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TOP STORIES
A new and powerful figure has joined the list of
candidates among Iranian conservatives for the May presidential
election: Ebrahim Raisi, a senior cleric who has gradually risen
through the ranks to assume powerful positions. Born in the holy city
of Mashhad in northeast Iran - home to the shrine of the eighth
Shiite imam - Raisi started his career as the prosecutor general of
Karaj - a city just west of the capital city, Tehran - two years
after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. In 2004, Raisi was appointed as the
first deputy of judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi.
When incumbent Ayatollah Sadegh Amoli Larijani took over the
judiciary in 2009, Raisi remained as the first deputy. In 2016,
following the death of Ayatollah Abbas Vaez Tabasi, Raisi was
appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as custodian of
the shrine of the eighth Shiite imam... While there has been
speculation in Western media regarding Raisi as the next supreme
leader, only now is Raisi being raised in Iranian media as the likely
candidate of the conservative camp in the upcoming presidential
election. The conservatives are at present making great efforts to
agree on a single candidate as they assume that the nomination of
more than one conservative candidate will repeat the same scenario of
the 2013 presidential election, when moderate Hassan Rouhani defeated
his three conservative rivals.
Iran was in recession a year ago, but the IMF forecast
that growth would rebound to 6.6 per cent in the financial year
ending in March, driven largely by the doubling of Iran's oil
production since sanctions were removed But the fund warned that
"the renewed uncertainty surrounding" the nuclear accord
and "especially relations with the US, could deter investment
and trade with Iran and short-circuit the anticipated recovery."
"If the agreement is derailed, the economy could risk
recession," it said in a report released late on Monday.
French telecoms network operator Orange will continue
to see slow growth in revenues in the Middle East and Africa this
year, its regional business chief said. The company sees the region
as key to its future, especially since it sold its mobile operations
in Britain and Switzerland, but is struggling to turn it into a
strong growth driver as talks with a potential partner in Iran drag
on and economic conditions in some African markets remain
challenging... Talks with Iran's largest mobile operator, Mobile
Telecommunication Company of Iran (MCI), meanwhile are "very
far" from reaching a final agreement, Mettling said. The
discussions, which were revealed last year, first aim at a commercial
agreement. "It's very long, it's very slow, it's very
complicated," Mettling said.
IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL
The chief of the U.N. atomic watchdog will hold talks
on Iran's nuclear deal on Thursday for the first time with senior
officials from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, who
has branded it "the worst deal ever negotiated"... Trump's
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who has called for a "full
review" of the accord, is among the senior U.S. officials Amano
will meet, they said... "IAEA Director General Amano will meet
with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and other senior U.S.
officials in Washington on Thursday, March 2," an IAEA spokesman
said on Wednesday, declining to elaborate.
NUCLEAR & BALLISTIC MISSILE
PROGRAM
Iran and Russia have agreed a roadmap for joint
production of nuclear fuel, Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran's
Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI), said Saturday. It took the countries
over two years to work out the agreement, Salehi added. "Joint
fuel production by Iran and Russia was one of the most useful topics
that had been discussed during nuclear talks (with Moscow) and
eventually finalized. We said we needed Russia's assistance in this
sphere," Salehi told iranian students news agency.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Turkey's
President Tayyip Erdogan agreed on Wednesday to improve ties,
including in the fight against terrorism, Iran's state news agency
IRNA said, following some angry exchanges between the regional
rivals... Last month Erdogan and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut
Cavusoglu both accused Iran of trying to destabilize Syria and Iraq
and of sectarianism, prompting Tehran to summon Ankara's ambassador.
Erdogan and Rouhani met on the sideline of an economic cooperation
summit in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, IRNA said, though it gave
no details of their talks.
BUSINESS RISK
Iran is determined to develop its oil and gas fields
through tenders for international companies, a top oil official said,
as the country strives to hold the first such tender since sanctions
were lifted in the January of last year. "We are keen to tender
our oil and gas fields, although it would prolong the process of
exploration and production," Ali Kardor, the chief executive of
National Iranian Oil Company told ILNA on Monday. According Kardor,
the giant South Azadegan oilfield that is shared with Iraq, will be
the first field to be tendered. He has also hinted at the possibility
of developing the South Azadegan project by a consortium of British,
Japanese and French companies. Kardor said that a new model of
contracts, dubbed as Iran Petroleum Contract, will be used to develop
most oil and gas fields. However, the tendering process has hit the
rocks since the first details of the IPC were unveiled in late 2015
alongside some 50 oil and gas projects. The NIOC chief had said the
tender for the coveted South Azadegan field would be held this month
after failing to launch the tender in January. But in recent weeks,
officials have kept mum on the possible date of the first oil tender,
leading to the inference that in the best-case scenario, the first
post-sanctions oil tender could be held in the first half of this year.
SANCTIONS RELIEF
Imports of Iranian crude by Asia's four main buyers of
the oil rose about two-thirds in January from a year ago when levels
were lower as Western sanctions on Tehran had only just been lifted.
Iran's top four Asian buyers - China, India, South Korea and Japan -
imported 1.64 million barrels per day (bpd) last month, up 67.6
percent on a year earlier, government and ship-tracking data showed.
