Iran News Round Up - July 18, 2017

BGF Retail Co., operator of South Korea’s largest convenience store chain CU, signed a master franchise deal with Iranian home appliance firm Entekhab Investment Development Group on July 14. (Radio Farda)

IRGC Public Affairs Head Brig. Gen. 2C Ramezan Sharif argued that attacks against the IRGC “were mainly in the political and military field” historically. He stated that the nature of these attacks have changed in the present time, and claimed that some have launched “campaigns against the IRGC’s activities in the construction field” because of “the IRGC’s deterrent power and defense authority that both friends and foes acknowledge.” (Fars News Agency)

President Hassan Rouhani’s brother and advisor Hossein Fereydoun was arrested and imprisoned on July 16 on “financial charges” after reportedly failing to secure bail. The General Inspection Organization (GIO) reportedly accused Fereydoun of financial violations last year. The GIO is linked to the Judiciary and charged with the supervision of executive bodies, individuals, and the military as well as other Iranian state interests, particularly those that are financially linked to the government. (BBC Persian)

• Fereydoun transferred to hospital. Iranian media outlets announced on July 17 that Fereydoun was unable to continue being questioned and was transferred by ambulance to a hospital. Details of Fereydoun’s condition have not been made public. (Radio Farda)

President Hassan Rouhani highlighted the importance of reformists’ cooperation with the government in a meeting with senior reformist Parliamentarian Mohammad Reza Aref and members of the Reformists’ Supreme Policy-making Council on July 15. Rouhani stated, “I hope we can introduce a more efficient state to the people and to the Parliament, and that we can continue to enjoy mutual cooperation with reformists in all fields.” (ISNA)

Iranian and Russian naval forces conducted a joint exercise in the Caspian Sea on July 15. The exercise marked the final day of the Russia’s Makhachkala flotilla’s visit to the Iranian port of Anzali following its arrival on July 13. (Tasnim News Agency)

The IRGC issued a statement claiming that “terrorists” based in Pakistan and associated with foreign intelligence services fired projectiles at Saravan, in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan, killing two local Iranian workers. The statement claimed that IRGC Quds Base members killed “one of the terrorists” and wounded two others. The statement did not indicate the group’s militant affiliation. (Press TV) (E) (Radio Farda)

Military Advisor to the Supreme Leader IRGC Maj. Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi emphasized the need for the Iranian military to reinforce itself in the country’s east in remarks to commanders at IRGC Samen ol Aemeh Base in Mashhad on July 16. Safavi stated that “America’s power is waning and from 2025 onwards the [balance of] power in the world will move from west to east.” He added that “the reinforcement of IRGC Ground Forces in the eastern border regions is for [the provision of] stability and lasting security in the region.” (Tasnim News Agency)

• Dehghan: Iran has “the domestic capability to build a warplane.” Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission member Hossein Naghavi Hosseini stated that Defense Minister IRGC Maj. Gen. Hossein Dehghan noted, “We have the domestic capability to build a warplane” during a meeting with the commission on July 16. Dehghan did not elaborate on the capability or type of plane. Dehghan praised Iran’s defense-related technological advancements in different fields, and claimed that Iran has “worked on a variety of planes.” (Mehr News Agency)

Iran’s Ambassador to Kuwait Ali Reza Enayati emphasized that Iran has remained neutral in the recent diplomatic crisis between Qatar and some Arab countries. Enayati added that Iran’s assistance to Qatar is “humanitarian” and that “the efforts and mediation of the Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al Ahmad al Jabir al Sabah will be sufficiently fruitful to resolve this crisis.” When asked on whether Iranian forces participated in the liberation of Mosul, Enayati stated that “Iran only had an advisory role and no field presence.” (ISNA)

Conservative chairman of Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi stated that the U.S. and its allies are “the main losers of the campaign” to liberate the city of Mosul from ISIS. The senior MP further claimed the U.S. and its allies had plotted to disintegrate Iraq in order to use ISIS presence in Iraq to advance their policies. Boroujerdi added that the recapture was “the biggest step taken over the past years” in efforts to uproot terrorism in Iraq. (ISNA)

Judiciary Spokesman Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei announced on July 16 that Iran had sentenced a U.S. citizen to 10 years in prison on charges of espionage. The U.S. citizen in question is likely Xiyue Wang, although Ejei did not mention him by name. Wang is a Princeton University doctoral student who was conducting research in Iran when he was arrested approximately a year ago. Ejei claimed that the U.S. citizen in question “was directly guided by America” with the intention of “gathering documents.” (BBC Persian) (New York Times)

Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Secretary Ali Shamkhani criticized the upcoming referendum on the independence of Iraqi Kurdistan in remarks on July 17. Shamkhani stated that the referendum would cause “isolation and pressure for Iraq’s Kurds and the weakening of Kurdistan, and ultimately, the whole of Iraq.” He added that Iran’s wish “for the people, parties and groups of northern Iraq is security, economic development, and welfare.”  Shamkhani noted that providing these is “an important obstacle in the process of the activities and growth of terrorist groups.” (Fars News Agency)

• Shamkhani meets Lavrentiev. Shamkhani also met with Russia’s Special Envoy to Syria Aleksandr Lavrentiev on Syria on July 15. Shamkhani stated that “no agreement… should lay the foundation for the partition of Syria.” He added that certain “terrorist groups” had taken the opportunity of the recent ceasefire to reinforce and noted that “experience has proven that these [groups] have never abided by any agreement, and that they will use any opportunity for the killing of innocent people and the pursuit of their inhuman goals.” (Fars News Agency)
• Iraq’s Ambassador to Tehran: Kurdistan referendum is “illegal.” Iraq’s ambassador to Tehran Rajeh Saber Abboud al-Moussavi stated that “a move by the Kurdistan Region to hold a referendum and declare independence is unlawful and against the Iraqi constitution.” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghassemi previously stated that Iran insists on preserving “the unity and territorial integrity of Iraq.” (ISNA)

Armed Forces General Staff Chief IRGC Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri stated that the U.S.’s designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organization and the expansion of sanctions against the IRGC “pose a big risk for Americans, and their bases and forces in the region” in remarks at the IRGC Ground Forces Commanders’ Conference on July 17. Bagheri turned to the nature of Iranian missile capabilities and stressed that “[Iran’s] missile force is defensive and will never… be up for negotiation.” (Radio Farda)

• Bagheri: Kurdistan referendum “unacceptable.” Bagheri also criticized the upcoming referendum on Kurdish independence on September 25. Bagheri emphasized that the referendum “has never been acceptable for Iraq’s neighbors. The safeguarding of Iraq’s independence and unity is in the interests of all peoples, religions, and different regions of that country.” Bagheri added that “Iran’s advice, both for Iraq and other conflicts around the Persian Gulf, is understanding and discourse [rather than]... violence and schism.” He noted that further conflict may attract the intervention of foreign powers but emphasized that the states in the region “have the capacity to solve difficulties and disagreements” on their own. (ABNA)