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TOP STORIES
Iran's moderate president, Hassan Rouhani, has delivered
rare rebukes in recent days to the country's powerful Shiite clergy
and allied security forces, lashing out at rivals and their hard-line
backers ahead of his reelection bid next week. At rallies across
Iran, Rouhani has blasted his opponents as "extremists" and
criticized authorities for the detention of reformist leaders. On
Monday, he attacked rival Ebrahim Raisi, a conservative cleric and
former judicial official, for a record of "execution and imprisonment."
Rouhani also questioned the tax-exempt status of a charitable
foundation linked to Iran's supreme leader and suggested in a
televised debate Friday that Iran's most influential security
institution, the Revolutionary Guard Corps, tried to sabotage the
2015 nuclear deal he struck with world powers.
From a former president disobeying the supreme leader to
open discussion of a 1980s mass execution, Iran's presidential
election is pushing the boundaries of what can be discussed in public
and done online, a small but noticeable shift in the country's
clerically overseen polls. The push doesn't portend a dramatic change
to the structure of the Islamic Republic, under which Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the final say over all state matters and
clerics determine who can run for office and what bills become law.
It does, however, show that the government's ability to clamp down on
criticism is waning as Iranians turn to encrypted messaging
applications like Telegram and internet chats ahead of the May 19
election.
Iran's supreme leader says anyone trying to foment
unrest around the country's upcoming presidential election, like that
which followed the disputed 2009 vote, "will be hit with a
slap" Iranian state television quoted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as making
the comment Wednesday during a graduation ceremony for cadets in
Iran's Revolutionary Guard in Tehran. Khamenei also referred to a
"wealthy American Zionist merchant" trying to interfere in
Iran's 2009 election in his comments, likely referring to liberal
billionaire George Soros. Iranians will go to the polls May 19.
Moderate President Hassan Rouhani, whose administration struck the
2015 nuclear deal with world powers, is seeking another four-year
term Iran's disputed 2009 re-election of former hard-line President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad led to months of unrest and dozens of deaths.
UANI IN THE NEWS
Q: UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thank you, Sean. I have two
questions. First, a citizens group known as United Against Nuclear
Iran released a list of 16 American companies a few days ago, among
them Volvo, Honeywell and Schlumberger, all of which are cutting back
on jobs involving Americans but all of which expressed a desire to do
business in Iran under the terms of the deal that was made with
Tehran. My question is this. What is the administration's response to
businesses who say they want to do business in Iran under a deal the
president described as the worst ever?
A: SPICER: I think that speaks for itself. The president
is very clear on what he thinks of the Iran deal and companies need
to abide by the law.
NUCLEAR & BALLISTIC MISSILE PROGRAM
Iran is preparing to launch two new domestic satellites
into space, according to a new announcement by Iranian military
leaders that is stirring discussion among U.S. national security
insiders who say the move is likely cover for the test firing of
advanced intercontinental ballistic missile technology that could be
used as part of Iran's nuclear program. The latest test comes as the
Trump administration continues to engage in a comprehensive review of
the Iran nuclear agreement that U.S. officials tell the Washington
Free Beacon will result in a full-scale plan to "meet the
challenges Iran poses with clarity and conviction." Iran
continues to boost its military might and move forward with the
testing of controversial ballistic missile technology. The expertise
needed to launch satellites into space is similar to that needed to
properly launch intercontinental ballistic missiles, which could
potentially reach U.S. soil.
SYRIA CONFLICT
Relationships between Washington and Moscow have reached
a new intersection relating to the Syrian conflict. Though both the
United States and Russia agree on fighting terrorism they still
differ on several files related to Syria. The core of the problem
which will be discussed by both foreign ministers Sergei Lavrov, who
is on his first visit to Washington since US President Donald Trump
assumed office, and his American counterpart Rex Tillerson will focus
on Iran's role in Syria. It will also hone in on Moscow's support for
Tehran's Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, as perceived by Washington and Gulf
states.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian
ambassador to Islamabad on Tuesday following threats by Iran's
military chief of staff to carry out strikes inside Pakistani
territory on suspected bases of militants. Islamabad strongly
denounced the warnings of Iranian Armed Forces Chief-of-Staff Major
General Mohammad Baqeri, and told Iranian Ambassador Mehdi Honardoost
that such remarks were "against the spirit of brotherly
relations between the two countries". "The Iranian side was
urged to avoid issuance of such statements that could threaten the
environment of fraternal relations," the Pakistani foreign
ministry said in a statement. Baqeri threatened on Monday to strike
Balochi bases in Pakistani territories if Islamabad failed to control
its borders and stop militant activities near the eastern border
regions of the country.
An official with the Iranian Foreign Ministry said on
Tuesday that Turkey has "informally informed" Tehran of a
plan to construct an Iran-Turkey border wall. "Iran is
informally informed of Turkey's intention to construct a wall along
parts of its borders with Iran," the official, who asked for
anonymity, told the Tehran Times "Apparently, Turkish officials
intend to apply new measures to tighten border security." The
official did not elaborate on diplomatic contacts over the issue.
