Iran Digest Week of December 9th- December 15th
/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
Amid Russian pressure, UN report skirts question on Iran drones
An upcoming report to the UN Security Council obtained by Axios about Iran's compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal does not accuse Iran of supplying Russia with drones for the war in Ukraine, despite pressure from the U.S. and its allies to do so.
Driving the news: Russia has pushed back hard, and so far successfully, on Western efforts to convince UN Secretary-General António Guterres to order an investigation into Iran's alleged supply of drones. Guterres makes no definitive statement on the issue in his forthcoming report.
In the report, Guterres details several letters he received from representatives of the U.S., France, Germany, the U.K. and Ukraine arguing that Iran transferred drones to Russia “in a manner inconsistent with" UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which codified the Iran nuclear deal.
(Axios)
Health
How Canadian doctors are helping Iranian colleagues document brutality of regime
As the Iranian government continues to crack down on its opponents — even executing two protesters in the past week — doctors inside and outside of the country are joining together to document horrific injuries inflicted by the regime.
"The number of people who oppose the regime is very big — perhaps more than 80 per cent or 90 per cent of my colleagues," said a trauma doctor in Iran who has been treating ghastly injuries inflicted on protesters by the regime's security forces.
CBC News has agreed not to identify him or reveal any other details about his work, as doing so could compromise his safety.
(CBC)
Economy
Iran’s Economic Crisis Turning Into Economic Chaos
Iranians woke up Tuesday to see their currency at another historic low against the US dollar, which can herald the coming of truly uncontrolled inflation soon.
One US dollar now can buy 380,000 rials. Compare that to 1978, right before the Islamic Republic was established and one US dollar back then could buy just 70 rials. No other economic indicator or analysis can portray the disaster so vividly.
The accelerated fall of the rial has led to reasonable concerns in Tehran business and media circles that soon the dollar will surpass the 400,000 mark in downward spiral for the rial no one can control.
Inside Iran
Scores of executions feared in Iran as 23-year-old hanged in public killing
Fears are growing that Iran is preparing to execute scores more protesters after authorities hanged a 23-year-old man from a crane, in a public killing carried out less than a month after he was arrested and following a secretive trial.
Majidreza Rahnavard was sentenced to death by a court in the city of Mashhad, a centre of the protests, for allegedly killing two members of the paramilitary Basij force and wounding four others. The Basij, affiliated with the country’s feared Revolutionary Guards, has been at the forefront of the state crackdown.
The pro-government Mizan news agency published a collage of images of Rahnavard hanging from a metal crane, his hands and feet bound, a black bag over his head. Masked security force members stood guard in front of concrete and metal barriers that held back a crowd early on Monday morning.
Iran’s protests intensify calls for Shia clerics to step back from politics
The entry of Shia clerics into political affairs in Iran dates back at least five centuries to when this sect of Islam was declared the country’s official religion under the Safavid dynasty (1501-1736). It reached its peak after the 1979 revolution, when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini became “Supreme Leader” and his disciples dominated Iran’s other institutions, including elected offices.
However, in the last decade, this role has been on the decline of its own accord. Even before the outbreak of nationwide protests following the beating death of Mahsa Jina Amini by the so-called morality police for “violating” mandatory hijab, voices within the seminaries have been calling for a reduction of the role of the clergy in political affairs.
After the 1979 revolution, it was rare to find a workplace in which clergy were not present, from factories, sports, medicine, military, and universities. Clerics justified this by identifying themselves as the guarantors and supervisors of Islamic values. Ayatollah Khomeini, who, in exile, devised his theory of Velayat-e Faqih or rule by a guardianship of the Islamic jurist, defended the role of clerics, noting that it was under deposed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi that the belief spread “that clerics should not intervene in politics. Even the clerics had accepted this belief.”
Regional Politics
Iran strengthens political, economic hold over Iraq
For years, Iraq has been caught in a delicate balancing act between its two main allies Tehran and Washington, themselves arch foes.
After a 2003 US-led invasion toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, Iran's influence has grown through political links among both countries' Shiite-Muslim majorities.
Pro-Iran parties now dominate Iraq's parliament, and in October they named a new prime minister following a year-long tussle with their Shiite rivals.
Global Relations
Iran Ousted From U.N. Women’s Rights Agency in U.S.-Backed Vote
Iran was kicked out of the United Nations women’s agency on Wednesday in a U.S.-led vote that came months into Tehran’s brutal crackdown on uprisings driven by women and young people who are demanding an end to the Islamic Republic’s rule.
The resolution, backed by 29 members of the U.N. Economic and Social Council, was the strongest symbolic gesture taken so far by the United Nations in response to Iran’s efforts to quell unrest that began after the death in September of a woman being held by the morality police. Iran’s record of discrimination and violence against women were cited as reasons.
The U.S.-backed resolution, co-sponsored by more than a dozen allies, immediately removes Iran for the remainder of its four-year term from the Commission on the Status of Women, a body whose aim is to protect and promote women’s rights around the world.
Olivier Vandecasteele: Iran jails Belgian aid worker for 28 years
Iran has sentenced a Belgian aid worker to 28 years in prison on unknown charges, his family has said.
Olivier Vandecasteele, 41, was arrested during a brief visit to Tehran in February and accused of espionage.
On Wednesday, his family said they had been informed of his sentence at a meeting with Belgium's prime minister.
There was no confirmation from Iran, but the news comes days after Belgium's constitutional court halted a controversial prisoner exchange treaty.
(BBC)
Iran, Russia Sign Deal To Develop Space Industry
As the world expresses concerns over close military cooperation between Iran and Russia, they have signed a new agreement on cooperation in the space industry.
According to ISNA in Tehran, the two sides have agreed to jointly design and construct remote sensing and telecommunication satellites.
Joint development of infrastructure as well as holding training courses in this regard are among the other details of an agreement revealed on Wednesday.
Analysis
Why the protests in Iran are so hard to understand
By: Jonathan Guyer
Protesters in Iran have been resisting the government there for over two months, in response to the death of the young woman Mahsa Amini in police custody. Since September, more than 18,000 Iranians have been arrested, among them at least 70 journalists. Close to 500 protesters have been killed.
But at times, it’s been difficult for news outlets and newsmakers to convey the complete picture of the emerging protest movement and its aftershocks.
Last weekend, US newspapers sent news alerts about Iran abolishing its so-called morality police, the authority that had arrested Amini in September. But that wasn’t the full story, and US outlets quickly reframed what was initially a definitive news article. Iran’s state media said comments from Iran’s attorney general had been misinterpreted. It was more of a sign of the stress that the regime is under, perhaps, than a policy change.
