Iran Digest Week of December 29- January 5th
/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
US strike kills Iran-backed militia leader in Baghdad as regional tensions rise
A US airstrike in Baghdad on Thursday killed the commander of an Iranian-backed Shia militia that Washington blames for attacks on American forces in the region, according to US officials.
One official said that a leader of Harakat al-Nujaba, later named by the Pentagon as Mushtaq Jawad Kazim al-Jawari, was killed in his car as he was about to enter the garage at his group’s Baghdad headquarters. News footage from Baghdad showed damage to the building. Harakat al-Nujaba, which has been active in Syria and Iraq, is loyal to Tehran but also forms part of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), a collection of largely autonomous militias.
The Pentagon said that Jawari, also known as Abu Taqwa, had been involved in planning and carrying out attacks on American forces. The Nujaba group had also claimed responsibility for a drone strike on an Israeli school in the southern coastal city of Eilat.
States and Congress wrestle with cybersecurity after Iran attacks small town water utilities
The tiny Aliquippa water authority in western Pennsylvania was perhaps the least-suspecting victim of an international cyberattack.
It had never had outside help in protecting its systems from a cyberattack, either at its existing plant that dates to the 1930s or the new $18.5 million one it is building.
Then it — along with several other water utilities — was struck by what federal authorities say are Iranian-backed hackers targeting a piece of equipment specifically because it was Israeli-made.
(ABC News)
Economy
Exclusive: Iran's oil trade with China stalls as Tehran demands higher prices
China's oil trade with Iran has stalled as Tehran withholds shipments and demands higher prices from its top client, tightening cheap supply for the world's biggest crude importer, refinery and trade sources said.
The cutback in Iranian oil, which makes up some 10% of China's crude imports and hit a record in October, could support global prices and squeeze profits at Chinese refiners.
The abrupt move, which one industry executive called a "default", could also represent the backfiring of an October U.S. waiver on sanctions of Venezuelan oil, which diverted shipments from the South American producer to the U.S. and India, elevating prices for China as shipments dwindled.
(Reuters)
Environment
Climate change dries up Iran’s saffron harvest
It’s only small, but the beautiful, mauve-blue flower with its distinctive crimson coloured stigma, is certainly noticeable. It’s just that now you will have to look a little harder for it.
Saffron, which is used by chefs to add that final flourish of delicate flavouring, is one of the world’s most valuable spices. It comes from the saffron crocus and is grown in parts of Mediterranean France, Spain and Italy as well as India. But, it’s in Iran that the best quality saffron crocuses are grown. With prices of Iranian saffron sometimes reaching an average of US$800-900 per kilo on international markets, saffron harvesting has long been a major economic contributor to the parts of rural Iran where it grows.
It takes up to 170,000 flowers to produce just one kilo of saffron, but drought is having a major impact on Iran’s saffron harvest with production falling by more than 50 per cent in some areas in the past year. And, with Iran supplying about 90 per cent of the world’s saffron, that is having a major impact on both global supply and the economy of the parts of Iran where saffron grows.
The Air Pollution Crisis Intensifies in Iranian Cities
Since last fall, the air quality in numerous Iranian cities has degraded to hazardous levels, primarily attributed to the use of non-standard fuel in power plants and public transportation. Government statistics indicate a significant loss of lives among Iranian citizens due to these environmental challenges.
Cities grappling with persistent and severe air pollution include Tehran, Karaj, Arak, Yazd, Tabriz, Isfahan, Urmia, Ahvaz, and Semnan.
Meteorology experts have predicted a further deterioration in the capital’s weather, urging citizens to stay indoors as much as possible.
Inside Iran
Islamic State Claims Responsibility for Deadly Bombings in Iran
The Islamic State claimed responsibility on Thursday for the bombing attack that killed 84 people in Kerman, Iran, a day before, during a memorial procession for Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, according to a post on the extremist group’s official Telegram account.
