Iran Digest Week of February 15th- February 21st
/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
Iranian academics rally against US student visa denials
Analysis of US state department data has revealed a significant drop in F-1 visa issuance for Iranian students in 2024, with some students reportedly spending over $3,700 in application and associated visa costs.
In fiscal year 2024, the total number of F-1 visas issued to Iranian students fell by 42% compared to the average total for the previous two years, according to USgovernment data.
Nearly 3,900 F-1 visas were issued to Iranian students coming to the US in FY 2023, as compared to 2,166 in FY 2024 finishing at the end of September, the data reveals.
(Pie News)
Nuclear Program
Nuclear Program
Military option cannot eradicate Iran's nuclear program, expert warns
Iran can rebuild nuclear facilities hit by air attacks which would delay but not ultimately destroy Tehran's disputed program, expert on US-Iran relations Sina Azodi told the Eye for Iran podcast.
Iran can rebuild its capacities within six to twelve months of a strike, Azodi said, citing publicly available estimates which he said could undermine the rationale of an attack aimed at knocking out the program.
"Once you know how to make a car, it doesn't matter how many times you get into a car accident. You can still rebuild it," said Azodi, a lecturer at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University.
Iran needs to prove peaceful intent of nuclear program, UN watchdog says
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief said on Thursday it was prepared to help Iran prove it did not seek a bomb, in comments Tehran blasted as politicized and a boon to adversaries.
"We want to make ourselves available, providing technically sound alternatives to eliminate the possibility that Iran develops a nuclear weapon, to prevent Iran, or to help Iran prove that they don't want to develop a nuclear weapon," Rafael Grossi told reporters at Japan’s National Press Club.
"We hear the government say that. But as somebody said, we trust everybody, but we need to verify. So until we can have a very, very comprehensive watertight system of verification, we will not be satisfied."
Women of Iran
Death Sentence for Woman Labor Activist In IranRe-Issued
Iranian authorities have once again sentenced female labor activist Sharifeh Mohammadi to death, despite the Supreme Court previously overturning her initial death sentence. Mohammadi was arrested on bogus charges solely in retaliation for her peaceful activism and handed a death sentence following a sham trial marked by torture, forced “confessions,” and grave due process violations.
Now, three women political prisoners—labor activist Sharifeh Mohammadi, Kurdish social and humanitarian worker Pekhshan Azizi, and Kurdish activist Varisheh Moradi—are at risk of execution by the Islamic Republic.
Health
Iran’s Dire and Growing Drug Shortage
On top of its other myriad economic problems, Iran is facing a convoluted and increasingly dire shortage of basic pharmaceuticals. A combination of high prices, low production, and lack of foreign currency liquidity has plagued the supply of drugs to the extent that, according to a recent report by Iran’s state news agency IRNA, as many as 300 types of drugs are in short supply, and about a hundred are unavailable.
At a time when the free market rate for Iran’s currency is hovering at nearly one million to the dollar, Iran’s health minister announced late last year that the government was phasing out a totally unrealistic official rate of 42,000 rials to one U.S. dollar to subsidize drug imports and planned to increase the rate to the still subsidized level of 285,000 rials to the dollar. The earlier fixed exchange rate was introduced after the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 in an effort to mitigate the impact of the reimposition of economic sanctions on Iranianconsumers.
Inside Iran
Detained Britons charged with espionage in Iran
Detained Britons Craig and Lindsay Foreman have been charged in Iran with espionage, the country's judiciary news agency has said.
Mr and Mrs Foreman were arrested in the city of Kerman in January but news of their detention, on unspecified security charges, emerged last week.
Judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir said that the couple, both aged 52, had "entered Iran under the guise of tourists" and "gathered information in multiple provinces of the country".
(BBC News)
Iran’s vice-president orders probe into killing of university student during a robbery
Iran’s vice-president on Saturday ordered a probe into the killing of a university student after a protest gathering at Tehran University, state media reported.
A report by the official IRNA news agency said First Vice-president Mohammad Reza Aref ordered security officials to probe the case “immediately.”
The move came a day after angry students gathered in protest at a Tehran University dormitory seeking more safety measures. The protest briefly turned violent and police deployed forces to the gate of the dorm, according to videos on social media. The Associated Press could not independently verify the footage.
(AP News)
Regional Politics
Qatar’s emir holds talks with Iran’s supreme leader in Tehran
Qatar’s emir has held talks with Iran’s supreme leader and the country’s president during a state visit amid high tensions in the region.
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s spiritual leader and its highest authority, in Tehran on Wednesday.
The leaders discussed bilateral relations, as well as regional and international issues of mutual interest.
Analysis
Potential Saudi mediation presents plot twist to Iran-US talks drama
By: Maryam Sinaiee
Tehran has reacted with suspicion to a report suggesting regional rival Saudi Arabia may mediate between Iranand US President Donald Trump, in the latest twist to a drama over whether Iran would accept Trump's overtures for a nuclear deal.
CNN reported on Sunday that Riyadh is open to brokering discussions between the US and Iran to curb Tehran’s nuclear program.
The kingdom is concerned, the US network reported, that Iran might pursue nuclear weapons more aggressively after Israel battered regional allies which had acted as Iran's deterrent to a direct Israeli attack for decades.
Iran seeks to strengthen ties with Caspian, Gulf states through new corridor
By: Seth J. Frantzman
Iran is increasingly interested in investing in infrastructure for a north-south economic corridor that would link the Caspian Sea with the Persian Gulf.
This is part of a much wider plan that Tehran has been interested in for many years. Its overall goal would be to bring Russia and Iran closer together.
“Iran is ready to establish logistics bases in its southern ports for the littoral states of the Caspian Sea, the minister of industry, mine, and trade says,” Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Iran’s official news agency, reported Tuesday.