But that volume was the lowest in six months and marked a third
straight month of decline from last year's peak of 1.99 million bpd
hit in October, according to data from the International Energy
Agency... Japan's trade ministry on Tuesday released official data
showing its imports rose 7.9 percent from a year earlier to 209,319
bpd last month. India's imports more than tripled to 554,600 bpd,
topping China's for the first time since November. South Korean
imports more than doubled to 478,032 bpd, also beating China, to
become the second-biggest buyer in Asia.
Iranian and Austrian officials in a meeting in Vienna
signed several agreements to further expand their bilateral ties in
scientific and technological fields.
Five cooperation pacts were signed by Iranian
Vice-President Sorena Sattari and Austrian officials in Vienna on
Wednesday. The signed agreements covered cooperation in oil and
modern energy fields. Sattari is slated to meet with a group of
Austrians active in the area of knowledge-based economy during his
stay in Vienna. The Iranian vice-president will also hold meetings
with the elites and Iranians residing in Austria.
CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co will supply 100
subway cars for Metro Line 2 in Mashhad, the second-biggest city in
Iran in May, the company told China Daily on Thursday. As a
subsidiary of China Railway Rolling Stock Corp Ltd, the country's
railway vehicle and equipment maker and exporter, CRRC Changchun
completed trial operations of the Mashhad metro line this month. The
100 subway cars will be formatted in five sets, said the media office
of CRRC Changchun. CRRC Changchun said that Metro Line 2 in Mashhad
is just one aspect of the company's business in the country. It
already started to ship subway cars to Iran in 2016 after it signed a
$1.39 billion contract to supply 1,008 subway cars to Teheran, the
Iranian capital, over a five-year period. Iran plans to open 30 urban
rail lines in nine cities over the next five years, with a total
length of 350 kilometers. The demand for rail vehicles is expected to
reach 2,000 subway cars.
Iran's economy is a mixture of central planning, state
ownership of oil, village agriculture, and small-scale private
trading and service ventures. So it seems like an unusual outpost for
a recruiter. But Alexander Hughes' Iranian office has now officially
opened for business. Shayan Shadfar and Christophe Laurent-Atthalin
are managing the new operation. CEO Julien Rozet, Mr. Shadfar and Mr.
Laurent-Atthalin said in a joint statement: "Our offices in
Tehran show the very strong interest of the global economic world in
the Iranian market. We are proud to be the first global executive
search firm returning to Iran to support businesses here in finding
top talent for their great ventures in this promising country."
EXTREMISM
The victory for Asghar Farhadi's film The Salesman at
the Oscars on 26 February sent a strong message from Hollywood to US
president Donald Trump, whose attempted travel ban caused the
director to boycott the ceremony. Trump's policy was felt by many to
have triggered a rash of protest votes for the film - and it is the
second time Iran, and Farhadi, have taken the prize this decade. Such
a triumph was proudly reported on back in Iran - but with a few
changes. The Iranian Labor News Agency's coverage of the win included
censorship of the outfits worn by presenter Charlize Theron, and by
Anousheh Ansari, the first Iranian in space, who accepted the award
in lieu of Farhadi... The news clip was shared by My Stealthy
Freedom, a lobbying organisation aiming to raise awareness of state
rules in Iran which dictate that women should be flogged or
imprisoned for failure to wear the hijab. The founder of the group,
Masih Alinejad, condemned the censorship on the organisation's
Facebook page. "Another typical example of the Islamic
Republic's fear of naked arms of Iranian women," she wrote.
"It is shameful indeed, but that is how the Iranian media
outlets based within the country have been covering such events for
years."
DOMESTIC POLITICS
Iran may see its first female presidential candidate
in the May 19 elections. After a period of silence, Marzieh Vahid
Dastjerdi, the Islamic Republic's first and only female minister, has
in recent days and weeks made headlines once again. Dastjerdi headed
the Ministry of Health and Medical Education between 2009 and 2012
after being one of three women proposed as ministers by President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during his second term (2009-13).
OPINION & ANALYSIS
After Iran's nuclear agreement, the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action with six world powers (China, France,
Germany, Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom), many
outside businesses are enthusiastic to enter the Iranian market.
Meanwhile, to boost Iran's collapsed economy, the country's moderate
forces-a coalition of progressive politicians, intellectuals and
pragmatic conservatives headed by President Hassan Rouhani, who
advocates reintegrating Iran into the global market-are encouraging
foreign partners and investors to invest in Iran. But the extent of
the Iranian market's readiness for international investment has not
been addressed yet. Iran's autocratic system has unique
characteristics that make it different from other autocracies in
terms of dealing with foreign investors. This raises the question:
how plausible is it to expect a fruitful economic relationship
between Iran and foreign investors, and what are the possible
uncertainties and obstacles regarding foreign investment in Iran?
The U.S. cannot drive a wedge between Russia and Iran
in the near term Tehran and Moscow share regional and global
interests across the Middle East, North Africa, Caucasus, and Central
Asia. Their common interests and overarching objective of expelling
the U.S. from the Middle East will likely bind Iran and Russia
together into an enduring partnership.
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