Iran News Round Up - January 27, 2017

Expediency Discernment Council Secretary and former IRGC Commander Mohsen Rezaei emphasized the need to train “the Islamic Revolution’s second and third generation” in order for them to enter the “management of the country” during a speech in Mashhad. He also praised the Imam Hossein University, which contains the IRGC’s advanced educational programs, for training the “future commanders of the IRGC” in “management practices.” (Tasnim News Agency)

Iranian news outlets circulated reports that two Iranian supertankers are en route to Europe, each carrying about two million barrels of oil. A Bloomberg report estimated that the tanker arrivals would increase Iranian oil exports to Europe to 622,581 barrels a day in January, marking the highest influx of Iranian oil to Europe since November 2011. (Press TV) (E)

Vice President for Legal Affairs Majid Ansari announced that the Rouhani administration is preparing several bills regarding citizens’ rights. The bills are based on a citizens’ rights charter that President Hassan Rouhani unveiled in December 2016. The charter included protections for freedom of speech, assembly, and privacy. Ansari stated that the administration will send the bills to Parliament for passage. The citizens’ rights charter fulfilled one of Rouhani’s 2013 campaign promises. The bills based on the charter will likely provoke a hardliner backlash against Rouhani, who focused his first term on economic issues, however. The conservative-dominated Guardian Council must also approve parliamentary legislation before it becomes law. (YJC)

The official death toll from last week’s Plasco building collapse reached 26, according to Iranian Labor News Agency. The collapse also wounded 235 others. Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli blamed the fire on an electrical short-circuit. A special government committee is investigating the incident and will release a report identifying which entity or individual is responsible for the collapse, however. Conservative Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf faced limited calls for his resignation after the collapse. (ILNA) (Tasnim News Agency)

Armenian Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan announced an upcoming trip to Iran in order to have “important talks,” according to IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency. Sargsyan also mentioned Iran and Armenia’s “common security problems” without providing further details. President Hassan Rouhani visited Armenia in December 2016, when Iranian and Armenian officials signed five memoranda of understanding to boost cultural and economic cooperation. (Tasnim News Agency) (E)

Interim Tehran Friday Prayer Leader Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Movahedi Kermani called on President Donald Trump to fulfill his pledges to “save the American people from poverty and depression, not interfere in the other countries’ affairs, and fight terrorism.” Kermani warned against “incorrectly recognizing terrorism,” however. He added that “those individuals who defend their lives, honor, and country are not terrorists.” He also stated:

• “Previous administrations squandered the U.S. budget with warmongering and arming butchers.”
• “You [Trump] are inheriting a poor and hungry country. You must separate your path from previous administrations and not repeat their mistakes.”
• “You must try to replace the incorrect culture of supporting the oppressors with a culture of serving the American people.”
• “Changing the angry and bullying nature of former officials will not be easy, but it is possible with work and effort.” (Fars News Agency)

The Critical Threats Project team explains the significance of Iran’s upcoming 2017 presidential election and tracks important electoral developments in “Iran Presidential Election Tracker: Updates and Analysis.”

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.”