Iran News Round Up - March 9, 2018

IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh said Iran’s missile production has increased threefold during a speech in Tehran on March 6. Hajizadeh did not specify the time frame in which Iran’s missile production has increased. Hajizadeh criticized the French government for permitting “seditious” groups to operate in France. Hajizadeh’s comments were in reference to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an anti-regime Iranian expatriate organization headquartered in Paris. These statements follow French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian’s visit to Tehran to discuss the nuclear deal and Iran’s ballistic missile program with senior Iranian officials. (Fars News Agency) (Reuters) (E)

Hardline former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad argued that both reformist and conservative politicians are part of the same “closed circle” in a written statement on his official website on March 7. Ahmadinejad accused the “closed circle” of “forming a superior class [by which] they take advantage of special privileges and higher salaries with their hegemony over centers of power and wealth.” He also accused both sides of the political spectrum of “maintaining the status quo and safeguarding an order that gives them a limitless and special opportunity to take advantage of power and wealth.” Ahmadinejad stated that the regime opposes any change that benefits the people and warned that Iranians will soon put an end to this “closed circle.” Ahmadinejad continued his criticism of regime officials in a speech on March 9 where he stated that “freedom should not be monopolized by a [limited] few,” in reference to regime leadership. Ahmadinejad has been challenging the Supreme Leader’s authority since his fall-out with Khamenei in 2012-13. Ahmadinejad has increased his public criticism of the regime over the last year and has called for system reform and changes to current leadership. (Dolat-e Bahar) (Dolat-e Bahar)

Tehran Interim Friday Prayer Leader Hojjat ol Eslam Kazem Sedighi criticized French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian’s March 5 visit to Iran to discuss the nuclear deal and Iran’s regional behavior. Sedighi noted that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has stated that “our region has nothing to do with [France].” Sedighi stated that Iran will not allow any foreign country to interfere in Iran’s relations with its neighbors. Zanjan Friday Prayer Leader Ayatollah Ali Khatami stated that Iran should be thankful to Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif for how Zarif handled Le Drian’s disrespectful behavior. European signatories of the deal and the U.S. have increased international pressure on Iran to curb its destabilizing regional behavior and ballistic missile program. Iran has repeatedly refused to negotiate on its ballistic missile program. (ISNA) (ISNA) (Mehr News Agency)

Reports on social media noted that Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) arrested more than 80 peaceful protesters during an International Women’s Day protest outside of the Labor Ministry in Tehran on March 8. Detained protesters’ family members gathered in front of the detention center on the evening of March 8.  Reports claim that Tehran LEF released many of the protesters on March 9 but many still remain in detention. The protest on International Women’s Day is part of a broader network of women’s rights protests that have emerged in Iran. Demonstrators have protested both the mandatory hijab as well as the banning of women at major sporting events. (Radio Farda) (Telegram)

Marie Donovan lays out how Ahmadinejad’s recent behavior can pose a problem for regime officials in, “Iran’s Ex-president Ahmadinejad Raises the Stakes Against the Political Establishment.”