Iran News Round Up

The Iran News Round Up ran from February 2009-September 2018. Visit the Iran File for the latest analysis.

Key takeaway: Structural and personnel changes to Iran’s Foreign Ministry reflect the regime’s ongoing efforts to implement the Resistance Economy doctrine, which is designed to make Iran's economy resistant to future sanctions and other external economic shocks.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif consolidated the Foreign Ministry’s three region-focused deputy positions - European and American Affairs, Arab and African Affairs, and Asian and Pacific Affairs - into two newly created positions, the Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, and the Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs. The creation of an economy-focused deputy position reflects the regime’s priority to implement the Resistance Economy doctrine. The Foreign Ministry previously created two new ministry-level economic desks, with additional desks at each of Iran’s embassies.

The appointments of Abbas Araghchi as Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs and Gholam Reza Ansari as Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs indicate Zarif’s preference for seasoned diplomats with experience in striking deals and working with European partners. Araghchi, the former Deputy for Legal and International Affairs, played a key role in the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in July 2015. Ansari, the former Iranian Ambassador to India, oversaw the signing of the Chabahar Port agreement between India, Iran, and Afghanistan and previously served as Iran’s Ambassador to London and Moscow.

This Iran News Round Up predominantly covers events from 15 - 18.

AEI Must Reads
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January 23, 2018

Iranian Anti-Regime Protests and Security Flaws

Mike Saidi demonstrates how the recent protests highlighted weaknesses in the readiness of Iranian security forces in a dataset using videos submitted by Iranian protesters. View the dataset here and the graphics here.

January 23, 2018

Why Did the U.S. Sanction Iran’s Sadegh Amoli Larijani?

Marie Donovan discusses the political background of Iran’s newly-sanctioned Judiciary Head Sadegh Amoli Larijani in, “Why Did the U.S. Sanction Iran’s Sadegh Amoli Larijani?

January 23, 2018

Iranian protests give America chance to advance freedom.

Frederick Kagan states that the United States and its partners must take action in order to weaken Iran’s position in the region in the wake of the protests in, “Iranian protests give America chance to advance freedom.”

January 23, 2018

Don’t Be Fooled: the Iran protests won’t overthrow the regime.

Frederick Kagan and Marie Donovan write that the regime’s preparations for anti-regime protests and the absence of a centralized leadership of unarmed protesters did not threaten the regime’s survival in, “Don’t Be Fooled: the Iran protests won’t overthrow the regime.”

Citations & Links

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Citations & Links

Citations & Links

Domestic Politics
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January 23, 2018

Foreign Ministry undergoes changes to both its structure and personnel.

The Foreign Ministry announced the appointment of new deputies and the implementation of structural changes. The Foreign Ministry is adding two new deputyships - Political Affairs and Economic Affairs. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced on December 24, 2017 that the Foreign Ministry’s changes are designed to make Iran’s diplomatic apparatus more agile. The Foreign Ministry has dissolved all region-focused deputy positions, such as Deputy for European and American Affairs and Deputy for Arab and African Affairs. Zarif made several appointments as well. Abbas Araghchi, who previously served as Deputy for Legal and International Affairs, will serve as Deputy for Political Affairs. Gholam Reza Ansari, who previously served as Ambassador to India, will serve as Deputy for Economic Affairs. Gholam Hossein Dehghani, who served as Deputy for Political and International Security, will serve as Deputy for Legal and International Affairs. The newly-appointed deputies began their new responsibilities on January 21, 2018. The Foreign Ministry also announced the retirement of several prominent Iranian diplomatic officials. (ILNA) (MFA) (Alef)

January 23, 2018

Sedighi calls for additional funding for religious institutions.

Tehran Friday Prayer Leader Ayatollah Kazem Sedighi called for the allocation of additional budgetary funds for religious institutions on January 12. Sedighi said the increase was necessary in order to “spread religion.” Sedighi also called for greater budgetary funds in order to help support Iran’s “feeble societal layers,” a reference to Iran’s poor and economically disadvantaged. The allocation of hundreds of millions of dollars to Iran’s religious institutions and billions of dollars to Iran’s armed forces, likely at the expense of cash and non-cash subsidies, may have played a role in sparking the recent wave of anti-regime protests and may be cause for additional future protests. (ISNA)

January 23, 2018

Khatami: Government must acknowledge its “share of the blame” for protests.

Former President and popular reformist figure Mohammad Khatami called on all government institutions to “accept their share of the blame” for the recent wave of anti-regime protests in a statement on January 15. Khatami acknowledged that “economic, political, and social shortcomings” played a role in igniting the protests. Khatami advocated for a political environment where citizens can safely express criticism and government institutions can reform without “humiliating the people.” (Jamaran) (Radio Farda) (E)

January 23, 2018

Cleric: 1989 Khamenei election video doesn’t tell the whole story.

Interim Tehran Friday Prayer Leader Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami criticized a recently released BBC Persian video revealing that the Assembly of Experts intended for Ali Khamenei to hold the position of Supreme Leader only temporarily until a referendum elected a permanent successor to the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Khamenei argued in the video that he was constitutionally unqualified for the position and did not have enough experience to lead. Khatami called the video “incomplete,” and claimed that a second video exists that is more complete, and dismissed Khamenei’s remarks as a sign of modesty. (Fars News Agency)

January 23, 2018

Mashhad-Hardline senior cleric denies role in sparking anti-regime protests.

