran has blamed Israel for the killing, which bore the hallmarks of other Israeli targeted killings of Iranians in a shadow war that has been playing out for years on land, sea, air and in cyberspace.
( New York Times)
Iran Seizes Two Greek Tankers in Persian Gulf Waters
Iranian forces seized two Greek oil tankers in the Persian Gulf in apparent retaliation for the detention of vessels off the coast of Greece.
The Greek ships were seized by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on because of “violations,” the IRGC’s news website Sepah News said Friday in a statement, without giving further details. Iranian authorities said Wednesday that the ship off the Greek coast had its cargo of oil confiscated in coordination with US authorities. Iran’s Port and Maritime Organization called the move “piracy” and urged Greece to “immediately abide by its international obligations.”
The ability of tankers to move freely through the Persian Gulf is essential to the global oil trade. Tankers hauled 20.7 million barrels a day of crude, or a third of world’s trade through the Strait of Hormuz in 2018, according to the Energy Information Administration. The region is also crucial for liquefied natural gas, with more than a quarter of the world’s supply -- mostly from Qatar -- passing through it annually, according to the EIA.
(Bloomberg)
Saudi foreign minister says the kingdom’s hands are ‘stretched out’ to Iran
Saudi Arabia is seeing some progress on dialogue with its longtime adversary Iran, but not enough, the kingdom’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud told CNBC on Tuesday. In the meantime, the minister says it is eager to improve the two countries’ relationship.
“In Saudi Arabia, and I think it’s the same in the other GCC states, we are very much focused — you know, Vision 2030 and other elements — on delivering a vision of the future that is built on hope, that is built on prosperity, that is built on development, that is built on cooperation,” Prince Faisal told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble during a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“Our hands are stretched out. We are trying to send the message that going into a new era of cooperation in the region can deliver benefits for all of us.”
Saudi Arabia has long named Iran as the biggest threat to stability in the wider Middle East, citing its nuclear program and support for militant proxy groups from Lebanon and Iraq to Yemen, and the two countries severed diplomatic ties in 2016. Tehran insists that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes.
(CNBS News)
Russia and Iran discuss swapping supplies for oil and gas, goods logistics
Russia and Iran have discussed swapping supplies for oil and gas as well as setting up a logistics hub, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday, as Moscow is challenging Western sanctions over its military operation in Ukraine.
Russia has been tackling Western sanctions, which curbed its oil exports and production by restricting trade and financing. The United States banned imports of Russian oil shortly after Moscow sent troops to Ukraine, while the European Union is considering a phased embargo, pushing more Russian oil cargoes towards Asia.
Iran's oil industry has struggled for years under U.S. sanctions imposed over Tehran's nuclear work.
"Iran could become a key transportation and logistic hub for ensuring mutual transportation of goods," Novak said, adding that the annual goods turnover between Russia and Iran has potential to rise to 50 million tonnes in a few years from 15 million tonnes now.
(Reuters)
Analysis
Russians look to Iran for lessons on life under long-term sanctions
By: Miriam Berger
Independent Russian journalist Alexey Pivovarov wondered what life under years of economic sanctions could come to look like. So he went to Iran to find out.
He found sky-high inflation, a bewildering system of multiple exchange rates, an expansive black market and entrepreneurs developing apps and alternatives for nearly everything. The resulting 80-minute episode for his Russian YouTube channel, Redaktsiya, posted last month, racking up more than 8.3 million views.
It’s not hard to see why Russians are interested: In a matter of months, Russia has outstripped Iran as the country under the most sanctions. Moscow appears to be on track to keep that title, barring any radical change in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
(Read More)
