Iran News Round Up

A selection of the latest news stories and editorials published in Iranian news outlets, compiled by AEI Critical Threats Project Iran Analysts Marie Donovan, Paul Bucala, and Caitlin Shayda Pendleton with contributors Ken Hawrey and Alice Naghshineh. To receive this daily newsletter, please subscribe online.

(E) = Article in English

Excerpts of these translations may only be used with the expressed consent of the authors.

Key takeaway: IRGC Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri criticized U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s suggestion of a “new arrangement” regarding negotiations with Iran.

Kerry had stated that the U.S. and its allies told Iran they are “prepared to work on a new arrangement to find a peaceful solution” to issues such as Iran’s recent ballistic missile tests, but that Iran must indicate first that it is ready to cease activities which “raise questions about credibility… and intentions.” Armed Forces General Staff Deputy Jazayeri reiterated the regime’s stance that Iran’s missile program is “non-negotiable” and urged the Foreign Ministry to “show a timely and decisive reaction” to Kerry’s comments. 

Friday prayer leaders accused the U.S. of being “unfaithful in practice” to the nuclear deal. Qom Friday Prayer Leader Hojjat ol Eslam Mohammad Saidi stated, “With the JCPOA issue, we are seeing that the nuclear deal still exists on paper, but the U.S. and the West are beginning to be unfaithful in practice.” Mashhad Friday Prayer Leader Ayatollah Alam ol Hoda claimed that the U.S. is “now not only failing to fulfill its commitments, but it has imposed greater sanctions as well.”

An IRGC member from Tehran was killed in Aleppo province, but no further information was reported on his rank or unit affiliation. Pro-regime forces have clashed with opposition forces southwest of Aleppo city over the last week, which has likely led to the recent uptick in Iranian casualties. 

AEI Must-Reads

• Paul Bucala and Frederick W. Kagan debunk Iran’s repeated assertion that it is only training, advising, and assisting Syrian forces by analyzing data collected from Iranian media reports on military casualties in the Critical Threats Project’s latest report, “Iran’s Evolving Way of War: How the IRGC Fights in Syria.”
   
• Matthew McInnis discusses Iran’s consensus on the need to strengthen its ballistic missile program and U.S. strategies for mitigating and responding to Iranian missile advances in his latest blog, “Iran’s missile happy ‘moderates.’”
   
• Paul Bucala analyzes Iran's deployment of Artesh special forces to Syria in "Iran in Syria: flexing more, not less, military muscle."
   
• Marie Donovan discusses IRGC Commander Jafari’s warning to Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani not to engage further with the West in “IRGC Commander warns President Rouhani to back off.”

Military and Security

• Jazayeri criticizes John Kerry’s suggestion of a “new arrangement” with Iran. Armed Forces General Staff Deputy IRGC Brig. Gen. Massoud Jazayeri responded to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s statements regarding negotiations on Iran’s missile program at an April 7 meeting with the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Kerry had stated that the U.S. and its allies have told Iran they are “prepared to work on a new arrangement to find a peaceful solution” to issues such as Iran’s ongoing ballistic missile tests, but that Iran must first “make it clear to everybody that they are prepared to cease these kinds of activities that raise questions about credibility… and intentions.” In response, Jazayeri stated, “We are stressing what has been said several times: [our] missile power has been non-negotiable and among the red lines of the Iranian nation. Iran does not get permission from anyone to develop its defense capabilities.” Jazayeri said that Iran’s “diplomatic establishment is expected to show a timely and decisive reaction to American impudence, especially by the U.S. secretary of state.” (ABNA) (E) (Mehr News Agency)

Regional Developments and Diplomacy

• Friday prayer leaders accuse U.S. of being “unfaithful” to the JCPOA. Qom Friday Prayer Leader Hojjat ol Eslam Mohammad Saidi discussed regional developments and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) during his Friday prayer sermon. He noted that “with the JCPOA issue, we are seeing that the nuclear deal still exists on paper, but the U.S. and the West are beginning to be unfaithful in practice.” (Tasnim News Agency)
  • Mashhad Friday Prayer Leader Ayatollah Ahmad Alam ol Hoda referred to the U.S. and stated, “They talked for two years and signed the JCPOA. Now they are not only failing to fulfill their commitments, but they have imposed greater sanctions as well.” He added, “The relationship between America and Iran is like that between a wolf and an ewe. The wolf will never change from being a wolf.” (Fars News Agency)
     
• Supreme Leader’s representative: We are ready to defend Azerbaijan. Ayatollah Hassan Ameli, the Friday prayer leader of Ardabil city in northwestern Iran and the Supreme Leader’s representative in Ardabil province, discussed the recent conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh during his Friday sermon. Ameli, who was reelected to the Assembly of Experts in the February 26 elections, stated, “We are ready to defend all of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and return its land… Support for the oppressed is the primary pillar in the goals and aims of the Islamic Revolution… We want to be to be present at the Karabakh front.” He also called the U.S. and Israel the “primary enemy” of Azerbaijan. (Fars News Agency)

Economy

• Rezaei: “The Revolution has arrived at the ‘economy stop.’” Mohsen Rezaei stressed the importance of “Islamizing” the economy during a meeting with economic officials. The Expediency Discernment Council secretary, who is also a former commander of the IRGC, added, “The Revolution has now arrived at the ‘economy stop,’ and I hope that we will cross [this juncture] successfully. Many revolutions have not been able to cross this point. For the Islamic Revolution, crossing [this juncture] is feasible.” (Fars News Agency) 
   
• Interim Tehran Friday prayer leader calls for job creation. Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani said during his sermon that Iran “needs to create jobs rather than giving money to the people in order to buy goods.” He emphasized the importance of implementing the Resistance Economy, an economic doctrine meant to insulate the Iranian economy from external pressure, and stated, “Those who seek out America should know that the enemy wants to find the Iranian nation’s weak spot and pressure the Iranian nation with it.” (Mehr News Agency) (Fars News Agency)

Casualties in Iraq and Syria

• IRGC member killed in Aleppo province. Amir Ali Mohammadian was an IRGC member from Tehran. No further information was reported on his rank or unit affiliation. (Ghatreh)