Iran News Round Up - March 7, 2017

Iranian news outlets reported that an S-300 surface-to-air (SAM) missile defense system detected and destroyed a ballistic missile and an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) during a test launch on March 5. Khatam ol Anbia Air Defense Base Commander Artesh Brig. Gen. Farzad Esmaili stressed that Iranian experts alone tested the system, and “no one else will have access to the manner of the operation” of the S-300. Russia delivered the S-300 system to Iran last year. (Press TV) (E) (Tasnim News Agency)

Judiciary Spokesman Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei stated that security forces “recently” detained an Iranian-American. Ejei did not specify the name of the individual, but stated that he had taken several million dollars from Iranian citizens attempting to immigrate.

• Ejei also confirmed that authorities arrested a “spy who had infiltrated the nuclear team.” Some sources have stated the individual is an Canadian-Iranian dual citizen. (Fars News Agency) (E)

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Hassan Rouhani, and Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to the Supreme Leader Ali Akbar Velayati met with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev in Tehran on March 5. Khamenei warned that Israel is attempting “to weaken the brotherly relations between Iran and Azerbaijan,” and stressed the importance of “safeguarding” Tehran and Baku’s “cordial ties.” Khamenei stated that Islam as the religion shared by the majority of Iranians and Azerbaijanis is a significant factor in the relationship between the two countries. Khamenei also stated, “It would be better and more expedient for the government of Azerbaijan to get along with the religious sentiments of [its] people, so that they would have no concern from the government about religious issues.” Both Khamenei and Aliyev described the economic ties between their two countries as unsatisfactory and expressed hope that they could be increased. (Leader.ir) (E) 

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghassemi stated, “I hope that the problems which exist” between Iran and Egypt “can be overcome, and that relations between the two countries improve… However, relations between the two countries is not unilateral, and… conditions must be set” in order for relations to be improved. Ghassemi stated that the two countries “have not had particular progress” improving mutual relations “in the current situation.”   

• Ghassemi also condemned the possible move of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as unacceptable and condemned” following U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis’s March 4-5 visit to Israel to explore the possibility of the embassy’s relocation. (Fars News Agency) (E) (IRNA) 

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghassemi reacted to the Bahraini government’s allegations that some individuals of a recently discovered, 54-member international terrorist cell were based in Iran and received training from the IRGC. Ghassemi stated that the Bahraini government is “incapable of resolving its internal problems or responding to the peaceful and civil demands of its citizens, and attributes the [Bahraini] people’s protests to Iran from time to time.”

• Ghassemi also discussed the upcoming trial of leading Bahraini Shia cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim, stating “I hope the Bahraini government acts wisely; the Iranian government will an appropriate response to this issue at the right time.” Several senior Iranian officials encouraged protests against the Bahraini government after it revoked Qassim’s citizenship in June 2016. (IRNA)
• Hossein Amir Abdollahian, international affairs advisor to Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, stated that countries like Britain “welcome” the Bahraini government’s repression of its people and “plays an insidious and unproductive role” in Bahrain. (Fars News Agency) (E) (IRNA) 

Defense Minister IRGC Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehghan stated, “If today the Persian Gulf littoral states want to buy security and spend lots of money to purchase equipment, they should know that this will not bring them security. It is even against their security.” He added that “security must be based upon the essence of the [Gulf] countries’ domestic capabilities.” (Fars News Agency) (E) (IRNA) 

Abd al Karim al Zubeidi was killed near the Seyyeda Zeinab Shrine in Damascus, Syria, on February 28. He was a photographer for Iraqi Shia militia Harakat Hezbollah al Nujaba. (Qasem Soleimani) (Tasnim News Agency) 

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated that “some people” in Iran have made the “mistake” of expressing the country’s “weakness in the economic field” during a speech to veterans on March 6. Khamenei warned that such expressions of Iran’s economic weakness have resulted in its enemies exerting economic pressure on the country. Khamenei stressed that Iran must “avoid expressing the feeling of weakness and exhibit the numerous strong points we have.” (Tasnim News Agency) (E)