Sanctions and Iran’s economy
- Iran will raise taxes and cut spending in response to declining oil prices, and the government will dip into its sovereign development fund to continue upstream construction, oil ministry said. (AFP, 11/15)
- Next OPEC ministerial meeting scheduled for 11/27. (OPEC)
- China is doubling investment in Iranian infrastructure projects, including in water, electricity, oil and gas sectors. (BBC, 11/16)
- Tehran Stock Exchange reached a five-month high due to “optimism” about nuclear deal. (Bloomberg, 11/11)
- Iran constructed a new gold processing facility that would double country’s production of gold. (AP, 11/15)
Iranian domestic politics
- Iran’s telecommunications minister said country will deploy “smart filtering” of websites to block content the government considers immoral or subversive. (AFP, 11/14)
- Fakhroddin Ahmadi Danesh-Ashtiani is President Hassan Rouhani’s latest nominee for minister of science, research and technology, position that oversees Iran’s universities. (Press TV, 11/11) Note: Rouhani’s previous nominees have been consistently rejected by hardliners in parliament.
- Tehran's former chief prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi was disbarred permanently from the judicial system following the death of three protestors. The protestors were tortured to death in police custody following the 2009 election protests. (Reuters, 11/16; AFP, 11/16)
- The Iranian military announced the creation of a new long-range radar system that can detect objects up to 2,500 km away. (Fars News, 11/11) Note: If range is accurate, the radar would cover entire Middle East, India, and parts of Eastern Europe.
US-Iran relations
- Senators Mark Kirk (Republican, Illinois) and Bob Menendez (Democrat, New Jersey) said they planned to “act decisively” with new sanctions legislation if Iran does not agree to “good deal.” (Reuters, 11/12)
- Iran Nuclear Negotiations Act would require up-or-down vote by Congress on Iran deal. If deal is voted down, act would institute sanctions, thereby overriding deal. (Politico, 11/11)
- Republican lawmakers attempted to call a vote last week, but Democrats rejected move. (Reuters, 11/13)
- Obama renewed declaration of “national emergency” with Iran. (White House, 11/12) Note: First declared by Jimmy Carter, the state of emergency provides the basis for executive orders and sanctions against Iran. It has been renewed annually for 35 years.
Geopolitics and Iran
- Russia’s nuclear power company Rosatom agreed to construct eight nuclear reactors in Iran in addition to reactor already built in Bushehr. Construction will begin with two new reactors at Bushehr site. (Financial Times, 11/11; Rosatom, 11/11)
- Rosatom: “The entire construction project of the nuclear power units in Iran, including equipment and nuclear fuel supplies, will be under the IAEA safeguards and fully meet the nuclear nonproliferation regime the same way as during construction of the first power unit of Bushehr NPP.”
- Rouhani visited Azerbaijan and met with President Ilham Aliyev. Rouhani said he hoped to find avenues of cooperation between neighbors: “Azerbaijan is a very good neighbor for the Islamic Republic of Iran and today, our relations are better than previous years.” (Press TV, 11/12) Note: Iran is deeply suspicious of its northern neighbor, both because of its close ties with Israel and the U.S. and because of near-existential concerns about Iran’s large Azeri population. Iran has close ties with Armenia, Azerbaijan’s Christian rival and neighbor.
Israel
- A Revolutionary Guard general said Iran provided Hizballah and Palestinian terrorist groups with Fateh-class missile systems. (Times of Israel, 11/12) Note: With range of 200km, Fateh missiles could hit every large city in Israel.
“Red lines,” “points of no return,” and military strikes
- No significant developments.
Uncertain or dubious claims