Iran Digest Week of February 23- March 1
/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
After U.S. Strikes, Iran’s Proxies Scale Back Attacks on American Bases
Iran has made a concerted effort to rein in militias in Iraq and Syria after the United States retaliated with a series of airstrikes for the killing of three U.S. Army reservists this month.
Initially, there were regional concerns that the tit-for-tat violence would lead to an escalation of the Middle East conflict. But since the Feb. 2 U.S. strikes, American officials say, there have been no attacks by Iran-backed militias on American bases in Iraq and only two minor ones in Syria.
Before then, the U.S. military logged at least 170 attacks against American troops in four months, Pentagon officials said.
Nuclear Accord
Iran has further increased its total stockpile of uranium, UN nuclear watchdog report says
Iran has further increased its total stockpile of uranium, according to a report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog seen by The Associated Press on Monday, and it continues to bar the agency’s most seasoned inspectors from monitoring its nuclear program,
The International Atomic Energy Agency also said in a second confidential report, distributed to member states, that Tehran made no progress in explaining the presence of manmade uranium particles found at two locations.
The IAEA estimated in its quarterly report that as of Feb. 10, Iran’s total enriched uranium stockpile was at 5,525.5 kilograms (about 12,182 pounds), an increase of 1,038.7 kilograms (2,289 pounds) since the last quarterly report in November 2023.
(AP News)
Women of Iran
Iran has further increased its total stockpile of uranium, UN nuclear watchdog report says
Iran has further increased its total stockpile of uranium, according to a report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog seen by The Associated Press on Monday, and it continues to bar the agency’s most seasoned inspectors from monitoring its nuclear program,
The International Atomic Energy Agency also said in a second confidential report, distributed to member states, that Tehran made no progress in explaining the presence of manmade uranium particles found at two locations.
The IAEA estimated in its quarterly report that as of Feb. 10, Iran’s total enriched uranium stockpile was at 5,525.5 kilograms (about 12,182 pounds), an increase of 1,038.7 kilograms (2,289 pounds) since the last quarterly report in November 2023.
(AP News)
Health
Iran Faces Nurse Shortage As Working Conditions Spark Protests
A state-run newspaper in Tehran, Shargh , quoted Mohammad Sharifi Moghadam, secretary-general of the Nursing House, on February 29th. He stated that according to the World Health Organization, there should be at least three nurses per 1,000 people, but Iran falls short with only 1.6 nurses.
Shargh further highlighted the hardships faced by Iranian nurses. Their salaries, according to Mohammad Taghi Jahanpour, head of the nursing system organization, are not commensurate with the demands of their profession. He added, “We’ve reached a point where nurses are unwilling to work even an hour of overtime.”
Loqman Sharifi, a member of the Supreme Council of the Nursing System, believes that expecting nurses to work in major cities and metropolises with salaries between 10 and 13 million Tomans is unreasonable.
Economy
A brazen iPhone scam in Iran reflects its economic struggles and tensions with the West
With flashy celebrity ads and promises of deep discounts, a shop in Iran’s capital had offered consumers in the Islamic Republic one of the hottest products in the country — an iPhone that came out in 2021.
But instead of getting their hands on the handsets, police and prosecutors in Iran allege customers found themselves ensnared by a business owner running a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.
Yet the controversy surrounding the Kourosh, or “Son of the Sun,” Company extends far beyond just the alleged scheme.
(AP News)
Environment
The intensity of climate change in Iran is increasing
With its diverse geography and unique climatic conditions, Iran is particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. In recent years, the country has experienced a myriad of climate-related challenges, ranging from prolonged droughts and water scarcity to extreme weather events and ecosystem degradation. It is very important to examine the underlying factors exacerbating these challenges and propose actionable solutions to mitigate their impact.
According to a report released by World Weather Attribution, the drought experienced in Iran between 2019 and 2023 represents, under current climatic conditions, a phenomenon occurring once every five years. However, in the absence of climate change’s impact, it would have been a rarity occurring only once every 80 years.
