Iran News Round Up - November 9, 2017

Artesh Commander Maj. Gen. Abdol Rahim Mousavi appointed RADM 2C Touraj Hassani Moghaddam as Deputy Artesh Navy Commander and RADM 2C Hamzeh Ali Kaviani as Artesh Navy Coordination Deputy. The previous deputy commander and coordination deputy were RADM 2C Jafari Tehrani and RADM 2C Gholamreza Khadem Bigham. Moghaddam and Kaviani’s appointments are the latest in a series of promotions in the Artesh Navy following Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s appointment of former Artesh Navy Commander RADM Habibollah Sayyari as Artesh Coordination Deputy and RADM Hossein Khanzadi as the new Artesh Navy Commander. (Defa Press)

• Mousavi appoints Pourdastan as head of the Artesh Strategic Studies Center. Artesh Commander Maj. Gen. Abdol Rahim Mousavi appointed former Artesh Deputy Commander Brig. Gen. Ahmad Reza Pourdastan as head of the Artesh Strategic Studies Center, replacing Artesh Brig. Gen. 2C Agha Mohammadi. Pourdastan served as Artesh Deputy Commander for only a year. Senior Iranian officials have not commented on the reason for Pourdastan’s reassignment. (Defa Press) (ISNA) (Tasnim News Agency)

French President Emmanuel Macron accused Iran of involvement in the ballistic missile strike launched by al Houthi-Saleh forces toward Riyadh during a news conference in Dubai on November 9. Macron stated that the missile was “obviously” Iranian-made and highlighted the need for negotiations “with sanctions if needed” to address Iran’s ballistic missile program. Macron also reaffirmed his support for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) stating that the abolition of the agreement “would lead to either immediate war” or a “North Korean-situation.” Macron announced that he intends to visit Iran in the future as a part of his efforts to talk with all of the regional actors. Macron made a surprise visit to Saudi Arabia to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman on November 9 following his trip to the United Arab Emirates. (Radio Farda) (E)

The Tehran Prosecutor’s Office suspended hardline newspaper Kayhan for two days. Kayhan published the controversial headline, “Houthi missile strike targeting Riyadh, next [target] Dubai” on November 5 following the al Houthi-Saleh launching of a ballistic missile targeting Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on November 4. The Iranian Press Supervisory Board then issued a warning to the newspaper citing that the article was in violation of national security interests. Kayhan failed to heed the warning and published another controversial front page article the following day with the title, “National interests are [about] protecting Yemen’s oppressed not worrying about Dubai’s skyscrapers.” The Tehran Prosecutor’s Office then issued a temporary suspension of Kayhan on the basis of a second complaint from the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), charging the conservative newspaper for violating “national interests and security.” Kayhan will not be permitted to publish from November 11-12. Parliamentary National Security and Foreign Policy (NSFP) Committee spokesman Hossein Naghavi Hosseini criticized the suspension, noting that the suspension is contradictory to President Hassan Rouhani’s slogans of free speech. (Radio Farda) (Raja News) (Alef) (Asriran) (Fars News Agency)

Marie Donovan breaks down why a new strategy for dealing with Iran’s destabilizing behavior is necessary in “America needs a new strategy to deter Iran’s destabilizing behavior.”

Fred Kagan clarifies common points of confusion regarding the Trump administration’s decision on the nuclear deal in “Confusion over the Iran deal.”