Iran Digest Week of June 2- June 9
/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.
Nuclear Accord
US and Iran both deny report of nearing interim nuclear deal
The United States and Iran on Thursday both denied a report that they were nearing an interim deal under which Tehran would curb its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.
"This report is false and misleading," said a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, referring to an article on the London-based Middle East Eye website. "Any reports of an interim deal are false."
Iran's mission to the United Nations also cast doubt on the report, saying: "Our comment is the same as the White House comment."
(Reuters)
Economy
US slaps sanctions on Iranian, Chinese targets over Tehran's missile, military programs
The United States imposed sanctions on Tuesday on more than a dozen people and entities in China, Hong Kong and Iran, including Iran's defense attache in Beijing, over accusations they helped procure parts and technology for key actors in Iran's ballistic missile development.
Earlier on Tuesday, the official IRNA news agency reported Iran had presented what officials described as its first domestically made hypersonic ballistic missile, an announcement likely to heighten Western concerns about Tehran's missile capabilities.
“The United States will continue to target illicit transnational procurement networks that covertly support Iran’s ballistic missile production and other military programs," Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson, said in a statement.
(Reuters)
Pakistan Turns to Barter Trade With Russia, Iran and Afghanistan
Pakistan has approved barter trade with Iran, Afghanistan, and Russia to stabilize its economy and reduce the country’s dependence on dollar trade.
According to the Ministry of Commerce, the Barter Trade Mechanism will allow public and private entities to engage in Business to Business (B2B) trade with all three countries. “Trade of goods under a B2B BT [barter trade] arrangement shall be allowed on the principle of import followed by export. The export would be made to the extent of the value of imported goods, subject to the tolerance mechanism provided hereinafter for any exigency,” the notification said.
By engaging in barter trade with Iran and Russia, Pakistan can access goods and services it needs without having to depend on the U.S. dollar for transactions. That could increase Pakistan’s overall volume of trade with regional countries by providing a more efficient way to exchange goods and services without relying on cash transactions. Furthermore, it will enable Pakistan to eliminate barriers resulting from a lack of banking relationships with Iran and Russia. This is especially important since Islamabad plans to shift a large part of its oil imports to Russia.
China Increases BRI Investments Into Iran By 150%
China’s Economic and Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Tehran, Xu Qisong has said that China’s investment in Iran increased by 150% in 2022, according to the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA).
Speaking in a meeting with TCCIMA Secretary General Bahman Eshghi on Sunday, Xu said the growth in investment has exceeded the average volume of Chinese investment in other countries. He also noted that the number of contracts signed between the two countries for cooperation in oil and gas field development projects has also increased by a factor of ten during 2022.
Eshghi stated the need for further development of cooperation between the two sides in order to recognize the business opportunities of economic enterprises from the two countries, and underlined the importance of creating various platforms for smoothing trade and joint investments between economic operators and companies of the two countries.
Inside Iran
Fattah: Iran unveils its first hypersonic missile
Iran has unveiled its first-ever hypersonic missile, Fattah, which it says can penetrate missile defence systems and will give it a military edge.
State media on Tuesday published images of an unveiling ceremony, attended by President Ebrahim Raisi and senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), with the domestically made black missile visible.
State media said the missile can move at a speed of up to Mach 15 (5,145 metres or 16,880 feet per second), has a range of 1,400km (870 miles) and features a moveable secondary nozzle and employs solid propellants that allow for high manoeuvrability.
Zarif's Latest Statements Ignite Controversy In Iran
Iranian former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s statements this week on a range of issues have led to discussions in Tehran about his intentions and plans.
Reactions to Former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's five-hour appearance in a chatroom on Club House June 6, and the statements he made about the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal, relations with the United States, as well as Russia’s and China's role in Iran's foreign policy and a few domestic political issues have given way to varying interpretations of why he chose to speak and the timing of his move.
Among many of his points, Zarif insisted that former President Donald Trump had invited him to the White House but superiors in Tehran had not allowed him to go.