The extremist group called the attack a “dual martyrdom operation,” and described how two militants approached a ceremony at the tomb of General Suleimani and detonated explosive belts strapped to their bodies “near the grave of the hypocrite leader.”
The general, a widely revered and feared Iranian military officer who was the architect of an Iranian-led and -funded alliance of Shiite groups across the Middle East, was assassinated four years ago in an American drone attack.
Surging Costs Of Releasing Academic Degrees Sparks Outcry In Iran
To curb increasing Iranian emigration, the Islamic Republic now withholds university degrees until substantial payments are made.
Iranian education authorities have hiked the costs of releasing academic degrees more than 30 times under the pretext of preventing brain drain. Iran is demanding exorbitant fees from the graduates of the so-called governmental universities who already went through the corruption-struck national admission exam to get the state-promised free education.
According to Hamoun Sabti, the secretary of the Transparency Watchdog Commission – an NGO affiliated with Iran’s Conservatives, “the average fee for every semester of study for some bachelor's degrees has surged from about $20 to $600.” It means that for a four to five-year program, an Iranian must pay a minimum of $5,000 for official documentation of a degree that offers no employment or income guarantees. The average monthly income for Iranians ranges from $100 to $300.
Regional Politics
Jordan strikes Iran-linked drug dealers in Syria -intelligence sources
Jordan on Thursday launched air strikes inside Syria against suspected warehouses and hideouts of Iranian-backed drug smugglers, Jordanian and regional intelligence sources said.
The army has stepped up a campaign against drug dealers after protracted clashes last month with dozens of infiltrators from Syria linked to pro-Iranian militias, carrying large hauls who crossed its border with weapons and explosives.
The sources told Reuters jets bombed the suspected home of a leading drug dealer in the town of Shaab in Sweida province while the other strike hit warehouses near the village of Al-Ghariya.
(Reuters)
Attacks Heighten Fears of a Wider War for the Middle East and U.S.
American, Israeli and Lebanese officials insist that few parties want Israel’s war in Gaza to become a wider conflict that engulfs the Middle East.
But the assassination of a top leader of Hamas in Lebanon on Tuesday, and the deaths of scores of people in mysterious twin explosions in Iran on Wednesday, threatened to bring the Middle East — and the United States — closer to the brink of a regional war, which the Biden administration has tried to stave off since Hamas’s deadly attacks against Israel on Oct. 7.
Just hours after the bombs went off in Iran, the United States and 12 of its allies issued a written warning to another militia group in the region, the Houthis of Yemen, who have been mounting near-daily missile, drone and seaborne attacks on commercial vessels.
Analysis
Iran targeted human rights sanctions series: Why are people and entities sanctioned for human rights abuses?
By: Celeste Kmiotek and Lisandra Novo
Every perpetrator designated by a jurisdiction for targeted sanctions generally faces the same consequences: the freezing of any assets in that jurisdiction, a ban on future financial transactions with persons in that jurisdiction, and, for individuals—as opposed to entities—a ban on entering that jurisdiction. However, the exact reasons governments can designate perpetrators differ by jurisdiction.
Sanctions programs are developed through legal authorities—meaning legislation, implementing regulations, executive orders, and other legal documents that allow the relevant government to take action. Within these authorities, certain provisions outline violations that can lead to a designation. These provisions are often grouped thematically or geographically to create “regimes” such as “the global human rights sanctions regime.”
The United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), European Union (EU), Australia, and Canada (hereinafter referred to as “the leading jurisdictions”) all have Global Magnitsky-style regimes that cover human rights violations and, sometimes, corruption. These sanctions can be used for acts committed in any country by a perpetrator of any nationality—except for the country of and the nationality of the jurisdiction issuing the designation. The violations covered by these regimes are mostly parallel across the five jurisdictions. For example, most include violations of the rights to life, to be free from torture, and to be free from slavery. However, some include additional violations, such as violations of the right to be free from arbitrary detention or add restrictions, such as requiring that the victims be whistleblowers or human rights defenders.
