Iran Digest Week of February 10- February 17
/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-Iranian Relations
US military downs Iranian-made drone in Syria
U.S. forces shot down an Iranian-made drone flying over a base housing American troops in northeastern Syria, the U.S. military said Wednesday.
The incident comes more than a week after a deadly 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Turkey and Syria, followed by a significant deescalation of violence across the war-torn contry.
U.S. Central Command said in a statement that the reconnaissance drone flew over Mission Support Site Conoco on Tuesday afternoon before American forces shot it down.
(AP News)
Women of Iran
Iran protests: Female journalists targeted in spate of arrests
Female journalists in Iran have been targeted by security forces since anti-government protests began in September, activist groups say.
Figures vary, but at least 17 have been arrested, an international group for press freedom says. Another puts the number about three times that or more.
Iran has been gripped by some of the biggest protests it has seen since the Islamic Republic was founded in 1979.
Nearly 20,000 people are estimated to have been detained since September.
(BBC)
How a women's group is spurring 'revolution' in Iran, 45 years after the Islamic Revolution
"The revolution is getting organized," said Maneli Mirkhan, a 41-year-old French-Iranian management and strategy consultant, "it is not very spontaneous as it was at the beginning, it is getting organized internally, it is also getting organized externally."
Mirkhan and fellow members of a collective called Femme Azadi -- or "Woman Freedom" -- are among the most active outside Iran in helping what they call "a revolution" in the country, which started after the death in detention of 22-year-old Mahsa Jina Amini on Sept. 16. She had been detained for allegedly wearing her veil incorrectly.
"Our role as a diaspora is not to make the revolution, but to support the revolution," Mirkhan said.
(ABC News)
Economy
UAE Restricting Money Transfer To And From Iran – Report
Following restrictions on the Islamic Republic’s financial operations in Iraq, available information indicates that the UAE is also limiting money transfers to and from Iran.
According to information obtained by Iran International, it has become more difficult for Iranian businesspeople in the United Arab Emirates to transfer money in dirhams, and merchants do not have the leeway they used to have to transfer funds between the two countries.
According to an exchange office in Dubai, well-known merchants and those working in the food industry have faced fewer problems, but large exchange offices and banks are acting more cautiously when it comes to Iranian customers. The source added that some of them have completely stopped working with Iranians.
Leaked Document Shows Russia Reluctant To Invest In Iran’s Oil Sector
A document obtained by Iran International has revealed that Russian companies are not willing to invest in oil and gas projects in southern Iran, despite joint projects.
In a top-secret letter addressed to First Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber, Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Mehdi Safari said that many development projects that were supposed to be carried out by Chinese and Russian companies have been stopped, calling on the government to take measures to re-start the projects.
In his letter, Safari mentioned the South Pars/North Dome Gas-Condensate field, Azar Oil Field in Ilam Province, Changouleh oil fields in West Karoun region and Darkhovein oil field and Mansouri Oil Field in Khuzestan and several others in which the Russians had planned to invest but refrained to do so. The Shadegan and Kupal oil fields were also mentioned in the letter, adding that the government has not issued the needed permits for the Russian investors to continue their planned projects.
Inside Iran
Iran: outrage at official response to earthquake compared with rapid aid for Syria
Iranians have expressed anger at their government over its poor response to earthquake victims within Iran in comparison with the rapid response to last week's earthquake in Syria. Some have called it "double standards".
According to Iranian journalists, activists and citizens on social media, the Iranian government's response to the earthquake in the north-west of the country on 28 January was slow and insufficient. Affected citizens and victims were left without aid and shelter for days, and some are still without any help of any kind.
Following last week's earthquake in south-east Turkiye and north-west Syria, however, Iran responded within 24 hours, with an aircraft carrying 45 tons of food, medicine and emergency aid sent to Damascus.
Sociologists Say Lack Of Public Trust Driving Iran Protests
In a new book, two Iranian academics argue that Iranian have lost trust in the regime, which is perceived as inefficient and mired in discriminatory behavior.
“An unhappy crowd takes to the streets when it has no other way to voice its dissatisfaction with the current situation. We have explained in this book that political participation in Iran has been declining and a large majority of the people believe that the official power structure is inefficient and corrupt," one of the authors said.
In an interview with Mohsen Goudarzi and Abdolmohammad Kazemipour the authors of the newly published book, "What happened? The story of decline of Iranian society," Reformist daily Shargh's editor Ahmad Gholami discussed recent protests against the backdrop of long-standing dissent.
Global Relations
China, Iran call for Iran sanctions to be lifted; Xi to visit
China's President Xi Jinping and his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi, called on Thursday for the lifting of sanctions on Iran as an integral part of a stalled international agreement on its nuclear programme.
Xi also accepted an invitation from Raisi to visit Iran and would do so at his convenience, the two leaders said in a joint statement on the last day of a three-day state visit to China by Raisi. Xi last visited Iran in 2016 as part of a tour of the Middle East.
The leaders in their statement called for the implementation of the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, under which Iran agreed with several countries, including the United States, to curb its nuclear programme in return for economic sanctions relief.
(Reuters)
Iran becoming global drone producer on back of Ukraine war, says US
Iran is emerging as a global leader in the production of cheap and lethal drones, according to US officials, who say Tehran is using the war in Ukraine as a shop window for its technologies.
Analysts at the Defense Intelligence Agency outlined how Iran had turned from being a regional drone player in the Middle East to becoming Moscow’s most significant military backer in the war.
Countering denials by Iran’s foreign ministry that its drones had been used in deadly attacks in Ukraine, including against civilian energy infrastructure, the officials shared declassified intelligence demonstrating that Iranian drones used in attacks in the Middle East – including one claimed by Iran – were identical in all significant features to drones being used in Ukraine.
Analysis
Forty-four years of an Islamic Republic. Many now regret the 1979 revolution.
By: Shahin Milani
February 11, 2023 marks the forty-fourth anniversary of the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran. At this time of year, Iranians have an annual discussion on what has happened to their country since 1979 and debate the many facets of the Islamic revolution that led to the ouster of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
While there are disagreements over many aspects of the revolution, most Iranians agree that the country is in a far worse situation because of it. For instance, Faezeh Hashemi, a former parliamentarian and daughter of former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, stated that she would not have participated in the 1979 revolution. Since the December 2017-January 2018 protests, the largest at the time in terms of geography since the 1979 revolution, demonstrators across the country have consistently called for an end to the Islamic Republic. On some occasions, demonstrators have explicitly expressed regret over their role in the 1979 revolution.
Many Iranians, particularly those who sympathize with leftist organizations involved in the revolution— such as the Mujahedeen Khalq (MEK), the Fedayeen Khalq, and the Tudeh Party—maintain that the 1979 revolution was a positive development in itself, but that the revolution was hijacked by Islamists led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Looking back at the events of 1979 and the immediate aftermath of the revolution, however, reveals that the narrative of a stolen revolution is false.