Regional Politics
Iran hails 'new era' as embassy reopens in Saudi Arabia
Iran has reopened its embassy in Saudi Arabia, seven years after the regional rivals severed diplomatic ties.
Representatives of the Iranian and Saudi foreign ministries attended the ceremony in Riyadh, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV reported.
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, Alireza Bigdeli, said it was a sign that co-operation was "entering a new era".
(BBC)
Iran's Relations With Azerbaijan Get Heated Over Attacks, Baku's Ties To Israel
For the second time in just months, Baku has warned its citizens against traveling to Iran in the wake of a deadly attack on the Azerbaijani Embassy in Tehran in January that it blamed on the "unstable situation in the Islamic republic."
In what has become a habit in recent weeks, Iranian officials have been angered over the perceived obstinacy of its northwestern neighbor and the encroachment of regional adversaries on what Tehran believes to be its backyard.
Azerbaijan's increasingly cozy relations with Iran's archfoe, Israel -- highlighted by defense deals, the opening of an embassy in Tel Aviv in March, and Israeli President Isaac Herzog's first visit to Azerbaijan last month -- has become a reliable trigger for Tehran as its own ties with Baku hit new lows.
Environment
‘Loss for Iran’s wildlife’: woman jailed in Tehran calls for environmentalists’ release
Aras Amiri has kept a low profile since she was released from Iranian detention two years ago, avoiding interview requests after returning to the UK. But now, the former British Council employee, who spent three years in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, wants to speak. An injustice has compelled her: the detention of seven friends and environmentalists she left behind.
Kept in solitary confinement for 69 days, Amiri was allowed to return to Britain after serving just under a third of a 10-year prison sentence. In the women’s ward, she not only met fellow British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, but Niloufar Bayani and Sepideh Kashani, two of the seven members of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation in jail since 2018. Of the nine originally jailed, one has been released after serving his two-year sentence and another, the founder of the group, Kavous Seyed Emami, died in his prison cell only two weeks after his arrest. The authorities called it suicide, but produced no autopsy.
Global Relations
Iran's president to visit three Latin American countries next week
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will visit Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela next week, Iran's state news agency IRNA announced on Wednesday, adding that the upcoming tour stemmed from invites from the presidents of each of the Latin American nations.
IRNA said documents to expand bilateral cooperation will be signed between Iran and the three countries during Raisi's visit, mentioning economic, political and scientific issues, but without going into further detail.
The state news agency said Raisi will leave Tehran on June 11.
(Reuters)
Analysis
Israel’s ties with pre-revolutionary Iran provided a road map for the Abraham Accords
By: Jason M. Brodsky
The Biden administration is reportedly making a major push for a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia by the end of the year, including the installation of a new State Department envoy to lead the effort. It would expand the Abraham Accords of 2020, a groundbreaking achievement that normalized relations between Israel and Arab powers, including Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, and later Morocco and Sudan. Before that, the last similar agreements were reached in 1979 and 1994, with the peace treaties between Egypt and Israel and Jordan and Israel, respectively. But in the 1950s-1970s, the bilateral relationship between Israel and pre-revolutionary Iran provided a road map for the process leading to a normalization in ties between the Jewish state and Arab countries in the 2020s. This dynamic can be seen in the mutual interests, close high-level contact, and impressions of Israel’s standing in the United States — drivers that continue to this day in the desire to expand the circle of peace to include Saudi Arabia.
In the absence of relations with its neighbors, Israel spearheaded the development of the periphery doctrine, whose origins can be traced to the 1950s, when Israel’s Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion attempted to forge partnerships with non-Arab states — namely Turkey and Iran — to counteract the then hostile powers led by Egypt’s President Gamal Abdel Nasser. On March 6, 1950, the Iranian government even granted Israel de facto recognition, which was especially needed after the 1956 Suez Crisis. As a U.S. intelligence assessment noted, “Israel figured that it had much in common with these states, each of which nurtured its own set of grievances with neighboring Arab countries.”
