“Iranian Drones Become Latest Proxy Tool in Sudan’s Civil War,” Bloomberg, 1-24-24. This follows the recent story about Iran recognizing South Sudan. Iran isn’t acting with clean hands.
This is a telling set of stories about lack of accountability and who gets the power in Iran. There aren’t very many “moderates” in at the highest levels of Iranian authority. But there are types of political Shia conservatives. Rouhani is not seen as a hardliner because he was willing to (secretly at first) negotiate with the U.S. But here he is being kept out of future discussions and who can run for the legislature. “Iran bans ex-president Rouhani from running for elite assembly,” Reuters, January 24, 2024. “Iran’s hardline Guardian Council has banned former pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani from standing again in an election in March for the Assembly of Experts, which appoints and can dismiss the supreme leader, state media said on Wednesday. The 88-member assembly, founded in 1982, supervises the most powerful authority but has rarely intervened directly in policy-making. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is 84, so the new assembly is expected to play a significant role in choosing his successor since its members are only elected every eight years. Close to moderates, Rouhani was elected president in a landslide in 2013 and 2017 on a promise to reduce Iran’s diplomatic isolation. But the mid-ranking cleric angered political hardliners who opposed any rapprochement with the U.S. “Great Satan” after reaching a 2015 nuclear pact with six major powers. The deal unravelled in 2018 when then-U.S. President Donald Trump ditched the agreement and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy. Efforts to revive the pact have failed. “There was no reason given for the Guardian Council’s decision,” a source close to Rouhani told Reuters, adding that “no decision has been made yet for an appeal” as Rouhani has three days to object. “Rouhani has been a member of the assembly since 1999 for three terms … It will be interesting to see what the reason for his disqualification was.” The 12-member Guardian Council, which oversees elections and legislation, disqualified 80% of candidates running for the assembly in its last election in 2016. Moderate politicians have accused the Guardian Council of disqualifying rivals, and said that excluding candidates from the race undermines the vote’s legitimacy. A low turnout for the upcoming elections is expected, with Rouhani saying last week that the majority of people do not want to vote and that this will favour the ruling minority which relies on low turnout. With Rouhani’s disqualification, the Guardian Council had made it clear that hardliners intended to keep moderates away from the assembly, a pro-reform insider said. The Guardian Council has also disqualified hundreds of hopefuls running for the parliamentary election also to be held on March 1. State media reported that only 30 mid-ranking moderate candidates have been qualified to stand for the 290-seat parliament. Around 12,000 hopefuls will run for parliament, state media reported.”
“Iranian leader heads to Turkey to talk Gaza war with Erdogan,” Times of Israel, 1-24-24. The Regime wants Turkey to cut trade and relations with Israel.
“Deciphering the shadow war between Iran, Israel,” Hindustan Times, 1-24-24.
“US Navy shoots down missiles targeting American cargo ship,” USA Today, 1-24-24.
“U.S. Issues $15 Million Bounty Targeting Alleged Iran Drone Middleman,” WSJ, 1-24-24.
“Turkey, Iran agree on need for regional stability amid Israel’s war on Gaza,” Al Jazeera, 1-24-24.
“Iran drones become latest proxy tool in Sudan’s civil war,” Al Arabiya, 1-24-24.
“Iran’s State TV Aims For Hefty Election Campaign Profits,” Iran International, 1-24-24.