Iran News Round Up

Mike Saidi and Daniel Amir released a new, more comprehensive graphic of the recent anti-regime protests in Iran. View the graphic here.

Mike Saidi discusses the implications of the recent Gonabadi Dervish protest in, “What the Gonabadi Dervish protests tell us about Iran’s protest scene.”

Interim Tehran Friday Prayer Leader Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami called for swift punishment of those who instigated the recent Gonabadi Dervish protests during a sermon on March 2. Khatami labeled the protests’ instigators as “domestic ISIS.” Khatami’s comments echo a similar statement by Judiciary Spokesperson Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei.

• Khatami also spoke about the recent protests against the mandatory hijab law. Khatami  reiterated that the hijab is a mandatory requirement and part of God’s law. He also endorsed the Central Bank’s imposed restriction on imports based on the U.S. dollar. (Fars News Agency) (IRIB News)

The Free Trade Union of Iranian Laborers reported that Ahvaz Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) Intelligence officials arrested more than 10 Iranian National Steel Industrial Group (INSIG) workers in their homes on March 1.INSIG workers have been protesting and holding strikes for months over unpaid salaries and other workplace-related grievances. The order for the home raids reportedly came from the Ahvaz (Khuzestan Province) Prosecutor General. The Union called for the immediate and unconditional release of the detained workers. INSIG workers and family members of some of the detained workers participated in additional demonstrations on March 3 in front of the provincial governor’s office. The Free Trade Union of Iranian Laborers reported that LEF Intelligence officials also requested the home addresses of other workers, suggesting the possibility of further home raids if the strikes continue. The INSIG protests in southwestern Iran are a part of larger wave of worker-led protests taking place across Iran, including Khuzestan, Tehran, Golestan, and Markazi Provinces. (Ettehad-e) (Ettehad-e)       

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov held a phone call on Russia’s February 26 veto of a UK-proposed UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution condemning Iran for supplying the al Houthi movement with sophisticated weaponry. The UN ultimately adopted a rival Russian proposal to extend current targeted sanctions on Iran for one year. Zarif and Lavrov’s phone call may indicate ongoing Iranian-Russian cooperation in order to influence the resolution of the Yemeni conflict.  (IRNA)

Fox News released a series of satellite images on February 27 indicating that Iranian military forces have constructed a new military base in southern Syria. The new military base is reported to be located eight miles northwest of Damascus in Jabal ash Sharqi, Rif Dimashq, Syria. The Fox News report also noted that the base belongs to the IRGC Quds Force. Iranian military forces have constructed military bases and refurbished existing structures over the course of their nearly seven-year involvement in the Syrian Civil War since 2011. Israeli forces previously targeted a separate Iranian military base eight miles south of Damascus in Kiswah, Rif Dimashq Governorate on December 2, 2017. Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) view the position of military bases in southern Syria, near Israel’s northeastern border, as an immediate security threat. (Fox News) (E)