“Conspiracy theories are the life-blood of the Islamic Republic.” A helpful statement by a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relationsm, partly explaining why Iran acts as it does, and refuses to join a fact-based perspective upon which most modern-day states are based. Part of it is theological but it is mainly political and criminal, and blames others for Regime problems and adopts a martyr complex. “Explaining Iran’s coronavirus cataclysm,” Ray Takeyh, New York Daily News, April 23, 2020.
“President Rouhani Opens Iran’s Largest Aluminum Plant,” Tasnim News, April 23, 2020.
IRGC Gen. Salami is the person who announced and displayed Iran’s “coronavirus detector” at 100 feet. Maybe he can use it in the Persian Gulf to figure out where U.S. Navy ships and submarines and spec-ops are. And Air Force assets. Salami said today, “We have ordered our naval units at sea that if any warships or military units from the naval force of America’s terrorist army wants to jeopardize our commercial vessels or our combat vessels, they must target those (American) warships or naval units.” See “Iran Guard commander threatens US Navy after Trump tweet,” Nasser Karimi and Jon Gambrell, AP, ABC, April 23, 2020.
“Venezuela turns to Iran for a hand restarting its gas pumps,” Scott Smith and Joshua Goodman, AP, April 23, 2020.
Amir Ali Hajizadeh. That’s his name. He may not be long for this world. The USG said the Iranian military satellite launch was overseen by a high-ranking commander involved in past attacks on American targets, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the IRGC Aerospace Force, at a site in eastern Iran. He was behind the downing of a U.S. military drone in the Gulf last June, a missile attack on U.S. service members in Iraq in January, and the downing of a Ukrainian Airlines flight near Tehran the same month. Reuters and other media are reporting that the space shot was from “a rapid deployment, mobile launch system, which is inconsistent with any civilian application,” the administration official said. “This was a space launch conducted by the Iranian military for military purposes,” the official said. See “Iranian satellite launch inconsistent with civilian uses: U.S. official,” Steve Holland, Reuters, April 23, 2020.
This article is helpful for explaining again why U.S. sanctions are not preventing Iran from using its sovereign wealth fund to provide the billions needed for coronavirus response to its public. “Iran Hawks Push Trump Against Coronavirus Aid For Iran,” Matthew Petti, National Interest, April 23, 2020.