On Tuesday, the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News, quoting a senior
official, reported that Ankara is considering plans to build a wall
along the Turkish-Iranian border as part of measures against the
outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
SAUDI-IRAN TENSIONS
In response to a statement made by Iranian Chief of
Staff of the Armed Forces Mohammad Hussein Bagheri, the head of
Pakistan's Council of Scholars Taher Mahmoud Ashrafi said that the
Iranian threat to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan is condemnable and
regrettable. Ashrafi stressed that the Islamic world will not allow
Iran to tamper with the security of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan since
the latter is able to defend its borders and those of the country of
the Two Holy Mosques. He stressed that Pakistan has always been
working for peace in the region with patience and wisdom, but the
statements of the Iranian leadership against Pakistan "cannot be
tolerated emphasizing that Pakistan is not like Syria and Iraq and
that the Iranian alliance with India and Afghanistan will not weaken
Pakistan." He asserted that the Pakistani government should
refer to the United Nations, the international community and the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) regarding the statements
and acts of aggression by Afghanistan, Iran and India over the past
two weeks.
HUMAN RIGHTS
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani,
currently campaigning for a second term win in the May 19, 2017
presidential election, criticized two of his opponents' records of
human rights abuses during a speech in the city of Hamadan. "The
people of Iran are saying they don't accept those who only hung and
imprisoned people for the past 38 years (since the 1979
revolution)," said Rouhani on May 8, indirectly referencing
Ebrahim Raisi, who served on a committee in 1988 that implemented the
executions of thousands of political prisoners. "You don't know
them, but I do," continued Rouhani, indirectly referencing
candidate Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the mayor of Tehran. "One
day they met and decided to put up walls and fences along Tehran's
sidewalks to separate male and female pedestrians, just like when
they segregated the staff in their offices."
Iran's leading presidential candidate Ebrahim
Raisi once approved the execution of thousands of while serving as a
member of a commission tasked with eliminating political prisoners,
according to an Iranian human rights group. Ebrahim Raisi, a favorite
among Iran's radical religious leadership, was part of a four-person
panel tasked with eliminating the regime's political opposition in
1988, according to the Center for Human Rights in Iran. Anywhere
between 3,500 and 15,000 people were executed that year, according to
a report by al-Arabiya. "With Raisi's candidacy, the regime is
sending a clear message that it does not care about crimes against
humanity nor does it have any intention to investigate the crimes in
1988, and in fact will install those responsible for the massacre in
the highest governmental posts in the country," Shadi Sadr, an
international law expert, told the Center in April.
DOMESTIC POLITICS
Determined to protect a dominant security role and vast
economic interests, Iran's Revolutionary Guards military force is
quietly backing a hardliner in May 19 presidential polls, with an eye
toward a bigger prize: the succession of the supreme leader.
President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate elected in 2013 in a
landslide on promises to open up Iranian society and reduce its
international isolation, is widely seen as the favorite to win a
second term next week. But the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps
(IRGC), and the Basij, a volunteer militia under the Guards' command,
are taking steps to promote the candidacy of his main rival, hardline
cleric Ebrahim Raisi. Media outlets affiliated with the Guards have
been criticizing Rouhani's performance in power. Experts who study
the force say they are also likely to use their street muscle to help
get Raisi supporters to the polls.
Iranians will vote to keep opening up to the world
despite the "climate of tension" created by US President
Donald Trump, vice president and election candidate Eshaq Jahangiri
vowed in an interview with AFP. "Our government has started
along a good path -- the nuclear issue was settled, we have
stabilised the economy, hope has returned. I am confident Iranians
will vote for this government to continue its work," Jahangiri
told AFP at his office in Tehran. But he said the aggressively
anti-Iranian posture of Trump's administration threatens to undermine
Iran's reconnection with the world. "Mr Trump is creating a
climate of tension. If he creates problems, Iran has the means to
make him regret it," said Jahangiri.
OPINION & ANALYSIS
If there has been one consistent theme in Donald Trump's
foreign policy since the early days of his campaign, it has been his
insistence that America has not benefited economically from the
global order it mostly protects. Yet when it comes to U.S. policy in
the Middle East, he has been wildly inconsistent. During the
presidential race, he talked about ripping up the nuclear deal
reached between Iran and six world powers. He walked that pledge back
shortly after taking office. Nor has he acted on his rhetoric of
ramping up sanctions on Tehran. So, here's a way the Trump
administration could bring these foreign policy contradictions in
accord: By confronting conventional Washington wisdom that isolating
Iran is beneficial to America's strategic goals. Instead, the U.S.
could try building on the nuclear pact in a way that would allow
Tehran to gain more economic incentives by moderating, what
Washington has long regarded, as its destabilizing behavior in the
Middle East.
The U.S. and its allies can prevent Iran from getting
nuclear weapons, but only if they are clear about what the
controversial 2015 nuclear deal actually says. Critics of the
agreement, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,
often say the deal gives Iran permission to acquire nuclear weapons
after 10 years. Yet the stated premise of the plan was that Iran
would never build or acquire nuclear weapons-ever. An item in the
deal's general provisions states that the plan "will ensure the
exclusively peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme."
Another item reads: "Iran reaffirms that under no circumstances
will Iran ever seek, develop, or acquire nuclear weapons." The
world powers that negotiated the deal agreed to lift the sanctions
against Iran only on the stated assumption that Iran never had, and
never would have, a nuclear-weapons program. Although it's unlikely
any parties to the deal believed Iran's nuclear program was only for
peaceful purposes, they all found it diplomatically convenient to
assert that it was.
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