Iran News Round Up

Paul Bucala and Caitlin Shayda Pendleton discuss how Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani’s death will upend Iran’s political landscape in “What Rafsanjani’s death means for the Supreme Leader’s succession.”

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif claimed that Iran’s use of ballistic missiles complies with the nuclear deal and UN Security Council Resolution 2231 during a press conference with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault in Tehran. Zarif did not comment on Iran’s alleged test of a ballistic missile but defended the existence of Iran’s ballistic missile program. Zarif stated that Iranians “never depend on the permission of anyone else for their self-defense.” Zarif warned President Donald Trump not to use Iran’s “defense program” as a pretext for “creating new tensions” and starting “political games” like the new visa ban for Iranians, however. Zarif also denied that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) pertains to Iran’s ballistic missile tests, stating:

• “Just as all parties to the JCPOA announced during negotiations, missile tests are not part of the JCPOA. Both the French administration and the previous American administration that took responsibility for the negotiations have proclaimed that missile tests are not a component of the JCPOA and have no relation to it.”
• “This resolution [UN Resolution 2231] refers to missiles that have been designed for the capability to carry nuclear weapons. We have said that no ballistic missile has been designed to be capable of carrying a nuclear weapon. Our missiles are for carrying conventional warheads and for the legitimate defense of the Islamic Republic. They are outside [the scope] of Resolution 2231.”
• “The International Atomic Energy Agency and countries party to the JCPOA have announced several times that Iran has stood by its commitments and implemented them fully. Unfortunately, we have not seen other parties to the JCPOA, particularly the United States, be as committed as we have been.” (IRNA) (ILNA)
   

Iranian news outlets reported that interim Tehran Friday Prayer Leader Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Movahedi Kermani will chair meetings of the Expediency Discernment Council (EDC) until February 24. A new chair will presumably be appointed afterwards. Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani had been EDC chairman since the council’s creation in 1987 until his death in January 2017. The EDC is constitutionally tasked with advising the Supreme Leader and mediating legislative disputes between the Guardian Council and Parliament. Kermani is a prominent conservative figure in Iran’s political establishment and is the secretary general of the Combatant Clergy Association. (Asr Iran)

Artesh Navy Commander RADM Habibollah Sayyari announced that the Artesh Navy’s 44th Fleet, consisting of the frigate Alvand and the support vessel Bushehr, will return to Iran during the Persian month of Esfand (February-March) after a “five-month mission” off the African coast. In late November, Sayyari claimed that that the Artesh Navy 44th Fleet entered the Atlantic Ocean and berthed at the port city of Durban in South Africa. Satellite imagery indicates that the Bushehr underwent emergency repairs in Durban, explaining the 44th Fleet’s long absence from Iranian waters. (Tasnim News Agency)