Unprecedented heat waves, periods of drought and the gradual depletion of water bodies are compelling tens of thousands of Iranians to seek new habitats annually. Among these climate migrants are individuals hailing from agricultural, labor and fishing backgrounds, along with their families, as they depart rural regions en masse for the urban centers of Iran in search of fresh avenues of sustenance.
Inside Iran
Calls for a Boycott Roil Iran’s Parliamentary Elections
As Iran prepares for a parliamentary election on Friday, calls to boycott the vote are turning it into a test of legitimacy for the ruling clerics amid widespread discontent and anger at the government.
A separate election on Friday will also decide the membership of an obscure, 88-member clerical body called the Assembly of Experts, which selects and advises the country’s supreme leader, who has the last word on all key state matters. While it normally operates behind the scenes, the assembly has the all-important task of choosing a successor to the current, 84-year-old supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has ruled Iran for more than three decades.
Iran’s leaders view turnout at the polls as a projection of their strength and power. But a robust vote appears unlikely with these elections taking place amid a slew of domestic challenges and a regional war stemming from the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza that has come to include Iran’s network of proxy militias.
Global Relations
Iran sending attack drones to Sudan’s military
Iran is stepping up shipments of attack drones to the Sudanese military, further internationalizing the North African country’s civil war and potentially providing Tehran with a new ally through which to project power into the Red Sea, U.S. and Arab officials tell Semafor.
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) has been locked in a nearly year-long conflict with the rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that has split the country and spilled into neighboring countries like Chad and South Sudan. The war provided Iran with an opening last October to reestablish diplomatic relations with the Khartoum government for the first time since 2016 and potentially end Sudan’s strategic shift towards the West.
The country, previously designated by the U.S. as a state sponsor of terrorism, significantly improved its ties with Washington during the Trump administration and agreed in 2020 to establish diplomatic relations with Israel. Sudan’s worsening civil war, which has included the targeting of civilians, however, has halted these steps towards normalization. And the Biden administration imposed new sanctions on both the SAF and RSF in recent months.
(Semafor)
Analysis
Iran’s Parliament Election 2024: What You Need to Know
By: Farnaz Fassihi
Iran is holding parliamentary elections on Friday, the first general vote since an uprising, led by women and girls, swept across the country in 2022, calling for an end to the Islamic Republic’s rule. The government violently crushed the protests, but demands for change endure and many Iranians view boycotting the vote as an act of protest.
Election turnout is expected to be low, especially in the capital, Tehran, and other major cities, according to the government’s own polls cited in Iranian media. The election is important because voter turnout is viewed by both supporters and critics of the government as a barometer for legitimacy. Opponents say they are sitting out the vote to signal that they no longer believe meaningful change can come through the ballot box under the current system.
There is a separate election on Friday for electing members of an 88-seat body called the Assembly of Experts. Iran’s Constitution mandates that the assembly select the supreme leader, the highest clerical authority, who has the last word on all key state matters and serves as the commander in chief of the armed forces. The assembly also functions as an advisory body to the supreme leader and can supervise or dismiss him, although it has never done so.
United Against America: Russia-Iran Military Cooperation Is a Looming Threat
Author: Nikita Smagin
There are many reasons why Russia and Iran are not formal allies. Their rulers don’t trust one another; they compete with each other on energy markets; and Iran’s revolutionary Shiite ideology sits uneasily with Russia’s conservatism. When it comes to military matters, however, they are drawing ever closer, united in their opposition to the United States.
For the moment, Moscow is playing a limited role in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East between Tehran and Washington. But the Kremlin has convinced itself that the United States is using Ukraine to wage a proxy war against Russia. And that means Russia likely believes it has every right to start a proxy war with the United States anywhere in the world, including the Middle East.
When it comes to drones, the cooperation between Russia and Iran is well known: there have been multiple media reports about the factory in Russia’s republic of Tatarstan that is producing Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Significantly, Russia may soon take delivery of the new Iranian attack drone, the Shahed-101.
