Iran Digest Week of January 12- January 19
/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
U.S. says it seized Iran missile parts bound for the Houthis after SEALs went overboard
A team of Navy SEALs that lost two sailors overboard while searching a small boat off the coast of Somalia went on to find Iranian missile parts bound for Tehran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, the U.S. military said Tuesday.
American ships and aircraft are continuing a huge search and rescue mission in the Gulf of Aden, between Yemen and Somalia, after the two SEALs disappeared into rough, nighttime seas during the boarding operation last Thursday.
Despite losing their two crew members, the team went on to find "Iranian-made ballistic missile and cruise missiles components" including propulsion, guidance, and warheads for medium-range ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles, U.S. Central Command, which oversees the military in the Middle East and parts of Asia, said in a statement posted on X.
(NBC News)
U.S. condemns Iran's "reckless missile strikes" near new American consulate in Erbil, northern Iraq
Iran's foreign minister confirmed Tuesday that his country's forces had launched ballistic missiles at targets in both Iraq and Syria, as the U.S. and Iraq condemned deadly strikes that hit close to the under-construction U.S. consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil.
It was yet another manifestation of violence likely linked to the ongoing war in Gaza between Israel and Iran's Hamas allies. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have also been targeting commercial vessels in the strategic Red Sea shipping lanes for weeks in response to the war.
Three armed drones were shot down over Erbil's airport later Tuesday. The U.S. has forces based at the airport, part of an international coalition battling ISIS in the region. There was no immediate word on damage.
(CBS News)
Women of Iran
Iran extends sentence of Nobel laureate who defended women’s rights
Narges Mohammadi, an Iranian activist and 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has been sentenced to an additional 15 months in prison for “spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic regime,” her family said in a statement shared on social media.
She had been a vocal supporter of the wave of protests that swept Iran after a young woman named Mahsa Amini died in custody in 2022 after she was accused of wearing insufficiently conservative clothing. On the anniversary of Amini’s death, Mohammadi and other female detainees staged a protest inside Iran’s notorious Evin Prison and burned headscarves, she said.
Mohammadi’s latest conviction is her fifth since March 2021, which in total mount to 12 years and three months in prison, 154 lashes, and various social and political prohibitions, her family said Monday. She was first arrested in 2011.
Health
Iraq seeking to boost health co-op with Iran
The Iraqi cultural and academic advisor in Tehran has called for the expansion of health and medical cooperation with Iran.
“We are very pleased that memorandums of understanding in the field of health and higher education have been signed between Iran’s Ministry of Health and Iraq’s ministries of health and higher education,” Yasser Abdulzahra, said.
He made the remarks in a meeting in Tehran with Health Minister Bahram Einollahi.
Economy
Rising Regional Tensions Frighten Iranians And Disrupt Markets
Escalating regional tensions and Tehran's missile attacks on neighboring countries have instilled fear of war among Iranians and rattled the financial markets.
Iranian missile attacks on the Kurdish region of Iraq, along with similar strikes on targets in Syria and Pakistan, have heightened concerns among Iranians that a war may erupt involving Iran at any moment.
While some Iranian pundits have suggested the possibility of a war between Iran and the United States within the next two years, other observers argue that such a scenario is unlikely unless there are exceptional circumstances. Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, has labeled Iran as the most significant regional security threat, coupled with Iranian proxy groups' daily attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Iran launching missile strikes on three countries in less than a day.
Environment
Expert Calls Iran’s Dried Lake Urmia An ‘Ecological Disaster’
Water management researcher Aida Tavakoli calls the current condition of Lake Urmia “an ecological disaster” as the Middle East’s once second largest lake disappears.
Tavakoli blamed the shrinking on several factors including mismanagement, drought, and increased water diversion for irrigated agriculture within the lake’s watershed.
“Like all totalitarian regimes, food self-sufficiency has been a core priority of the Islamic Republic’s ideology. Regardless of the precarious hydrography of the country, the regime multiplied projects that diverted water from the rivers feeding Lake Urmia, taking more than half of its inflow to irrigate agricultural lands,” she went on to say.
Regional Politics
Pakistan-Iran diplomatic ties restored after missile and drone strikes
Pakistan and Iran have restored diplomatic ties according to the caretaker prime minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar's office.
It comes after both countries exchanged drone and missile strikes on militant bases on each other's territory.
As a result of the tit-for-tat attacks Iran and Pakistan withdrew their ambassadors from the respective capitals.
(BBC)
Pakistan Retaliates With Strikes Inside Iran as Tensions Spill Over
In an expansion of hostilities rippling through the region, Pakistan said on Thursday that it had carried out airstrikes inside Iran, a day after Iranian forces attacked what they said were militant camps in Pakistan.
The Pakistani Foreign Affairs Ministry said that the country’s forces had conducted “precision military strikes” against what it called terrorist hide-outs in southeastern Iran. Iranian officials said that nine people had been killed, including four children, and Pakistani officials said the death toll of the Iranian strikes included at least two children.
A senior Pakistani security official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Pakistan had struck at least seven locations used by separatists from the Baluch ethnic group about 30 miles inside the Iranian border. The official said that air force fighter jets and drones had been used in the Pakistani retaliatory strikes.
Global Relations
Putin and Iran's Raisi to sign new interstate treaty soon - Russia
Russia's foreign ministry said on Wednesday that it expected President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart to soon sign a new interstate treaty between the two countries which was in the final stages of being agreed.
Putin held five hours of talks in the Kremlin with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi last month amid growing political, trade and military ties between Moscow and Tehran that the United States and Israel views with concern.
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, told reporters on Wednesday that the new treaty would consolidate the strategic partnership between Moscow and Tehran and cover the full range of their ties.
(Reuters)
Analysis
Making Sense of Iran-Pakistan Cross-Border Strikes
By: Asfandyar Mir
In a surprising turn on January 16, Iran launched missile strikes into Pakistan’s Baluchistan province, claiming it had hit two strongholds of anti-Iran insurgent group Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice). Iran announced the attack in Pakistan concurrent to its strikes in Iraq and Syria. Less than two days later, Pakistan hit back with not only missiles but also fighter jets in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan province — claiming to target hideouts of anti-Pakistan ethno-nationalist insurgents operating from Iranian soil.
This sudden escalation and military hostilities between the two neighboring countries come at a time of heightened regional tensions, with Iranian-backed militias in Iraq carrying out near-daily attacks on bases with U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria and escalation in the Red Sea due to another Iranian-backed entity, the Houthis, targeting global shipping.
Still the attack in Pakistan is unique. Relations between Iran and Pakistan have been generally peaceful and border skirmishes between the two sides have been minimal, or at least contained very close to the border and downplayed by both sides. This time, by announcing the attack, Iran broke from that trend.
