Iran Digest Week of June 11 - June 18
/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 Communications Associate Elizabeth Kos. Please note that the news and views expressed in the articles below do not necessarily reflect those of AIC.
US-Iran Relations
Biden Urged to Secure Release of Americans Left Behind in Iran
As the United States works to bring Iran back into compliance with the nuclear accord, the family of two Americans held by Tehran is appealing to the Biden administration to make their release part of any deal made with the Islamic Republic.
US officials say they’ve engaged in indirect discussions — independently of the nuclear deal talks in Vienna — with Iran over unjustly detained US citizens, including Siamak and Baquer Namazi.
The White House says their release is a top priority, but Babak Namazi worries his brother, Siamak, and father, Baquer, could once again be left behind.
“That fear is ever present, irrespective of what assurances one receives,” he told Al-Monitor.
(Al Monitor )
Nuclear Accord
EU Sees Progress on Key Obstacles at Iran Nuclear Talks
A top European diplomat said Tuesday he believes international negotiations with Iran will ultimately succeed in re-imposing limits on its nuclear program, but indicated that more time may be needed.
“The obstacles (are)...something that I think can be bridged,” Enrique Mora told reporters outside the hotel where Iranian officials have been meeting with envoys from Russia, China, France, Germany, and Britain.
A joint statement issued by the United States and European Union after Biden’s meetings this week with leaders in Europe described the Vienna process as “critical to ensuring the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program and upholding the global nuclear nonproliferation architecture.”
Amid Nuclear Talks, Iran Says 6.5kg of Uranium Enriched to 60
Iran claims to have enriched 6.5 kilograms (14 pounds) of uranium to 60% purity, a government spokesperson said on Tuesday, in an apparent bid to dial up the pressure on world powers that are renegotiating the landmark nuclear agreement.
Cabinet spokesperson Ali Rabiei also said Iranian scientists had further violated the nuclear deal by increasing the stockpile of 20% enriched uranium to 108 kilograms (238 pounds), up from 90 kilograms (198 pounds) last month.
Iran insists that its nuclear program is used for civilian purposes only and there are no plans to build an atomic bomb.
Election
What to Know About Ebrahim Raisi, the Front-Runner in Iran’s Presidential Election
Ebrahim Raisi, the ultraconservative judge known for his allegiance to Iran’s clerical power structure, has emerged as the front-runner after key opponents were disqualified, in a field authorities have limited to hard-line candidates.
He ran in Iran’s last presidential election in 2017, losing to President Hassan Rouhani, who secured a second four-year term. But this time around, Raisi is seen as the chosen candidate of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — a major boost for his chances.
For many Iranians, Raisi is associated with a bloody series of political trials and executions in 1988 around the conclusion of the Iran-Iraq war. At the time, Raisi was a judge in the Tehran revolutionary court, which was undergoing a purge of opponents to the Islamic Republic, which took power in the country’s 1979 revolution. Human rights groups say Raisi was involved in the deaths of thousands of people. For some conservative voters, this history adds to his political clout.
Iran Election Race Narrows but Fears Persist of Low Turnout
Iran grappled with fears of low voter turnout two days ahead of its presidential election as the race narrowed on Wednesday into a showdown between the country’s hard-line judiciary chief and moderate former Central Bank chief.
Voter apathy was running deep even before the disqualifications, due in part to the devastated economy and subdued campaigning amid a surge in coronavirus cases. The state-linked Iranian Student Polling Agency most recently projected a 42% turnout from the country’s 59 million eligible voters, which would be a historic low.
That left Khamenei and top officials the task to try lure the disillusioned public back to the polls. Iranian authorities have promoted voter turnout as validation for their style of governance after the 1979 Islamic Revolution installed the clerically overseen system that endures today.
COVID-19
How COVID Shaped Preparations for Iran’s Presidential Elections
COVID has had a significant effect on how the landscape of the election cycle has taken shape.
Health protocols by the national anti-coronavirus headquarters assert that election gatherings and speeches can only be held in outdoor spaces like stadiums and schools if there are eight square metres of space for each person, the venue operates at 30 percent capacity with masks compulsory and the event is capped at two hours.
But those protocols have already been broken as open-air gatherings for several candidates did not adhere to physical distancing requirements.
Frontrunner Ebrahim Raisi held a large rally in the southwestern city of Ahvaz last week, with images showing how thousands were crammed together and some were not wearing masks.
First Iranian COVID Jab Granted Emergency Use Authorization: Minister
The emergency use authorization for the first Iranian COVID-19 vaccine, dubbed COVIran Barakat, was granted on Sunday, said the health minister.
The vaccine has been developed by Iranian experts at the Headquarters for the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order.
Saeed Namaki noted that in a few days, another COVID-19 jab, jointly developed by the Pasteur Institute of Iran and Cuba’s Finlay Vaccine Institute, will be given the emergency use authorization, expressing hope that two other Iranian vaccines, namely, COV-Pars (developed by Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute) and Fakhra (produced by the Defense Ministry), will obtain the permit in the near future.
Regional Politics
Iran Pays Delinquent U.N. Dues, Getting Its Vote Back
Using bank funds freed from American sanctions, Iran has paid $16.2 million in delinquent dues owed to the United Nations, diplomats said Friday, a step that restored Iran’s suspended voting rights at the world body.
Iran’s restored ability to gain access to those funds, which had been impounded at a Korean bank under sanctions imposed by former President Donald J. Trump, was apparently a conciliatory gesture by the Biden administration, which wants to restore the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran that Mr. Trump had scrapped.
In a Twitter post on Friday, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Majid Takht Ravanchi, announced that the dues had been repaid and its voting rights restored. Farhan Haq, a spokesman for Mr. Guterres, confirmed that “the Islamic Republic of Iran has paid the minimum amount due and is no longer under Article 19 of the U.N. Charter.”
Rouhani Praises Putin, Hails Expanded Ties With Russia
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said his country's already "friendly relations" with Russia have expanded during his eight years in office, as he expressed "gratitude" to his "esteemed" Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
Rouhani made the comments during a virtual inauguration ceremony for the launch of a 1,400-megawatt power plant in the southern province of Hormozgan. The plant is to be built in association with Russia.
The compliments came only weeks after Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was heard in a leaked audio file heaping scathing criticism against Moscow and how it had attempted to torpedo the landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major world powers.
Analysis
It’s Time for Tehran to Start Listening to Ethnic Minority Groups
By: Shukriya Bradost
On June 18, the Islamic Republic of Iran will hold its 13th presidential election. One of the issues nearly all candidates touched upon during their campaigns was ethnic rights. In an effort to attract Iran’s ethnic minority groups – who together make up 40 to 50 percent of the population – to the polls, the candidates repeatedly expressed sympathy for their concerns. Two candidates, Mohsen Mehralizadeh and Abdolnasser Hemmati, even addressed the members of the Azeri minority in their mother tongue to garner their support. Nevertheless, despite cynically pandering to ethnic minorities to reach their electoral goals, none of the candidates made credible promises to these groups, or explicitly criticised the regime’s ethnic policies.
The votes of ethnic minorities are also important for the state itself. Ethnic minorities not only make up a significant percentage of the general population, but they are also located all across the country. Thus, the regime needs them to participate in elections to enhance its legitimacy and national cohesiveness.