Mashhad Friday Prayer Leader Hojjat ol Eslam Ahmad Alam ol Hoda dismissed claims that he played a role in sparking the recent anti-regime protests in Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi Province on December 28, 2017. Executives of Construction Party head Gholam Hossein Karbaschi claimed that the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) summoned Alam al Hoda in order to investigate his role in directing an anti-Rouhani protest on December 28, 2017 which then inadvertently devolved into mass widespread protests across Iran. In a letter to SNSC Secretary Ali Shamkhani dated January 17, Alam ol Hoda claimed that he was not in Mashhad when the protests began, but instead in Sabzevar, Razavi Khorasan Province. Sabzevar experienced protests on December 29, 2017, one day after the first day of protests. Alam ol Hoda accused the media of repeatedly targeting him with false allegations. Alam ol Hoda also accused unnamed “political figures” in Mashhad of provoking anti-regime protests. (Fars News Agency) (Twitter) (E)

Citations & Links

1. ILNA
http://www.ilna.ir/%D8%A8%D8%AE%D8%B4-%D8%B3%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%B3%DB%8C-3/583635-%D9%81%D8%B5%D9%84-%D8%AA%D8%BA%DB%8C%DB%8C%D8%B1-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%BA-%D9%85%D9%84%DB%8C

2. MFA
http://mfa.ir/index.aspx?siteid=1&fkeyid=&siteid=1&pageid=176&newsview=496256

3. Alef
http://www.alef.ir/news/3961027163.html

Citations & Links

1. ISNA
https://www.isna.ir/news/96102211510/%D8%B5%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%82%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%A7-%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%AD%DB%8C%D9%87-%D9%84%DB%8C%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%84%DB%8C-%D9%86%D9%85%DB%8C-%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AE%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%A1%D9%87%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D9%85%D9%85%D9%84%DA%A9%D8%AA-%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D9%BE%D8%B1-%DA%A9%D8%B1%D8%AF

Citations & Links

1. Jamaran
https://www.jamaran.ir/%D8%A8%D8%AE%D8%B4-%D8%B3%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA-12/839932-%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B6%D8%B9-%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%85%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B6%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D8%AE%DB%8C%D8%B1-%D9%88%D8%A7%DA%A9%D9%86%D8%B4-%DA%A9%DB%8C%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%86

2. Radio Farda
https://en.radiofarda.com/a/iran-khatami-tells-regine-to-listen-to-protesters/28980320.html

Citations & Links

1. Fars News Agency
http://www.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=13961028000578

Citations & Links

1. Fars News Agency
http://www.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=13961028000477

2. Twitter
https://twitter.com/Tavaana/status/954016810621431809

Military and Security
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January 23, 2018

Parliamentarians call for domestic alternatives to foreign messaging applications.

170 parliamentarians called for the creation of domestic alternatives to foreign messaging applications in an open letter. The parliamentarians claimed that Iran’s enemies used foreign messaging applications to incite unrest during the protests, and demanded that the government increase efforts to prevent users from circumventing government blocks on certain websites and applications. The government reportedly lifted restrictions on the popular messaging application Telegram on January 13 after blocking it during the protests. (Radio Farda) (E) (Asriran)

January 23, 2018

LEF commander calls into question protesters’ deaths.

Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) Commander IRGC Brig. Gen. Hossein Ashtari said “None of our officers had lethal weapons” during the protests and suggested that Iran’s enemies were “making up reports of [protesters’] deaths.” Judiciary spokesman Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei stated that 25 people died in the protests, but that the bullets used to kill protesters do not match ammunition used by law enforcement and military personnel and suggested that the protesters were killed by fellow protesters. (Radio Farda) (ISNA)

Citations & Links

1. Radio Farda
https://en.radiofarda.com/a/iran-foreign-messaging-apps-protests/28980785.html

2. Asriran
http://www.asriran.com/fa/news/586618/%D9%86%D9%82%D8%AF%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%B1-%D8%A8%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C%D9%87-170-%D9%86%D9%85%D8%A7%DB%8C%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%87-%D9%85%D8%AC%D9%84%D8%B3-%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%87-%D9%BE%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%B1%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%87%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%B1-%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%AE%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AE%D8%B1-%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%81%DB%8C%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%B1%DB%8C%D9%86%DA%AF-%D9%82%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C%D9%85

Citations & Links

1. Radio Farda
https://www.radiofarda.com/a/iran-police-chief-calls-people-killed-in-the-street-suspicious/28980355.html

2. ISNA
https://www.isna.ir/news/96102412660/%D9%87%D9%88%DB%8C%D8%AA-%D9%88%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%B2%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B2%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B4%D8%AA-%D9%87%D8%A7-%D9%88-%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D8%AE%D9%88%D8%AF%DA%A9%D8%B4%DB%8C-%DA%A9%D9%86%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%87-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%AD%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%AB-%D8%A7%D8%AE%DB%8C%D8%B1-%D9%88%D8%B6%D8%B9%DB%8C%D8%AA

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