Iran Digest Week of May 10- May 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.
Nuclear Accord
Going Nuclear: Iran's New Rhetorical Deterrence
Acquiring nuclear weapons has long been a taboo topic in Iran, where the country's supreme leader has declared them un-Islamic.
But a growing number of Iranian officials in recent weeks have openly suggested that the Islamic republic could weaponize its nuclear program, which Tehran has long claimed is strictly for civilian purposes.
The change in rhetoric has coincided with Tehran's growing hostilities with Israel. Last month, Israel launched an attack on Iran in response to Tehran's unprecedented missile and drone assault on its archfoe.
Women of Iran
Iranian Police Assault Girl for Hijab Non-Compliance
A video surfaced from Boroujerd, western Iran, depicting hijab enforcement police violently assaulting a young girl in Fadak Park for wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt.
The footage, obtained by Iran International, shows the police's harsh enforcement of mandatory hijab. According to an eyewitness, bystanders eventually intervened and rescued the girl. It is unclear how old the child is, but in Iran girls start to wear hijab as young as six or seven years old.
The incident is part of a pattern of aggression associated with hijab enforcement in Iran even against children. Just last year, another young girl was recorded being struck in the face for not wearing a hijab. The video showed her bleeding from the nose, sitting by the roadside in distress.
Backlash over Iran's National Girl's Day Poster
A government billboard in Tehran encouraging young girls to be homemakers and mothers has sparked a social media backlash amid the country's violent oppression of women.
The poster, at Valiasar Square in Tehran for Iran's National Girl's Day, depicts a girl sweeping the house, feeding a baby, massaging her father, and helping her brother, titled "The light of the eye," a term of endearment in Farsi.
It comes while there has been a new wave of crackdowns to compel women to comply with compulsory hijab laws under a new initiative called the "Noor [light] Initiative." A user on the X social network wrote, "The irony of the Noor Initiative patrol vans being parked under the same billboard to arrest the ‘the light of the eye'."
Economy
Iran's Five-Day Workweek Campaign Pits Religious Identity Against Global Business
Iran has taken a big step toward reducing its number of working days and hours for government employees, a move that has long been sought as a way to improve labor production and economic efficiency.
But the effort was not without controversy, with parliament weighing strong opinions on which proposed new day off would be best -- Thursday, or Saturday.
Much of the debate in transitioning from a six-day workweek to five days has pitted business interests against religious values.
Inside Iran
Deadly Floods Ravage Northeastern Iran
At least seven people have died in northeastern Iran amid severe flooding and heavy rainfall in the city of Mashhad, with local authorities warning the death toll may rise as rescue operations continue to hunt for individuals yet to be accounted for.
The floods were triggered by an intense rainfall that started earlier this week, inundating streets and sweeping away cars. Videos on social media show multiple vehicles being carried off by rushing waters.
According to local media reports, at least 12 people have been reported missing. The head of the Crisis Management Department of Khorasan Razavi Province, Reza Abbasi, confirmed that searches are ongoing in Torghabeh, Shandiz, Mashhad, and Fariman county.
How Iran has quietly fixed the race for the next supreme leader
It was 20 years ago that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei felt God speaking through him.
The experience took place during a cordial gathering between Iran’s supreme leader and approximately 20 commanders of the country’s Revolutionary Guards, Khamenei recalled earlier this year.
After leading a collective prayer Khamenei found himself engaged in “warm and captivating” conversation with the military brass, while casually seated on a staircase in a courtyard. It was then, he said, that “the Almighty God’s words flowed from my tongue”.
(Financial Times)
Regional Politics
Jordan foils arms plot as kingdom caught in Iran-Israel shadow war
Jordan has foiled a suspected Iranian-led plot to smuggle weapons into the U.S.-allied kingdom to help opponents of the ruling monarchy carry out acts of sabotage, according to two Jordanian sources with knowledge of the matter.
The weapons were sent by Iranian-backed militias in Syria to a cell of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan that has links to the military wing of Palestinian group Hamas, the people told Reuters. The cache was seized when members of the cell, Jordanians of Palestinian descent, were arrested in late March, they said.
The alleged plot and arrests, reported here for the first time, come at a time of sky-high tensions in the Middle East, with an American-backed Israel at war in Gaza with Hamas, part of Iran's "Axis of Resistance" network of proxy groups built up over decades to oppose Israel.
(Reuters)
Global Relations
Chabahar Port: US says sanctions possible after India-Iran port deal
The US has warned of potential sanctions for any country considering business deals with Iran, hours after India signed a 10-year contract to operate a port with Tehran.
India had entered an agreement to develop the strategically important Chabahar port, close to Iran's border with Pakistan, in 2016.
On Monday, it signed a long-term deal with Iran to develop it further.
(BBC)
Junta-Led Niger Faces US Sanctions Threat Over Uranium Deal with Iran
Niger's Prime Minister, Ali Lamine Zeine, revealed that the United States has threatened the country with sanctions if it proceeds with a deal to sell uranium to Iran.
In an interview with The Washington Post on Tuesday, Zeine said Molly Phee, the State Department’s top official for African affairs, issued the threat during spring negotiations aimed at extending the presence of US forces in Niger.
According to him, the confrontation led to the “rupture” of military relations between the United States and Niger, previously considered a key ally in West Africa.
Analysis
Why Iran and Israel Stepped Back From the Brink
By: Vali Nasr
The volley of attacks and counterattacks between Iran and Israel in the first two weeks of April drastically changed the strategic landscape in the Middle East. On April 1, an Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus killed seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders, including two generals. Two weeks later, Iran retaliated with a barrage of drones and missiles, almost all of which were intercepted. Israel swiftly responded with its own drone and missile attack on an airbase in Iran. The exchange brought the shadow war the two countries have been fighting for more than a decade into the open.
It is now clear that the spiraling rivalry between Iran and Israel will shape regional security and drive Middle East politics for the foreseeable future. Each views the other as an arch enemy that it must defeat by military means. Left unchecked, their dangerous competition will destabilize the region, and it could ultimately trigger a conflict that drags the United States into a costly war. It now falls on Washington to craft a diplomatic strategy to calm the escalatory forces that precipitated a direct confrontation between Iran and Israel in April—and could do so again.
Hamas’s October 7 attack dented Israel’s aura of invincibility and diminished its sense of security. Israel has launched a ferocious response, seeking to destroy Hamas, free the Israeli hostages that remain in Gaza, and restore confidence in its ability to deter outside attacks and protect its population. All three goals have thus far eluded Israel.
