Iran Digest Week of March 2- March 10
/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
Defense Secretary Austin’s visit to Israel reveals divisions on Iran
Long-running differences between the Biden administration and Israel over how to stop Iran’s rapidly accelerating nuclear program spilled into public view Thursday, as the U.S. defense secretary discussed Tehran’s nuclear ambitions with his Israeli counterpart during a visit to the country.
Even with efforts to revive the landmark 2015 nuclear deal stalled for months, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin insisted in comments in Tel Aviv that “diplomacy is the best way to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.”
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant made no mention of the moribund nuclear talks, instead telling Austin: “We must take all measures necessary to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon.” He appeared to suggest that Israel could resort to military action to take out Iran’s nuclear facilities.
(Military Times)
Nuclear Accord
Iran agrees to reinstall IAEA cameras at nuclear facilities
The UN’s atomic watchdog has said Iran has agreed to the reinstallation of cameras and other monitoring equipment at its facilities after months of mounting western concerns about the country’s nuclear programme.
Iran removed more than 20 cameras and other equipment from its nuclear plants last year, escalating its stand-off with the west in what appeared to be a retaliatory move after members of the International Atomic Energy Agency issued a resolution criticising Tehran over its nuclear activity.
But after a two-day visit to the Islamic republic, IAEA director-general Rafael Mariano Grossi said on Saturday that Tehran had agreed to reinstall the equipment, which is vital for the watchdog’s ability to monitor Iran.
(Financial Times)
Women of Iran
Are Iranian schoolgirls being poisoned by toxic gas?
More than 1,000 Iranian students - mostly schoolgirls - have fallen ill over the past three months in what has been reported to be a wave of poisonings, possibly with toxic gas. What is making people sick?
Dozens of girls in at least 26 schools across the country reportedly fell ill on Wednesday - a clear escalation in cases.
Many patients have reported similar symptoms: respiratory problems, nausea, dizziness and fatigue.
(BBC)
Interview: Taking Walks Without Wearing Hijab in Iran
This is the story of one Iranian woman who stopped wearing a headscarf in public as an act of protest. Despite Iran’s compulsory hijab laws and the fear of arrest, Pendar (not her real name), 51, together with two other women, has walked every Wednesday and Saturday for hours through Tehran’s crowded streets. As their confidence grew, these women stopped wearing hijab completely. Their quiet act of resistance began six months ago, after the death of Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa (Jina) Amini while in custody of Iran’s “morality” police. Her death ignited massive protests across the country,
with people demanding an end to Iran’s repression. Security forces cracked down with violence, killing hundreds and arresting thousands.
Economy
US sanctions 39 entities over alleged ‘shadow banking’ for Iran
The United States has imposed sanctions on 39 entities, including many based in the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong, that Washington said facilitate Iran’s access to the global financial system, describing them as a “shadow banking” network that moves billions of dollars.
The US Treasury Department said in a statement on Thursday that those included in the sanctions had granted companies previously slapped with Iran-related sanctions – such as Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industry Commercial Co (PGPICC) and Triliance Petrochemical Co Ltd – access to the international financial system and helped them hide their trade with foreign customers.
The latest US move against Iran comes as efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal have stalled, while ties between the Islamic Republic and the West have become increasingly strained as Iranians keep up anti-government protests.
Inside Iran
Iran claims to have discovered one of the world's largest lithium deposits
The Iranian government claimed last week to have discovered a massive deposit of lithium, positioning itself as a major player in the global race for the metal used in cell phones, laptops, and electric vehicles.
Mohammad Hadi Ahmadi, an official at Iran’s ministry of industry, mines, and trade, confirmed the discovery on Iranian state television, according to CNBC.
“For the first time in Iran, a lithium reserve has been discovered in Hamedan,” a province in the country’s west, Ahmadi said, adding that his ministry believes the deposit holds approximately 8.5 million tons of lithium.
(Quartz)
Reformist Party Demands Abolition Of Compulsory Hijab In Iran
An Iranian reformist party has demanded an end to compulsory hijab and laws that legalize child marriage and discrimination against women in education and work.
In a statement to mark International Women’s Day, the Etehad-e Mellat party strongly criticized the many discriminatory laws of the Islamic Republic against women including the compulsory veiling laws and called for their abolition or change.
Etehad-e Mellat, formed in 2015, is the only major Iranian political party with a female secretary general, Azar Mansouri, who was elected by the party’s congress in December 2021. Many of the party’s members are veteran reformist politicians and activists and members of the Islamic Iranian Participation Front (Mosharekat) which was banned in 2009.
Outraged Over Illnesses Among Schoolgirls, Iranians Return to Streets
Protests erupted in more than a dozen cities across Iran on Tuesday over what some fear may be the poisoning of thousands of schoolgirls and the government’s inability to contain the growing crisis, videos posted on social media show.
“Death to the child-killing regime,” protesters chanted, some holding signs reading, “Protect the safety of schools,” the videos showed.
They were the first protests seen in multiple Iranian cities simultaneously after two months of relative calm. The large uprisings led by women and girls that rocked the nation toward the end of last year had largely fizzled after a brutal government crackdown that included mass arrests and the execution of four protesters.
Regional Politics
Drone Strike In Iran-Controlled Syrian Region Kills Four: War Monitor
A war monitor says a drone strike has killed four people in government-held eastern Syria in an area controlled by Iran-backed militia factions.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Wednesday that four people died when a building that was home to Iran-backed militiamen in the province of Deir el-Zour was targeted by drones.
"Four people were killed and eight wounded in a drone strike near a weapons factory belonging to Iran-backed groups and near a truck loaded with weapons," Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP.
Analysis
Assessing the threat of Iran's drone carriers
By: Eric Lob and Edward Riehle
Between late December and early January, reports surfaced that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) is converting two merchant container ships owned by the sanctioned state shipping line IRISL Group into its first aircraft carriers, called the Shahid Mahdavi and Shahid Bagheri. The Iran Shipbuilding & Offshore Industries Complex Company (ISOICO) at Bandar Abbas near the Strait of Hormuz — the world’s main maritime oil transit chokepoint — is supporting the conversion. The IRGCN has been working on the Shahid Mahdavi since at least May and is expected to complete and commission it in 2023.
For now, Iran’s drone carriers are unlikely to pose a clear and present danger to the United States. Alongside other conventional capabilities, the U.S. possesses superior aircraft carriers, which, while ostensibly vulnerable to Iranian torpedoes and missiles, are safeguarded by a system of protective vessels, ultrasonic sensors, electronic countermeasures, and kinetic interceptors that surround each carrier in a battlegroup. Comparatively, and in all probability, Iran’s carriers are not strategic or tactical game changers, and they are overmatched strategically and operationally. Like the Iranian Navy’s other warships, they may confront capability-based constraints with launch and recovery as well as at-sea maintenance and repair operations. The Iranian carriers may also lack the anti-ship and air defenses required to resist attacks and survive direct engagement.
