1 Report for

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Daily Report for Sunday, October 22, 2017

1 Report for

Sunday,

October 22, 2017 Mehr 30, 1396

* Highlights. Page 2

* News Briefs. Page 3

* When we fail following the lead of the Supreme Leader? Page 3

* New ministerial nominations. Page 3

* To use or not to use Hookah. Page 4

* Iran’s double-edged track record in fighting drug trafficking. Page 5

* Korean news corner. Page 8

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2 Highlights

 An Iranian analyst argues that while Iranian leaders often portray Iran as the world’s stalwart ally in the fight against drugs, the Islamic Republic has had a checkered track record and some of its policies at home and actions abroad exacerbate the drug problem in the region and around the world. (See Page 5)

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3 Briefs

* Farsi-language newspaper Ghanoon reports that police chief Hossein Ashtari says that the police will be using the newly purchased equipment in the near future. He said that the police is facing financial restrictions and called on the government to help solve this problem.

* Farsi-language Iranian Students’

News Agency (ISNA) reports that MP and spokesman of Hope faction [reformists/moderate conservatives coalition] in the parliament Bahram Parsaei says that the faction are worried over the new restrictions imposed on former president Khatami.

* Farsi-language news website Aftab News reports that Hamid Baghaei attended the second court session which is being held on charges of financial corruption. Before entering the court room, he told reporters that the charges against him are politically motivated.

* Farsi-language news website Aftab News reports that Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Army Ahmad Reza Pourdastan said that Iran is negotiating with the Russians to purchase Sukhoi Su-30.

* Farsi-language state-owned Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reports that principalist MP Ghulamali Jafarzadeh tells reporters that the parliament’s view regarding the two proposed ministers [energy and science] “is not negative”.

* Farsi-language Iranian Students’

News Agency (ISNA) reports that police says it has discovered and disbanded an international gang of drug smugglers in Sistan and Baluchistan Province.

When we fail following

the lead of the Supreme Leader?

Farsi-language conservative pro-Ahmadinejad newspaper Watan-e Emrouz recalls an anecdote that man once asked why “Imam Sadeq” did not rise up in defense in Shia. But “Imam Sadeq” replied that one day God will give the answer to the question. The newspaper asks why Imam Sadeq replied in such a manner. Imam Sadeq did not explain to the man the political complexities of the situation nor did he argue. He did not explain that he is already engaged in fighting against the oppressive system and that fight against the oppressors will come later.

The man from Khorrassan failed as a follower when he started questioning and doubting the Imam. The lesson of the story is that one should trust the wisdom of the leader and avoid doubts. If one loses wisdom and starts having doubts, then one is failing the leader. [Perhaps criticizing the reformists and the moderate conservatives for not following the Supreme Leader in all matters.]

New ministerial nominations

Farsi-language news media report that on Saturday President Rouhani has introduced Mansour Gholami as his nomination for Minister of Science, Research and Technology. President Rouhani did not introduce anyone for the post when he proposed his cabinet. Rouhani also introduced Reza Ardakanian as proposed energy minister. MP Behrouz Nemati, the Parliament will first confirm it has received the names of the two ministers [science and energy]. Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani says that vote of confidence will take place on Sunday.

Gholami is currently the dean of Hamadan’s Buali Sina University. He holds a PhD degree in Agriculture from Australia’s University of Adelaide.

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There are reports that a number of Iranians have criticized the nomination for science ministry. Furthermore, 142 pro-Rouhani students’ organizations have also protested the nomination.

The students’ associations issued statements criticizing the nomination. One of the common threads in the statements was that the students noted that during his election campaign, President Rouhani had promised that he will ensure that the universities would be independent, free and safe venues for students to get educated and express their viewpoints.

DW Farsi writes that President Rouhani had wanted to appoint women ministers in his second cabinet. But he was unable to do so because of opposition by some of the high-ranking clerics and reportedly by Ayatollah Khamenei himself. It is said that Ayatollah Khamenei is especially sensitive over who takes over the ministries of science, culture and education.

The students have protested what they called the prevalent security atmosphere at Iranian universities, lack of freedom of expression, arrest of outspoken students and university professors, closure of well- respected educational centers, universities becoming too much profit-oriented and recruitment of unqualified professors and administrative staff at universities. They say that if Gholam is approved as science minister, such trends would continue.

The Hope Faction at Majlis had tried to get President Rouhani to nominate Reza Farajidana as the science minister. He was

the science minister President Rouhani’s first term. But Rouhani nominated Gholami instead. It is reportedly that Ayatollah Khamenei opposed Farajidana as science minister.

To use or not to use Hookah

Farsi-language news media report that the ministries of health and interior differ on banning use of hookahs in Iran. Prosecutor General’s deputy for judicial affairs Mohammad Javad Cheshmi says that the law for controlling and fight against tobacco should be enforced throughout Iran.

The Health Minister is whole-heartedly in favor of implementing the law, while the Interior Ministry does not support the implementation of the law “due to various reasons”. Cheshmi did not specify what these reasons are.

Recently, Iranian news websites posted photos of several Iranian athletes smoking hookah. Prosecutor General Abbas Jaafar Dolatabadi reacted to the photo and said:

The fact some athletes are using hookah shows that this is a serious problem and should be dealt with. This is ignited the debate in Iran whether to allow use of hookahs in public places.

Tehran police have said that there are about 4,000 commercial centers, both authorized and unauthorized, which allow consumers to smoke hookahs. The police believe this number shows increasing demand for hookahs among the Iranians.

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5 Iran’s double-edged track record

in fighting drug trafficking

A senior Iranian officials claimed today that the country’s counter-narcotics police forces have captured more than 400 tons of illicit drugs in the past six months.

