Iran News Round Up - August 24, 2017

Fatemiyoun Brigade member Seyyed Zaman Hosseini was buried in Sabashar, Tehran province, on August 23. The 21 year-old Afghan fighter died in Syria. (IRIB) (Mehr News Agency)

Sistan and Baluchistan Province Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) Commander Brig. Gen. Mohammad Ghanbari announced that armed individuals attempted to enter a security forces office in the town of Sarbaz, southeastern Iran. Security forces were able to prevent the group’s entry into the building. The armed cell killed a member of the LEF and another official. ISNA did not provide the group’s militant affiliation. (ISNA)

The IRGC Hamzeh Seyyed ol Shohada Base public relations team denied Iranian involvement in joint military planning with Turkish forces for operations “outside of Iran’s borders” against the PKK. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed possible joint military action against Kurdish militant groups after a meeting with IRGC Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri last week. The Seyyed ol Shohada Base is located in northwestern Iran, near the Iran-Turkey border. (ISNA)

Newly appointed Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Amir Hatami signaled that he will continue his predecessor IRGC Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehghan’s “unconditional support” for the “Axis of Resistance,” IRGC Quds Force Commander Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the IRGC, the Artesh, Law Enforcement Forces, and Iran’s missile program during a meeting with top IRGC, Artesh, and Defense Ministry officials. (ISNA)

Qasr-e Shirin Border Guard Commander Col. Reza Almasi met with Iraqi counterpart Suleymaniyah Border Guard Commander Brig. Gen. Fakhreddin Abdollah Mohammad Saeed on August 23. Qasr-e Shirin in Kermanshah Province, western Iran, and Suleymaniyah, in Iraqi Kurdistan, are located either of the Iran-Iraq border. This meeting comes during a period of increased tension on the Iran-Iraq border ahead of the referendum on Iraqi Kurdistan’s independence on September 25. (IRNA) (E)

Hossein Shariatmadari, the managing editor of hardline conservative newspaper Kayhan, has criticized some reformists’ complaints regarding the composition of Rouhani’s new cabinet. Shariatmadari claimed that reformists shouldn’t complain because Rouhani included many reformists in his second-term cabinet. (Fars News Agency)

Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli stated that he will appoint a woman as Deputy Interior Minister during an interview with reformist newspaper Etemaad. Rahmani Fazli’s comments follow repeated complaints by parliamentarians regarding the absence of women from President Hassan Rouhani’s second-term cabinet. (Etemaad)

Expediency Discernment Council (EDC) Secretary Mohsen Rezaei announced that the EDC is restructuring its Strategic Research Center and bringing it under the purview of the EDC’s secretariat. Former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani established the Strategic Research Center as an independent think tank in 1988 and brought it under EDC control in 2007. The Strategic Research Center has had some independence despite being a governmental organization and has attracted the criticism of principlists for its relatively pro-Western outlook. (BBC Persian)

Members of Tehran City Council voted to appoint Mohsen Hashemi Rafsanjani, son of former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, as Tehran City Council head on August 23. Rafsanjani stressed the importance of transparency in the council and stated that future meetings of the council would take place as open sessions. Rafsanjani’s appointment follows the selection of reformist Mohammad Ali Najafi as Tehran mayor.  (ISNA) (Twitter)

Tehran Revolutionary Court head Mousa Ghazanfar Abadi blasted calls for the repeal of Green Movement leaders Mehdi Karroubi, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and Zahra Rahnavard’s house arrest in remarks on August 23. Ghazanfar Abadi said that talk of the repeal was “foreigners’ talk” and “not the talk of regime sympathizers.” He added that the Green Movement leaders’ house arrest was designed to “watch over” them and that critics’ complaints result from them being “ill-informed.” Karroubi, Mousavi, and Rahnavard have been under house arrest since 2011. (Radio Farda)

• Basij Organization Commander IRGC Brig. Gen. Gholam Hossein Gheibparvar stated on August 23 that the 2009 Green Movement “sacrificed some of the attributes of the Revolution and brought it to a state where nothing was left [of it].” He added that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s response to the Green Movement “helped the Revolution.” (Mehr News Agency)

Reformist-backed Omid parliamentary faction deputy leader Mohammad Reza Tabesh stated that the faction would “investigate” faction members’ votes against the faction line at President Hassan Rouhani’s second-term cabinet confirmation. Omid was unable to block the appointment of former Intelligence Ministry official Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi as Minister of Information and Communication Technology. Reformist groups have accused Jahromi of investigating and interrogating Green Movement members during his tenure at the Intelligence Ministry. Jahromi’s appointment passed by a narrow 152-120 votes. Omid was also unable to secure the appointment of proposed reformist Energy Minister Habibollah Bitaraf. Parliament rejected Bitaraf’s appointment with a vote of 133 in favor and 132 opposed. (ISNA)

• Popular Party of Reforms head Mohammad Zare Foumani criticized Omid’s internal divisions in remarks on August 23. Foumani stated that Omid “has acted poorly once again and done great damage.” He added that the faction’s behavior “played with the dignity” of the reformist bloc as a whole. (Fars News Agency)
• Reformist Neda party council head Majid Farahani referred to Omid as “fragile and uncoordinated.” Farahani stated that Bitaraf’s rejection was “apolitical” and added that he did not believe “Parliament is as politicized and factional” as is thought. (Mehr News Agency)

Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Jaberi Ansari met with Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon on August 22. The two parties reportedly discussed bilateral and regional affairs. Jaberi Ansari also met separately with a group of Lebanese parliamentarians. Jabari Ansari had previously met with Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil and President Michel Aoun on August 21.  (ISNA) (Mehr News Agency)

Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli stressed Iran’s ability to play a greater role in Afghanistan’s development at a celebration of Afghan Independence Day on August 21. Rahmani Fazli stated that Iran has “dedicated almost $500m to the reconstruction of Afghanistan in the past decade and is prepared to play a more serious role in the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan alongside regional [partners] and the international community in the future.” (Mehr News Agency)

 Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI) head Ali Akbar Salehi reiterated Hassan Rouhani’s comments that if the U.S. scrapped the nuclear deal, Iran could recommence enriching uranium at 20 percent “within five days” if it wished. Uranium enriched to 20 percent can then be processed more quickly to weapons-grade material. Salehi called this ability to recommence enriching uranium to 20 percent “very significant,” and stated that “from a technical and professional perspective this sends various messages, which the other side will understand.” The nuclear deal limits Iran to uranium enrichment at very low levels (under 5 percent). Some Western outlets initially misreported that Salehi stated that Iran would have enough enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon within five days. (Tasnim News Agency)

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif protested U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley’s visit to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in a letter to the IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano. Haley has stated that one purpose of her visit was to ask whether the IAEA is inspecting Iranian military facilities.  Zarif stressed that the meeting is likely to have negative repercussions for “the credibility of the IAEA… and the successful implementation of the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action].” Zarif added that the visit was “another example of [bad faith] on the part of the U.S. government.” Iranian officials have repeatedly stressed that they will not allow American inspections of military bases. The JCPOA permits the IAEA to request access to military sites under certain conditions. (Twitter)

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced that Iran and Saudi Arabia will conduct reciprocal diplomatic visits after the end of the Hajj pilgrimage period (late August-early September). Zarif stressed that the two sides have conducted “no direct negotiations” on the reestablishment of diplomatic relations. Iran and Saudi Arabia have had no diplomatic relations since the 2016 ransacking of the Saudi embassy in Tehran in response to the execution of prominent Shia cleric Nimr al Nimr. (Radio Farda)