Iran News Round Up - February 17, 2017

Iranian media circulated pictures of IRGC Quds Force Commander Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani participating in a memorial ceremony in Tehran on February 16 for IRGC Quds Force member Brig. Gen. Hassan Shateri. Shateri was assassinated in Syria on February 13, 2013. (Defa Press)

 Mashhad Friday Prayer Leader Ayatollah Ahmad Alam ol Hoda discussed the “national reconciliation” initiative during his sermon on February 17. Alam ol Hoda pointed to the turnout at recent rallies marking the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution as evidence that Iran does not need “national reconciliation.” (Aftab News)

Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi stated that Iran Air has finalized a deal to buy 20 aircraft from French-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR. The deal would be worth a reported $571 million. (Mehr News Agency) (E)

Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia and Pacific Affairs Ebrahim Rahimpour expressed Iran’s readiness to assist with the peace process in Afghanistan during a conference on Afghanistan in Moscow. The conference included representatives from Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, India, and Russia. (Fars News Agency)

 Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Spokesman Hossein Naghavi Hosseini noted that Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araghchi stated, “If [President Donald] Trump had come before the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action], we would have had serious problems. Before the JCPOA, there was an international consensus against us; but now, there is an international consensus in favor of Iran and in support of the JCPOA… If it were not for the JCPOA, the American president [Donald Trump] would have many tools with which to confront the Islamic Republic.” Araghchi made the statements during a February 15 meeting with Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission to discuss the Foreign Ministry’s fourth quarterly report on the deal’s implementation. (ISNA) 

Interim Tehran Friday Prayer Leader Ayatollah Kazem Sedighi discussed recent events in Bahrain and the reformist-led initiative for “national reconciliation” in Iran during his sermon on February 17.

• On Bahrain: Sedighi stressed that the “people of Bahrain want a vote and independence, and reject tyranny. They will certainly succeed.” Sedighi addressed the Bahraini government, stating: “Failure awaits you; your destruction is near.”
• On “national reconciliation”: Sedighi reiterated Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s statement that there is no need for “national reconciliation” in Iran because the people are already united. Sedighi criticized the organizers of the “national reconciliation” initiative, which include political prisoners connected to the 2009 Green Movement, and stated: “they did not accept the essence of [Iran’s] political system, chanted slogans of “Neither Gaza nor Lebanon,” insulted Islam and the Islamic Revolution, and “now they come and say, ‘national reconciliation’! The people will never be reconciled with you.”  (Fars News Agency)

Matt McInnis discusses the evolution of Iran’s military doctrine in his latest report, “Iranian concepts of warfare: Understanding Tehran’s evolving military doctrines.”

Fred Kagan argues that the U.S. cannot use Russia to contain Iran in Syria and throughout the Middle East in “Pitting Russia against Iran? Get over it.”

The Critical Threats Project is pleased to announce the launch of its new website to make its factual analysis of ongoing conflicts, prescient warnings about future threats, and recommendations of informed policy solutions more accessible.