Iran Digest Week of December 15- December 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 Says Military Links Against Iran And Russia Rest On ‘Shared Values’
US Secretary of State Antony Biden said Friday the administration of President Joe Biden had concentrated on “rebuilding and revitalizing America’s alliances.”
Speaking at a press briefing, Blinken said the US was working alongside “the many countries that share our fundamental interests and values.” In the Middle East he cited Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, Morocco, and Israel. Blinken extended “congratulations to Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu on announcing the formation of a new government.”
Netanyahu's relations with the Biden Administration was not as close as his friendship with former President Donald Trump and tension with Palestinians could spike because of the influence of religious parties in his government.
Nuclear Accord
Biden in newly surfaced video: Iran nuclear deal is "dead"
President Biden said on the sidelines of a Nov. 4 election rally that the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran is “dead,” but stressed the U.S. won’t formally announce it, according to a new video that surfaced on social media late Monday.
Why it matters: It's the strongest confirmation so far that the Biden administration believes there's no path forward for the Iran deal, which leaves key questions about the future of Tehran's nuclear program.
In late October, U.S. envoy for Iran Rob Malley said that the administration is not going to "waste time" on trying to revive the Iran nuclear deal at this time considering Tehran's crackdown on protesters, Iranian support for Russia's war in Ukraine, and Iran's positions on its nuclear program.
(Axios)
Economy
Dozens of merchant ships stuck off Iran as payment snags bite - sources
Dozens of merchant ships with grains and sugar are stuck outside Iranian ports after weeks of delays as payments snags disrupt flows of goods into the country, according to trade sources and shipping data.
Food is exempt from the West's sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme, but the impact of the sanctions on Iran's financial system have created complex and erratic payment arrangements with international companies.
The latest payment issues have led to ships being unable to discharge cargoes, with at least 40 bulk carrier ships stuck outside the major Iranian ports of Bandar Imam Khomeini and Bandar Abbas, ship tracking data on Refinitiv showed.
(Reuters)
US Dollar Rises Above 400,000 Iranian Rials, Signaling New Crisis
Iran’s currency has dropped to a new historic low, breaking the 400,000 rial threshold against the US dollar Thursday, amid deep political and economic crises.
The rial has now lost nearly 50 percent of its value compared to mid-2021 and over 30 percent since December 2021.
The de facto devaluation is expected to boost Iran’s annual inflation rate, currently estimated to be 50 percent. Food prices have jumped much faster than overall inflation, with some items registering 100-percent increase in one year.
Environment
Some Dams In Iran Stand At Less Than 37% Capacity: MP
A lawmaker in Iran has expressed concern over the critical water situation, saying that “some dams have reached less than 37% of their capacity.”
Hadi Beiginejad, member of Iranian parliament's energy commission, told ISNA website in Tehran Thursday that the country is not in a good situation in terms of water resources, adding that even the claim that 37% of dams are full may not be true.
“Based on the research I did, some reservoirs for some dams are much less than 37%,” he underlined.
Inside Iran
Iran's clerical leaders to grapple with deepening dissent in 2023
Nationwide protests sparked by the death in custody of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini have ushered Iran into a new era of deepening crisis between the clerical leadership and society at large.
Amini's family said she was beaten after being arrested by the morality police on Sept. 13 for violating the Islamic Republic's imposed dress code. Amini died three days later. Authorities have blamed the 22-year-old's death on preexisting medical problems.
Her death unleashed years of pent up grievances in Iranian society, over issues ranging from tightening social and political controls to economic misery and discrimination against ethnic minorities.
(Reuters)
Families Of Slain Iranian Protesters Mark End Of Mourning Period With Defiance
The families of the victims of the recent nationwide protests in Iran have staged protests amid ceremonies marking the 40th day since the death of 10 protesters across the country.
With police standing nearby in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz on December 22, people gathered to mark the end of the traditional mourning period following the death of Omid Moayedi, a 22-year-old killed by direct fire from security forces during a demonstration on November 15.
Moayedi's body was withheld from his family for several days, while his burial was performed amid tight security and with the presence of only a few of his relatives.
(Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty)
More Iranians face possible execution as authorities seek to crush continuing unrest
The Iranian government has executed two people since protests erupted in September, following the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of Iran's so-called "morality police."
On Dec. 8, Mohsen Shekari, 23, was the first to be put to death. He was hanged after taking part in protests in Tehran. Four days later, Majid-Reza Rahnavard, also 23, was executed publicly — his body was hanged from a crane in the northeastern city of Mashhad. Like Shekari, he was convicted of "waging war against God," a capital offense.
The executions are Tehran's main response to protests that swept the country since Amini's death, and they signal that Iran's clerical leadership feels it has few options other than brute force to quell the unrest.
(NPR)
Regional Politics
Iranian minister says spoke to Saudi counterpart at Jordan conference
Iran's foreign minister said on Wednesday he spoke with his Saudi counterpart on the sidelines of a conference in Jordan the previous day, the highest-level encounter reported between officials from the rival states since they cut ties in 2016.
The Middle East's leading Shi'ite and Sunni Muslim powers, Saudi Arabia and Iran have been on opposing sides of conflicts across the region including in Syria and Yemen.
Iraq has hosted five meetings between Saudi and Iranian officials since last year in a bid to ease tensions, the last of which was in April, without achieving any diplomatic breakthroughs.
(Reuters)
Analysis
Iran’s Balkan front: The roots and consequences of Iranian cyberattacks against Albania
By: Gerta Zaimi
On Sept. 7, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama announced in a video statement that a series of damaging hacks of the country’s critical digital infrastructure earlier that summer had been attributed to the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), and as a result, his government was terminating diplomatic relations with the Tehran — arguably one of the most profound responses that a sovereign state might take to a cyberattack. Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani condemned Tirana’s decision as “unfounded,” adding that it “only serves the American and Israeli conspiracy.”
But undercutting Kanaani’s denial, just three days later, an Iranian-linked group of hackers calling itself HomeLand Justice targeted a restricted database administered by the Albanian police, before posting the ransacked information to Telegram over the coming weeks.
