Iran News Round Up - January 30, 2018

2017 hardline presidential candidate and Astan Quds Razavi Foundation Head Hojjat ol Eslam Ebrahim Raisi met with Lebanese Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah and Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammad Fathali on January 28 during a visit to Beirut, Lebanon. Raisi also met with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Supreme Shia Council Deputy Chairman Sheikh Abdul Amir Ghabalan on January 27. Prior to his visit to Beirut, Raisi traveled to Damascus, Syria, and met with Ayatollah Abolfazl Tabatabaei, the Supreme Leader’s Representative to the Syria. (IRNA) (IRIB) (Twitter) (E)

Foreign Ministry Senior Advisor for Special Political Affairs Hossein Jaberi Ansari met with Syrian President Bashar al Assad during a visit to Damascus, Syria on January 27. The two discussed Turkey’s recently-launched Operation Olive Branch against the U.S.-backed Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Afrin, Aleppo Governorate, Syria. IRNA reported that the two discussed how to confront Turkey’s “aggression” and prevent its “occupational goals.” IRNA also noted that the two sides accused Turkey of “supporting terrorist groups” in Syria. (IRNA)

• Ansari travels to Sochi to participate in Syrian National Dialogue Congress. Ansari traveled to Sochi, Russia on January 29 to participate in the Syrian National Dialogue Congress, which Iran, Russia, and Turkey are hosting. Ansari met with Russian Special Presidential Envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev in Sochi prior to the beginning on the talks. (Mehr News Agency) (IRNA) (E)

Reformist Parliamentarian Mahmoud Sadeghi said that the acquittal of Quran teacher Said Tousi on child sexual abuse charges is due to the “support of those who have infiltrated the Supreme Leader’s inner circle.” Tousi was accused of sexually abusing 19 of his students but was acquitted by the Tehran Court of Appeals on January 27. Neither Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei nor Judiciary Head Ayatollah Sadegh Amoli Larijani have issued statements regarding the acquittal. (Radio Farda) (VOA)

Parliament voted on January 29 to reject President Hassan Rouhani’s budget proposal, with 83 in favor, 120 against, and 13 abstentions. Seventy-four parliamentarians were not present for the vote, likely due to the inclement weather in Tehran. This is the first time in the Islamic Republic’s history that the Parliament has rejected the general outlines of a proposed budget. Parliamentarians Nader Ghazipour, Economic Commission Head Ali Akbar Karimi, and Mohammad Hossein Hossein Zadeh Bahraini highlighted the bill’s failure to address unemployment and reliance on energy and state-issued bonds for provincial revenue, and condemned the budget’s proposed increase in fuel prices and slashing of subsidies. The Budget Compilation Committee has three days to propose amendments. Parliament will then review the amended bill. Budget Compilation Committee Spokesman Ali Asghar Yousef Nejad stated that one of the committee’s proposed amendments is to require the government to pay billions in social security payments in response to allegations that the government has failed to make social security payments to citizens. (Radio Farda) (E)  (IRIB) (Donya-e Eqtesad) (YJC)

Marie Donovan discusses the political background of Iran’s newly-sanctioned Judiciary Head Sadegh Amoli Larijani in, “Why Did the U.S. Sanction Iran’s Sadegh Amoli Larijani?”

Mike Saidi demonstrates how the recent protests highlighted weaknesses in the readiness of Iranian security forces in a dataset using videos submitted by Iranian protesters. View the dataset here and the graphics here.

Marie Donovan argues that Iran’s hardliners are undermining the regime’s best chance at improving Iran’s economy in the long run in, “Iran’s Hardliners Can Leverage the Post-Protest Space.”