Iran Says Revenge For Soleimani Is Certain As It Marks Anniversary

The far-reaching solution assumes that current ultraconservative parliament and President are incapable of tackling the problem mainly because of their weakness in the areas of economy and foreign policy.

A report in the centrist Aftab News in Tehran says that the overwhelmingly ultraconservative parliament (Majles) does not represent the entire nation. The report claimed that the only representative parliament in post-1979 Iran was formed in 1980 when the Guardian Council had not started its "discretionary supervision" of elections in Iran. The report further opined that returning to that form of parliament could be one of the most important ways out of Iran's political impasse.

Probing into the impact of a parliament which is predominantly radical and ultraconservative, the paper claimed that the elimination of other political factions from the election process has pushed the people into the streets to protest.

This was referring to the parliamentary election in 2020 and the presidential vote in June 2021, when most ‘reformist’ or even centrist insiders were barred from running.

But the protesters on the street do not care about reformists returning to the government. They unequivocally demand a regime change and a democratic, secular state.

Another issue is whether elections can help the country change course when all major decisions are made by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, including vetting of candidates prior to a vote. This is exactly what happened in 2020 and 2021 when the Guardian Council appointed by Khamenei barred hundreds of candidates.

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Speaking about the role of President Ebrahim Raisi's administration in the political impasse, former reformist lawmaker Mohammad Ali Vakili said having seen the Raisi administration's performance so far, "it is highly unlikely that he could solve Iran's economic crisis. The members of his government have been talking too much about the problems, bragging about their solutions, but so far we have not seen anything other than ineffective speeches."

‘Reformist’ politician Jalal Jalalizadeh pointed out in an interview with Aftab News: "The government's inefficient structure is the main part of the problem and reforming it is one of the major demands of the nation." He added that "The Majles has almost no role in solving the country's most important problems."

Therefore, Jalalizadeh suggested, "It is essential that the government sets up a committee to probe into the current protests and try to meet the protesters' demands." He added: "If the government does not like the idea of changing the Constitution, it can consider early Majles and presidential elections in a bid to get rid of the current parliament and administration, which cannot fulfil their promises and have failed to respond to the people's demands."

However, he warned that Iran's reformists should not seize the opportunity of an early election to take over the government and the parliament only to serve their own financial interests and political ambitions.

This is not the first time Iranian politicians put forward the idea of early elections. Last month, some media proposed early presidential elections to make the revival of the JCPOA possible, as the Raisi administration has failed to reach an agreement with the West.

Also in July 2022, reformist commentator Abbas Abdi repeated what he had suggested to former President Hassan Rouhani about holding an early election in 2021 when hardliners tied his hands in the nuclear talks.

The Syrian army said on Monday that a volley of air-launched missiles, coming from the direction of Lake Tiberias in Israel, hit the Damascus International Airport at 2 am local time and briefly put the airport out of service. 

Missiles also hit targets in the south of Damascus, killing two members of the Syrian armed forces and causing some damage, the army said. Earlier, two regional intelligence sources said the strikes had hit an outpost near the airport of the Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force -- a division primarily responsible for extraterritorial military and clandestine operations – and its affiliated militias. 

Last year, Israel intensified strikes on Damascus International and other civilian airports to disrupt Tehran's increasing use of aerial supply lines to deliver arms to allies in Syria and Lebanon, including Hezbollah. Syria halted flights to and from the airport in June for nearly two weeks after Israeli strikes caused extensive damage to infrastructure. 

Since late in November, Syria and Iran have been deploying new air defense systems, including jamming and early warning systems, around Damascus to prevent Israeli airstrikes in the area. There are reports that the new systems were built by Korean and Chinese companies and provided by Iran as part of agreements reached between Damascus and Tehran.

On Monday, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani decried the Israeli attack on Damascus airport, calling on the global community to condemn the violation of Syrian territorial integrity. “We were informed that the Damascus airport was hit by the Zionist regime; this action is condemned in our opinion and the United Nations and other institutions should condemn these aggressions,” he said. 

Last week, a report by Asharq Al-Awsat said Iran is seeking to revive the expansion of its presence near Damascus, something it has always sought to do but was previously prevented by Russia. According to the report, the Islamic Republic’s objective is to create another “southern suburb”, commonly known as Dahieh, like the Hezbollah-dominated suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut.

Now the landscape has changed as Russia seems to be needing its forces for the invasion of Ukraine, so it is evacuating the region with coordination of the Islamic Republic, which is supplying Moscow with drones and missiles to be used in against the Ukrainians. 

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Also on Monday, a salvo of Iranian-made Russian drones targeted infrastructure in Ukraine's capital and surrounding areas, damaging energy facilities and causing some power outages, officials said. 

Ukraine’s air force said that its air defense systems destroyed all of Russia's 39 Iranian-made Shahed drones that targeted Ukraine overnight in what it said was a “massive attack”.

"Russians launched several waves of Shahed drones. Targeting critical infrastructure facilities. Air defense is at work," Kyiv Governor Oleksiy Kuleba said. 

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 40 drones “headed for Kyiv” overnight. Klitschko said 22 drones were destroyed over Kyiv, three in the outlying Kyiv region and 15 over neighboring provinces.

Ukraine said waves of Iranian-made Russian drones targeted infrastructure in Kyiv and surrounding areas on Monday, damaging energy facilities and causing some power outages, officials said, as Russia extended its bombardment into the second day of 2023.

Ukraine’s air force said that its air defense systems destroyed all of Russia's 39 Iranian-made Shahed 131 and 136 drones that targeted Ukraine overnight in what it said was a “massive attack”.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani in his weekly briefing implicitly denied the use of Iranian-made drones and said Kyiv has never produced any evidence.

