Iran Digest Week of December 30- January 6
/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
Drones, Protests, JCPOA, Israel: US Faces ‘Complex’ Iran
Ned Price, US foreign affairs spokesman, has called Iran “one of the most complex challenges we face” and reiterated the 2015 nuclear deal is off the US agenda.
Speaking to the press Wednesday, Price, the State Department spokesman, said the United States had “no reason to put any stock or faith into the statements” made recently by Iranian officials that they were keen to resume talks over reviving the 2015 agreement, the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action).
“There was a deal to mutually return to the JCPOA that was on the table that was approved by all parties” in September, Price said. “That ultimately went nowhere only because the Iranians weren’t prepared to accept it…The JCPOA hasn’t been on the agenda for some months now.
Nuclear Accord
US Senior Nuclear Negotiator On Iran To Leave State Department
Reports say Jarrett Blanc, the US deputy special envoy for Iran, will soon leave the State Department Iran team to get back to the Department of Energy.
Axios quoted three US officialsas saying that Blanc is returning to his home agency after nearly two years on detail to the Department of State.
US State Department Spokesman Ned Price said Wednesday that it is a “normal move”.
“The Department of Energy is a critical partner in shaping US policy on Iran’s nuclear program, and in his new role, Jarrett will remain involved in this issue, and returning to his home agency after two years is a normal personnel move,” noted Price.
Women of Iran
Taraneh Alidoosti: Iran releases top actress held for supporting protests
Authorities in Iran have released a top actress who was arrested last month after expressing solidarity with anti-government protesters.
Taraneh Alidoosti was pictured being greeted by friends outside Tehran's Evin prison, her hair uncovered.
The 38-year-old star was freed on bail after being accused of "posting inflammatory content".
She had posted a picture on social media without a headscarf and condemned the first execution of a protester.
(BBC)
Iranian chess player was warned not to return to Iran after competing without hijab -source
An Iranian chess player arrived in Spain on Tuesday after receiving what a source close to her said were warnings not to return to Iran for competing without a hijab at an international tournament in Kazakhstan.
Sara Khadem, born in 1997, took part in last week's FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Almaty without the hijab - a headscarf mandatory under Iran's strict dress codes.
The source, who did not want to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, said Khadem subsequently received multiple phone calls in which individuals warned her against returning home after the tournament, while others said she should come back, promising to "solve her problem".
(Reuters)
Economy
Capital Flight From Iran Reaches At Least $10 Billion Per Year
An Iranian trade official has confirmed the massive outflow of capital from the Islamic Republic, which many blame for the recent massive fall of the national currency rial.
Head of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture Masoud Khansari said in an interview with ILNA website in Tehran on Monday that the annual outflow of capital has reached about $10 billion.
The Central Bank of Iran issued a statement January 3 saying that only from March 21 to June 20 $10 billion capital was sent abroad.
Inside Iran
Exclusive – Sources Say Basij Commander's Killing Was Inside Job By Iran Guards
Iran International has learned that Ghasem Fathollahi, an officer of the Revolutionary Guards who was killed in Tehran, was assassinated by the IRGC intelligence.
Fathollahi, a commander of Basij militia unit in one of the neighborhoods of the capital Tehran, was killed Tuesday outside his home after being shot four times by a gunman who fled the scene on a motorcycle. He succumbed to his injuries at a hospital near his place of residence.
He was the commander of the basij base of a mosque in Khani Abad in Tehran, District 12 downtown Tehran.
Iran condemned for executing two men over alleged crimes during protests
Iran drew international condemnation on Saturday after it executed two men for killing a paramilitary force member in November during protests sparked by the death in custody of a young woman.
The latest killings double the number executed so far in connection with the nationwide protests. Two men were put to death in December, sparking global outrage.
They also come in defiance of a campaign by international rights groups for the lives of the two men to be spared.
Global Relations
Iran's Revolutionary Guards set to be labelled as terrorist group by UK
The UK is preparing to formally declare that Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) is a terrorist organisation.
The legal change would mean it becomes a criminal offence in the UK to belong to the group or support its activities.
Whitehall sources said no announcement was imminent and many details remained to be sorted out.
But they said it was "broadly correct" to say the government intended to proscribe the IRGC.
(BBC)
No lessons to take from Iran over press, judicial freedoms - France
Iran should look at what is going on at home before criticising France, Foreign Minster Catherine Colonna said on Thursday, a day after Paris' envoy in Tehran was summoned over cartoons published by the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Ties between France and Iran have deteriorated in recent months as efforts to revive nuclear talks, to which France is one of the parties, have stalled and Tehran has detained seven of its nationals.
Charlie Hebdo this week published dozens of cartoons depicting the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which it said aimed to support anti-government protests sparked by the death of a young woman in September while in the custody of morality police.
(Reuters)
Analysis
Iran and Russia Are Closer Than Ever Before
By: Robbie Gramer and Amy Mackinnon
In the first two days of 2023, evidence of a newfound friendship between Russia and Iran was on full display across the war-battered cities of Ukraine in the form of downed kamikaze drones.
More than 80 Iranian-made drones launched by the Russian military were shot down over Ukraine in that 48-hour period, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, the latest sign of how two of the world’s biggest pariah states are deepening their alliance in the face of increasing international isolation and worsening economic woes.
Russia and Iran have formed a partnership of convenience against Western powers for decades, but that relationship has historically been tinged by an undercurrent of distrust and wariness, experts said.
