Iran News Round Up - February 6, 2017

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghassemi denied that Iran has had “any interference in Yemen.” Further, Ghassemi stated that Iran has “not given any weapons to Yemeni fighters” despite reports that Iranian weapon shipments to the Houthi rebels have recently increased. Ghassemi also called the United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed al Nayahan’s claims that Iran is intervening in the domestic affairs of Arab countries as “baseless.” (Fars News Agency) (Fars News Agency)

• Ghassemi called President Donald Trump’s recent remarks on Iran “hostile” and “threatening.” He continued, “Of course, this is nothing new and we are not too much concerned... I still believe that we should be patient and not make hasty judgements. We should wait and see how the U.S. government will take measures towards its domestic issues as well as international affairs.” Ghassemi also claimed that Iran’s recent ballistic missile test was not meant as a signal to the Trump administration. Ghassemi also stated that “there is no need to test Mr. Trump” after Vice President Mike Pence warned Iran “not to test the resolve” of the Trump administration on February 5. (Mehr News Agency) (E)

Hojjat ol Eslam Mojtaba Zolnour, the conservative head of the Nuclear Committee in Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, stated that the recent U.S. sanctions are just cause for Iran to “halt the implementation” of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.  Zolnour cited the following section of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s October 2015 letter addressed to President Hassan Rouhani approving the implementation of the deal: “any imposition of any type of sanctions, at any level or under any pretext (such as the repeated and fabricated pretext of terrorism and human rights) by any of the countries involved in the negotiations will be considered a violation of the JCPOA.” (Mehr News Agency)

Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani stated that while Iran is committed to pursuing a political solution to the crisis in Syria, it believes in a “military solution only against groups that are unwilling to abandon their weapons” during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Special Representative to Syria Alexander Lavrentyev on February 5. Shamkhani hailed the Astana talks on the Syrian crisis as a “successful approach that can be used as model to end regional crises.”  (Fars News Agency)

Foreign Policy Advisor to the Supreme Leader Ali Akbar Velayati stated that Iran’s “presence in Iraq is at the legal and legitimate request of that country” during a meeting with Special Representative of the UN Secretary General to Iraq Ján Kubiš on February 5. Velayati warned against “any movement that fuels Iraq’s partition among various groups within the country, including the Kurds, the Shia, and the Sunni.” Velayati praised the importance of the “democratic experience” in Iraq and stressed that Iran “strongly supports the legitimate government [of Iraq]... and will work towards the establishment of stability and democracy in that country.” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also met separately with Kubiš. (Tasnim News Agency) (Fars News Agency)  

Defense Minister IRGC Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehghan stated that Iran’s production of weapons and other military equipment has increased by “69% in the past three years” during a ceremony unveiling production lines for five different weapons, including the Fajr-5 rocket. (Fars News Agency) (E)

The IRGC Air Force kicked off the “Defenders of the Velayat Skies” exercises in the northern province of Semnan on February 4. The exercises featured a number of different missile and radar systems, including the Khordad III, Tabas, and Seyyed II missile systems. Each of the three missile systems reportedly has a range of 60-75 km. The drill was designed to simulate enemy aerial attacks on unnamed “sensitive sites.” (Fars News Agency) (E) (Tasnim News Agency) (E)  

• IRGC Air Force Commander Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh referred to “U.S. officials’ threats against Iran” and stated, “With the knowledge I have of the abilities of the Iranian armed forces and of ourselves, I can declare confidently that foreign threats against [Iran] do not work.” (Tasnim News Agency)

Paul Bucala and Institute for the Study of War Syria Analyst Genevieve Casagrande discuss the knowledge-transfer from Russia to Iran in Syria in “How Iran is Learning from Russia in Syria.”

Paul Bucala analyzes Iran’s military footprint in Syria in “Iran’s New Way of War in Syria.”