Ukraine said December 13 that it provided Iran with the evidence. "We are not surprised by yet another objection from Iran regarding the supply of weapons to Russia. During the technical meeting, Ukrainian experts provided the Iranians with the sufficient evidence," Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said during an interview with Kyiv-based news agency Interfax-Ukraine.

Iran’s decision to supply weapons to Russia has played a major role in the deterioration of its already frayed ties with Europe that has put nuclear talks with Tehran on the back-burner since evidence emerged of the kamikaze drones being launched by Russia in October.

Kanaani also spoke about these talks, having little to offer as a sign of any positive movement. After 18 months of negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear accord known as the JCPOA the talks broke down in early September. The United States has said i tis not focused on the diplomatic effort any more because Iran presented last-minute extraneous demands.

Meanwhile, nationwide antigovernment protests in Iran have posed the most serious challenge to the Islamic Republic in its 43year history, with the economy in serious trouble. Consequently, Tehran has been showing renewed interest in reviving the nuclear talks, because the process, if successful, could end harsh US sanctions and bring a much-needed financial relief to the embattled regime.

Kanaani insisted that Iran is ready to conclude the nuclear talks based on a draft agreement prepared "after months of difficult talks," referring to what the European Union submitted in August to all sides to wrap up the negotiations. It was at this juncture when Tehran and Washington were giving their feedback to the draft that talks came to a standstill.

Kanaani also tried to put a positive spin on chances of improving relations with Saudi Arabia and Egypt, amid its regional isolation. Iran was not even invited to tripartite defense talks between Russia, Turkey and Syria last week, although it is a major player in the Syrian conflict. It has also not been invited to a similar meeting of foreign minsters to take place in the second half of January.

Asked about why Iran has not been invited, Kanaani simply replied that "Russia, Turkey and Syria are well aware of Iran’s decisive role in the fight against terrorism in Syria and its support for the people and the government [of Syria]".

The Speaker of Iranian parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf who had earlier introduced the idea of "a new form of governance," told reporters in Tehran January 1 that he is trying to reach a consensus among Iran's top officials to make changes in the system of governance in the Islamic Republic.

Ghalibaf added that economic issues are the top priorities in these meeting, while the current anti-regime protests are more about social and political liberties and establishing a democratic, secular political system than any economic demand.

This comes while, he has been paying visits to security forces to pay tribute to them for dealing with the protests. On the other hand, the latest photos of Iran's top officials showed Ghalibaf in his regular weekly meeting with President Ebrahim Raisi and Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei and Vice President Mohammad Mokhber who took part in the weekly meeting for the first time. The photo shows Mokhber, a confidant of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, addressing the three top officials.

This could pretty much be one of those meetings in which Ghalibaf says he has been looking for a consensus about how to deal with the protests.

Ghalibaf had also met with some of Iran's top clerics last week when nearly all of those who "received" him criticized Raisi's economic policies and his government's inefficiency.

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Despite the attractive rhetoric about "a new form of governance," Ghalibaf explanation about the idea leaves no room for unnecessary excitement. He said that "I believe the renovation of the system of governance should take place based on the ideas of Ruhollah Khomeini and Ali Khamenei."

Meanwhile, Ghalibaf praised Raisi for replacing the governor of the Central Bank and said he hopes the new governor would offer a solution for the falling Iranian currency rial, which has dipped to unprecedented lows since September.

In another development, a seasoned intelligence operative, former government spokesman Ali Rabiei has called for reforms in Iran, adding that "This is the best time to start reforms. Tomorrow might be too late."

Claiming that street protests have receded, Rabiei reiterated that this is the right time to send signals about reforms and to introduce new social policies. He said what prompted him to come up with the idea of quick reforms were the street protests, which he said are the result of economic difficulties and lost hopes in the future. He also mentioned the blow dealt against Iran by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his Middle east tour, which he said was inspired by Iran's internal crisis.

Rabiei added that the government should take lessons from these experiences and not repeat wrong domestic and foreign policies. He said wrong assumptions about international and regional developments has cost Iran many missed opportunities during the past four decades.

He also reminded top officials that resorting to reforms does not necessarily mean a retreat from previously declared policies.

An article along the same lines on the proreform Fararu website formulated the same by stating that the regime might not survive if it ignores the three crises of polarization in the society, the threat of hyper-inflation and the impact of regional and international isolation, adding that the government should find solutions for these three crises as soon as possible before it is too late.

Head of the Tehran Telecom Traders Union Mehdi Mohebi quoted an “official” who did not want to reveal his identity that 800 Starlink satellite internet terminals have entered the country so far.

This comes as the American tycoon Elon Musk said last week that the use of satellite internet services in Iran has increased and around 100 Starlink devices are active in the country now.

Musk said in a tweet that “approaching 100 Starlinks active in Iran”, three months after he confirmed he would activate the service in the country to help Iranians circumvent internet restrictions imposed by the government amid nationwide protests.

Back in September the billionaire, who is now also a social media player by controlling Twitter, had announced he would activate Starlink in Iran as part of the United States’ effort “to advance internet freedom” and facilitate “the free flow of information” to Iranians.

The Iranian regime has been severely restricting Internet access in general and access to popular social media platforms, such as Instagram, in particular that play a key role in protester communications. These restrictions have caused many problems for those who rely on social media to promote their businesses and hugely damaged e-commerce.

It is not clear who are the importers of the receivers, which the government views as illegal. Most likely, the devices are brought from across the borders by small-time smugglers.