Iran Digest Week of February 16- February 23
/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 Blasts Iran’s Decision To Ban VPNs
The United States has called Iran's decision to ban the use of virtual private network (VPN) services a "reminder of how much the Iranian regime fears its people".
Spokesman Matthew Miller made the comments amid Iran's lowest ebb, when on the eve of next month's elections, turnout is expected to be the lowest in the history of the Islamic Republic.
Miller said the government fears "what they [Iranians] are capable of when they are given unfettered access to the internet and information", the 2022 uprising and its subsequent rejection of the government reflecting the power of the people in the face of the country's tyrannical regime.
Nuclear Accord
Iran dismisses plan by U.N. nuclear watchdog head to visit next month
Iran's nuclear chief on Wednesday dismissed a suggestion that the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi would visit Iran next month but instead invited Grossi to a conference in Tehran in May.
Grossi said this week Iran was continuing to enrich uranium well beyond the needs for commercial nuclear use and said he planned to visit Tehran next month to tackle "drifting apart" relations between the IAEA and the Islamic Republic.
But Mohammad Eslami said a visit next month was unlikely due to a "busy schedule" without giving further clarification. "Iran's interactions with the IAEA continue as normal and discussions are held to resolve ambiguities and develop cooperation," he said at a weekly press conference in Tehran.
(Reuters)
Women of Iran
Iranian women tell why they openly flout hijab rules
"We Iranian girls are not afraid of anything anymore," said Maedeh, a 26-year-old sports trainer who was not wearing a required headscarf when she spoke with ABC News on a recent reporting trip to Tehran.
She was one of several Iranian women who risked speaking to correspondent Mola Lenghi while not wearing the hijab, an offense punishable by the regime's morality police.
It was in September 2022 when 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died mysteriously in state custody after allegedly violating Iran's hijab law, setting off protests across the country.
(ABC)
Economy
Iran Allocates 13.6 Billion Euros For Import Of Essential Goods
Iran's Expediency Discernment Council has approved the allocation of 13.6 billion euros for the import of essential, agricultural, pharmaceutical, and raw materials.
As announced by the Council’s Supreme Supervisory Board on Wednesday, the authorization allows the government and the Central Bank to utilize the allocated funds "solely for the import of essential agricultural goods, pharmaceuticals, and their raw materials, as well as medical consumables."
Amidst the drastic devaluation of the Iranian currency in recent years, the government has resorted to providing foreign currency at cheaper exchange rates to importers of a pre-approved list of essential goods, including medicine, food, and crucial raw materials. Importers are mandated to procure and transport the approved goods into the country.
Iran, Armenia ink 19 co-op documents during 18th Joint Economic Committee meeting
The 18th meeting of the Iran-Armenia Joint Economic Committee was held in Tehran during February 14-15, in which the two sides signed 19 documents and memorandums of understanding (MOUs) to enhance cooperation in various areas.
The mentioned documents covered a variety of areas including trade development, customs cooperation, maritime transportation, food, and medicine.
The 18th meeting of the Iran-Armenia Joint Economic Committee meeting, hosted by Iran’s Plan and Budget Organization (PBO), was attended by senior officials and ministers from the two sides including the PBO Head Davoud Manzour, Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Mher Grigoryan, Armenian Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Gnel Sanosyan, Armenia’s Deputy Minister of Economy Narek Teryan, and the Head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Mehdi Zeighami.
Inside Iran
Legislative Election Campaign Kicks Off in Iran
Candidates running for seats in the Iranian parliament began campaigning on February 22 in the country’s first election since the bloody crackdown on the 2022 popular uprising.
Voters are due to cast their ballots on March 1 to pick new members of the 290-seat legislature among 15,200 candidates who have been approved by the hardline Guardian Council.
That’s more than twice the number of candidates allowed to compete in 2020 for a four-year term in the chamber, when voter turnout was just over 42 percent, the lowest since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Israel Was Behind Attacks on Major Gas Pipelines in Iran, Officials Say
Israel carried out covert attacks on two major natural gas pipelines inside Iran this week, disrupting the flow of heat and cooking gas to provinces with millions of people, according to two Western officials and a military strategist affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps.
The strikes represent a notable shift in the shadow war that Israel and Iran have been waging by air, land, sea and cyberattack for years.
Israel has long targeted military and nuclear sites inside Iran — and assassinated Iranian nuclear scientists and commanders, both inside and outside of the country. Israel has also waged cyberattacks to disable servers belonging to the oil ministry, causing turmoil at gas stations nationwide.
Leaked Documents Give Glimpse of Repression in Iran
A 16-year-old girl who disappeared during Iran’s 2022 uprising was raped before being killed, according to classified documentation leaked by a hacktivist group.
"During the genital examination, indications of rape or forcible sexual activity were apparent," the head of the country's Forensic Medicine Organization said in a confidential letter addressed to the Supreme National Security Council.
The document was released by the Edalat-e Ali hacktivist group after they infiltrated servers of the Islamic Republic's judiciary.
Global Relations
Legislative Election Campaign Kicks Off in Iran
Candidates running for seats in the Iranian parliament began campaigning on February 22 in the country’s first election since the bloody crackdown on the 2022 popular uprising.
Voters are due to cast their ballots on March 1 to pick new members of the 290-seat legislature among 15,200 candidates who have been approved by the hardline Guardian Council.
That’s more than twice the number of candidates allowed to compete in 2020 for a four-year term in the chamber, when voter turnout was just over 42 percent, the lowest since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Israel Was Behind Attacks on Major Gas Pipelines in Iran, Officials Say
Israel carried out covert attacks on two major natural gas pipelines inside Iran this week, disrupting the flow of heat and cooking gas to provinces with millions of people, according to two Western officials and a military strategist affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps.
The strikes represent a notable shift in the shadow war that Israel and Iran have been waging by air, land, sea and cyberattack for years.
Israel has long targeted military and nuclear sites inside Iran — and assassinated Iranian nuclear scientists and commanders, both inside and outside of the country. Israel has also waged cyberattacks to disable servers belonging to the oil ministry, causing turmoil at gas stations nationwide.
Leaked Documents Give Glimpse of Repression in Iran
A 16-year-old girl who disappeared during Iran’s 2022 uprising was raped before being killed, according to classified documentation leaked by a hacktivist group.
"During the genital examination, indications of rape or forcible sexual activity were apparent," the head of the country's Forensic Medicine Organization said in a confidential letter addressed to the Supreme National Security Council.
The document was released by the Edalat-e Ali hacktivist group after they infiltrated servers of the Islamic Republic's judiciary.
Analysis
Iran is socially engineering mass depression to suppress dissent
By: Saeid Golkar & Kasra Aarabi
Not often does a seventy-year-old start a global social media phenomenon for his singing and dancing, but that’s precisely what has happened in the Islamic Republic of Iran, of all places.
Meet Sadegh Booghi—or “Amoo Booghi” (Uncle Booghi) as he has come to be known—an elderly fishmonger from a small northern Iranian town, who was detained by authorities after videos of him singing and dancing went viral on Instagram—the most popular social media platform in Iran and one that also happens to be blocked (Iranians use circumvention tools to bypass censorship). The pensioner’s Instagram page was suspended. It was reactivated after mass pressure, although a case against Booghi is still open.
What was Booghi’s crime? Spreading joy across the country—and much of the world.
