Iran Digest Week of September 16 - September 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.
Nuclear Accord
U.S. calls Iranian demand to end nuclear probes 'unreasonable'
Iran said on Thursday itsaw no point reviving a 2015 nuclear pact without guarantees the United States would not withdraw again and unless U.N. inspectors close probes of Tehran's atomic program, a stance a U.S. official rejected as "unreasonable."
Signaling failure of attempts at the United Nations General Assembly to overcome an impasse, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said: "What is the use of having a revived deal without assuring guarantees that the U.S. will not violate again?"
After a meeting with Raisi on Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said that "the ball on reaching a nuclear deal with Iran is now in Tehran's camp".
But Raisi, in a televised news conference, blamed the deal's European parties and the United States for failure to revive it.
(Reuters)
Women of Iran
Why Iranian women are burning their hijabs after the death of Mahsa Amini
Iranian women are burning their hijabs and cutting their hair short in protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who died after being arrested in Tehran by Iran's notorious "morality police," who enforce the country's rules on hijabs and other conservative Islamic modes of dress and behavior.
Amini, 22, died on Friday in northern Tehran. She had been arrested on Tuesday and reportedly was taken to a hospital shortly afterward.
Amini suffered multiple blows to the head before she died, according to London-based broadcaster Iran International.
Amini was arrested in her brother's car during a visit to see family members in the capital, the outlet reported. She was originally from Saqqez in Kurdistan province.
(npr)
Iran president says death in custody of Mahsa Amini must be investigated
The death in custody in Iran of a Kurdish woman that led to widespread protests must be “steadfastly” investigated, Iran’s president has said, as he lamented what he claimed were western “double standards” on human rights.
Ebrahim Raisi told a news conference on the sidelines of the UN general assembly in New York that the death of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of Iran’s morality police “must certainly be investigated”.
“I contacted her family at the very first opportunity and I assured them we would continue steadfastly to investigate that incident … Our utmost preoccupation is the safeguarding of the rights of every citizen.”
Health
The future of Iran's health workforce
Iran has been hit by six waves of COVID-19 infection since the outbreak of COVID-19 was announced by authorities in March, 2020.
The unprecedented and unknown nature of the disease gradually led to burnout of the health workforce, particularly among those health-care workers who were directly involved in treating patients with COVID-19. On one hand, burnout was caused by the fast spread, absence of treatment, and severe health outcomes; on the other hand, it was driven by persisting deficiencies in the health-care system: inexperienced staff working in an epidemic situation; untrained new medical staff; scarcity of equipment, drugs, and other vital resources; low ratio of nurses and doctors to hospital bed; inefficient rest time; anxiety; inability of families to accompany patients to hospital; rigid and busy work shifts of the health workforce; infected staff continuing to deliver care; and absence of alternative personnel for medical staff.
Economy
Musk says Starlink will seek exemption from Iranian sanctions
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Monday that the company will ask for an exemption from sanctions against Iran to provide the firm's Starlink satellite broadband service in the country.
Musk made the statement on Twitter at a time of widespread protests in Iran over the death of a woman in police custody. Some people on Twitter asked Musk to provide the satellite-based internet stations.
Access to social media and some content is tightly restricted in Iran and internet monitoring group NetBlocks reported "near-total" disruption to internet connectivity in the capital of the Kurdish region on Monday, linking it to the protests.
(Reuters)
Oil plunges to eight-month low on strong dollar, recession fears
Oil prices plunged about 5% to an eight-month low on Friday as the U.S. dollar hit its strongest level in more than two decades and on fears rising interest rates will tip major economies into recession, cutting demand for oil.
Brent futures fell $4.31, or 4.8%, to settle at $86.15 a barrel, down about 6% for the week. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $4.75, or 5.7%, to settle at $78.74, down about 7% for the week.
It was the fourth straight week of declines for both benchmarks, the first time this has happened since December. Both were in technically oversold territory, with WTI on track for its lowest settlement since Jan. 10 and Brent for its lowest since Jan. 14.
(Reuters)
Inside Iran
Iran’s Internet Shutdown Hides a Deadly Crackdown
In the Iranian city of Shahrud, surrounded by hundreds of protesters, two women climb onto a platform and defiantly wave their hijabs above their heads in an act of public defiance. The scene, caught on video, is posted online by the 1500tasvir Instagram account. In recent days, the account has published dozens of videos from Iranian towns and cities as thousands of people protest the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after being arrested by Iran’s “morality police.”
In another video shared by 1500tasvir, women burn their headscarves while chanting for freedom. Protesters are shown confronting police officers in another. And other videos claim to show people bleeding, injured, or dead, following brutal clashes with police officers as protests have spread to more than 80 cities across Iran. “They stood against the police, who are armed, and they [protesters] just shout at them,” says one person behind the 1500tasvir Instagram account, whom WIRED is not naming to protect their safety.
(WIRED)
Regional Politics
Iranian president’s remarks on the Holocaust spark outcry in Israel
The Iranian president’s comment that “there are some signs” that the Holocaust happened but that the issue required more research sparked an outcry on Monday from Israeli officials, who denounced the remarks as antisemitic Holocaust denial.
Hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi made the comment during an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” on the eve of his visit to New York for the U.N. General Assembly. When asked whether he believed the Holocaust happened, Raisi said there “are some signs that it happened.”
He added: “If so, they should allow it to be investigated and researched.”
Soon after the interview aired, outrage spread in Israel, a country home to tens of thousands of Holocaust survivors. The chairman of Israel’s official Holocaust memorial center, Yad Vashem, rebuked Raisi as a “despicable anti-Semite.”
(PBS)
Global Relations
Ukraine asks Israel to share intel on Iranian support to Russian military
Ukraine asked Israel to share intelligence on any support Iran is giving to the Russian military in the war, senior Israeli officials told Axios.
Driving the news: Russia in recent days attacked several Ukrainian military positions with “Kamikaze drones” that Ukraine's military said were repainted Iranian Shahed-136 drones.
The U.S. and Ukraine have accused Iran of sending hundreds of sophisticated attack drones to Russia — an allegation Tehran denied.
Ukrainian military commanders told the Wall Street Journal the Iranian drones gave the Russians a significant advantage in several areas.
(Axios)
Analysis
The Supreme Leader is still alive. But when he does eventually die, how will succession play out?
By: Barbara Slavin
In the past week, rumors proliferated that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had died.
On September 17, however, Khamenei, eighty-three, re-emerged briefly to address a group of students, putting the rumors to rest following a two-week period in which he had not been seen in public and had canceled several scheduled appearances.
The reports about his poor health and possible demise aroused curiosity about who would succeed Khamenei and how the process might unfold.
In Iran, there are legal procedures and then there is realpolitik.
According to the constitution, the Assembly of Experts—a group of eighty-eight senior clerics vetted by another clerical body and then approved in popular elections—picks a new Supreme Leader when the incumbent dies or is otherwise incapacitated. In reality, a decision so important to the continued existence of the Islamic Republic and its elite is determined in advance and in secret.
