Sunday, March 10, 2013

Weekly Iranian Foreign Policy News Digest


Iran’s most notable foreign policy developments over the past week were as follows:

  • Khamenei on Iran-P5+1 nuclear talks and sanctions; In an annual meeting with the members of the Assembly of Experts (an elected clerical body which has the power to appoint and dismiss the supreme leader) on Thursday, March 7,  Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei downplayed the apparently shifting Western approach to Iran’s nuclear issue in the recent Almaty talks, describing it as “merely a slight acknowledgement of part of Iran’s rights”  and far short of being referred to as a concession. Noting the West’s track record of reneging on its promises toward Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei stated that Western sincerity on Iran’s nuclear issue remains to be tested in the upcoming talks. On another note, Ayatollah Khamenei acknowledged that Iran’s economic woes are in part due to Western economic sanctions and partly are the consequences of particular domestic economic policies and management.  Khamenei, however, characterized Iran’s economic problems as manageable and ironically as opportunities for home-grown development, innovation and self-reliance. 
  • Public condemnation of terrorist attacks against Pakistani Shi'ites builds up in Iran;  Iranian seminary students and clerics held public protests on Saturday , March 9,  in the holy city of Qom and other cities, including Tehran, against the escalation of terrorist attacks against Shiites in Pakistan. In a related development, the head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Iranian Parliament, Allaeddin Boroujerdi, also called for serious action by the Pakistani Intelligence Service to put an end to the continuing violence against Shiites in Pakistan.  Boroujerdi  also called on the UN Security Council to take action on the terrorist attacks against Shiites in Pakistan. On Sunday, March 10, Iran’s parliament speaker Ali Larijani also lent his weight to the public condemnation of terrorist attacks against Shiites in Pakistan and called on the Pakistani government to take necessary actions to end the escalating sectarian bloodshed in Pakistan.
  • Iran mourns the demise of anti-imperialist Chavez; The Iranian cabinet declared a national day of mourning on Wednesday, March 6, on the occasion of the demise of the anti-imperialist Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. The Iranian president Mahmood Ahmadinejad eulogized Chavez as a martyred champion of freedom and justice in the world and a bastion of resistance against world imperialism. President Ahmadinejad attended the funeral ceremony of Chavez held in Caracas. The late Venezuelan president had paid several visits to Iran during the tenures of both former president Mohammad Khatami as well as the current president Mahmood Ahmadinejad and had nurtured close ties between the two countries.

     

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Weekly Iranian Foreign Policy News Digest


  • Iran-P5+1 nuclear talk held; Almaty, Kazakhstan; Iranian and the P5+1 nuclear negotiators rapped up their latest round of talks on Feb 27, 2013 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. In an official communique, Iranian  negotiating officials expressed cautiously optimistic sentiments toward the latest round of nuclear talks between the P5+1 and Iran, characterizing the new Western approach to Iran’s nuclear issue as relatively more realistic and closer to Iran’s core negotiating positions. Iranian negotiating officials, however, acknowledged that there is still a wide gap to be bridged between the positions of the two sides. Western officials sounded less upbeat about the results of the Almaty talks.  The two sides, however, have agreed to resume their talks at the level of chief nuclear negotiators next April in Almaty while their technical experts are scheduled to meet earlier on March 18 in Istanbul to prepare the grounds for their upcoming talks.
  • Food stamps back in Iran; Tehran;  The Iranian parliament approved a bill on Tuesday, Feb 26, requiring the government to supply essential commodities and food products, including rice, cooking oil and meat, to low-income Iranian families on a quarterly basis. This measure, which is reminiscent of more statist economic policies prevalent in Iran during the 1980s is meant to ensure food security for vulnerable segments of the Iranian society in the face of rising inflation.
  • Larijani visits India; New Delhi; Iran’s parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, paid a five-day visit to India, (spanning Feb 25-March1) at the invitation of his Indian counterpart Meira Kumar, seeking the expansion of economic and political ties between Iran and India on both bilateral and multilateral issues. During his five-day visit, Larijani was accompanied by Iranian economic officials including the head of Iran’s chamber of commerce. Prior to his arrival at the Indian capital New Delhi, Larijani held meetings with Indian investors and commercial officials in Mumbai.
  • Pakistani president visits Tehran; Tehran; Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari paid a two-day visit to Tehran holding meetings with his Iranian counterpart Mahmood Ahmadinejad and Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. High Iranian and Pakistani officials reportedly discussed the expansion of their mutual political and economic ties, including the implementation of the so-called Peace Pipeline Project exporting Iranian natural gas to Pakistan. While discussing other issues of mutual interests between Iran and Pakistan at his meeting with Zardari, the Iranian supreme leader also expressed concern at the escalating sectarian violence in Pakistan.
  • Syrian foreign minister visits Tehran; Tehran; Syrian foreign minister Walid Al Muallem visited Tehran on March 1, following his trip to Moscow. The Syrian foreign minister held separate meetings with his Iranian counterpart Akbar Salehi, secretary of Iran’s National Security Council Saeed Jalili and Iranian President Ahamadinejad. While expressing support for the Syrian government in its fight against internal armed rebellion and emphasizing the need to address the legitimate rights and freedoms of the Syrian people, Iranian officials calledfor the cessation of violence and a genuine dialogue between the conflicting parties aimed at settling the protracted civil conflict in Syria. During his visit to Tehran, the Syrian foreign minister called for Iran’s pressures on Turkey and Qatar to end their logistical and financial support for what he termed ‘the al-Qaeda-linked terrorists” operating in Syria. Tehran and Moscow have both lent their diplomatic weights to finding a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis by playing mediating roles between the Syrian opposition forces and the Syrian government.