Brigadier General Ali Moayyedi, the deputy secretary general of Iran’s Anti-Narcotics Campaign Headquarters, added that the amount of drug seizures represents an 11 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

Speaking to reporters in Tehran, the Iranian general also revealed that the country’s law enforcement forces recently dismantled a “sophisticated drug mafia network” in eastern parts of the country.

Moayyedi criticized the international community for not sufficiently appreciating Iran’s counternarcotic efforts and not having provided any significant assistance to Iran to tackle the global challenge.

Earlier this year, Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif blamed Western countries for the failure of international efforts to tackle drug trafficking and claimed that the Islamic Republic pays a high price for its contribution to combating the global illicit narcotics trade.

But while Iranian leaders often portray Iran as the world’s stalwart ally in the fight against drugs, the Islamic Republic has had a checkered track record and some of its policies at home and actions abroad exacerbate the drug problem in the region and around the world.

For example, although some 4,000 Iranian police officers and border guards have lost their lives fighting drug kingpins and seizing drug shipments entering the country from Afghanistan, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) is said to resell some of the confiscated drugs to international smugglers.

The Middle East Institute. Ahmad Majidyar: A senior Iranian officials claimed today that the country’s counter-narcotics police forces have captured more than 400 tons of illicit drugs in the past six months. Brigadier General Ali Moayyedi, the deputy secretary general of Iran’s Anti-Narcotics Campaign Headquarters, added that

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the amount of drug seizures represents an 11 percent increase compared to the same period last year. Speaking to reporters in Tehran, the Iranian general also revealed that the country’s law enforcement forces recently dismantled a “sophisticated drug mafia network” in eastern parts of the country.

The cartel, according to Moayyedi, was responsible for transiting large amounts of illicit drugs and killing a number of police forces. He added that Iranian intelligence forces identified and destroyed the group’s branch in Alborz Province in northern Iran as well. Moayyedi criticized the international community for not sufficiently appreciating Iran’s counternarcotic efforts and not having provided any significant assistance to Iran to tackle the global challenge. He also talked about the growing addiction problem in Iran and the government’s measures to address it.

Comment: Iranian leaders often praise the country’s “sacrifices” in the fight against narcotics. Earlier this year, Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif blamed Western countries for the failure of international efforts to tackle drug trafficking and claimed that the Islamic Republic pays a high price for its contribution to combating the global illicit narcotics trade. “West’s failure in preventing drug trafficking is a major problem. The fight against drug smuggling should also not be politicized,” Zarif emphasized.

Zarif is right that Iran has suffered immensely from drug problems for decades. As a neighbor of Afghanistan, which produces more than 80 percent of the world’s illegal narcotics, Iran is a major transit route for Afghan opium and its derivatives smuggled to the Middle East and Europe. The trafficking and use of narcotics have also created major security, economic and health problems for Iran. The country’s health ministry officials warned this year that drug problem has become a national epidemic. The U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime has also warned that Iran is facing one of the worst addiction crises in the world. Last December, photographs of homeless people, most of them drug addicts, published in the Iranian media triggered a national outcry in the country.

But while Iranian leaders often portray Iran as the world’s stalwart ally in the fight against drugs, the Islamic Republic has had a checkered track record and some of its policies at home and actions abroad exacerbate the drug problem in the region and around the world. For example, although some 4,000 Iranian police officers and border guards have lost their lives fighting drug kingpins and seizing drug shipments

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entering the country from Afghanistan, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) is said to resell some of the confiscated drugs to international smugglers.

In 2012, the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated General Gholamreza Baghbani, a top commander of the I.R.G.C. Quds Force, as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker. “Today’s action exposes IRGC-QF involvement in trafficking narcotics, made doubly reprehensible here because it is done as part of a broader scheme to support terrorism. Treasury will continue exposing narcotics traffickers and terrorist supporters wherever they operate,” then-Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen said.

Moreover, the I.R.G.C. has contributed to Afghanistan’s instability and growing opium cultivation and trade there by assisting Taliban groups fighting in western and southern Afghan provinces – a region where most of Afghanistan’s narcotics are cultivated and produced.

In a conference hosted by the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies yesterday, President Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster pointed out that the I.R.G.C. not only exports terrorism worldwide but also engages in drug smuggling. “They’re a great narcotics trafficking organization” that “enrich themselves while they poison the world – and use that money to create murder,” he said.

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8 Korean news corner

 Farsi-language Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reports that a North Korean diplomat says that Pyongyang will return to the negotiating table until its issues with America are resolved. ISNA quotes Yonhap news agency as reporting

that Secretary General of North Americas of North Korea’s Foreign Ministry Cheon Son-Hwai was speaking in Moscow during an international disarmament meeting.

 Farsi-language Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reports that South Korean President Moon Jae-in accuses North Korea of taking provocative actions. ISNA quotes Yonhap news agency as reporting that South Korean president has publicly expressed his opposition to war in

the Korean peninsula, but has also said that his country would cooperate with America in response to North Korea’s provocations. He went on to say that South Korea should support Washington’s pressure on Pyongyang.

 Farsi-language Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reports that South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that his government will continue gradually phasing out the power generated by nuclear fuel. However, a recent opinion poll shows that the South Koreans are

opposed to this plan. ISNA quotes Reuters news agency as reporting that South Korean president’s comment comes after a recent opinion poll showed that South Koreans want continued use of nuclear energy for producing electricity. He went on to say that his government has completely stopped all plans to constructing new nuclear reactors. The government plans to use natural gas, other clean energy and renewable energy to generate electricity. It also plans to gradually phase out nuclear energy for creating electricity.