1 Report for

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Daily Report for Tuesday, December 26, 2017

1 Report for

Tuesday,

December 26, 2017 Dey 5, 1396

* Highlights and Quote. Page 2

* News Briefs. Page 3

* Checking Ahmadinejad. Page 3

* Bill to protect women not good? Page 4

* What is Germany’s position on JCPOA? Page 5

* Korean news corner. Page 8

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2 Highlights

 A prominent women activist writes against the parliament’s bill on protecting women from violence. She believes that the bill would only disrupt familial bonds. She criticizing the bill by writing that it blindly follows 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. (See Page 4)

Quote

MPs have called on Tehran Municipality for getting rid of 70 million mice in Tehran city.

The large rat population poses a big risk to Tehran residents if a big earthquake strikes Tehran, as there is a real danger of rats eating humans in the aftermath of a big

earthquake. The exact number of rat population varies from 50 to 70 million. There have been reports of rats as heavy as one kilogram living under Tehran streets.

Fararu news website

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3 Briefs

* Farsi-language Iranian Students’

News Agency (ISNA) reports that MP and member of health committee Akbar Torki says that the Iranian car manufacturers must be made to produce hybrid cars in five years. If this is done, he said air pollution in Iran would decrease drastically.

* Farsi-language Mehr News Agency reports that there are unconfirmed news about changes in the Ministry of Culture’s press affairs officials.

Deputy Culture Minister Hussein Entezami [press affairs] may be replaced with possibly Masoud Soltanifar or Fereidoun Verdinejad.

* Farsi-language Mehr News Agency writes that Secretary of Expediency Council Mohsen Rezaei says that Iran’s intelligence service is the best in the Middle East, and that the Iranian intelligence service is so good that it has been able to infiltrate IS. He said relevant information may be released to the public at an appropriate time.

* Farsi-language Mehr News Agency reports that an earthquake measuring 3.2 on Richter scale hit Ishtehar [Alborz Province] at 05:22 Tuesday morning.

* Farsi-language Mehr News Agency reports that IRGC’s chief for airplane security Safar Ali Musavi told reporters that Iran is among the regional countries with the best airplane security, so much so that some of the regional countries have asked Iran to train their personnel.

* Farsi-language news media report that Gilan Province Public Prosecutor and Revolutionary Court has issued an indictment for the 40-year-old serial killer named Farzad who killed at least seven women.

Checking Ahmadinejad

Farsi-language reformist newspaper Vaghaye-e Etefaghiyeh speaks to prominent principalist Mohammad Reza Bahonar and asked him to comment about Ahmadinejad. Referring to the accusations of financial corruption and irregularities against Ahmadinejad and his government, the newspaper specifically asked him why no legal actions were taken during Ahmadinejad’s presidency.

Bahonar replied that the parliament did try to exert check and control over Ahmadinejad’s government at the time when it was in power. He said that the parliament approved formation of the ministry of sports and youth by merging the then physical education organization and organization of youth affairs [both of whom were under president]. Ahmadinejad refused to accept the merger, and therefore refused to nominate a minister to the parliament. Finally, the parliament wrote a letter to the treasury, noted the parliament approval and any further financial allocations to the two organizations would be a violation of the law of land. It was after this that Ahmadinejad was forced to introduce the minister to the parliament three days after the letter. He said that parliament even wrote a letter to the Judiciary “to legally follow the matter”. The court even summoned Ahmadinejad, but nothing happened. It was decided at the time not to pursue the matter through legal channels.

He went on to say: There were things we could do and other things we couldn’t. There were international sanctions against Iran and we had to circumvent the sanctions. Perhaps some of these things were not correct in terms of international regulations, but sanctions imposed on Iran were harsh and unjust, therefore had to be circumvented. For example, take the case of Babak Zanjani. Many of the issues in this case started during the sanctions days. Even now If Mr. Babak Zanjani and his associates declare where they took the assets, it may be possible overlook some of the Zanjani’s crimes.

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It must be made clear where the money was spent. He said that it is important not to politicize such issues. This perception is growing in the society that things get done in Iran only because of connections. This is not true. Nevertheless, the officials should be more mindful of any and all possible financial irregularities.

Bill to protect women not good?

Mrs. Zahra Ayatollahi writes in the hardline conservative newspaper Kayhan about bill on protecting women against violence. The bill is called Comprehensive bill on women’s security against violence.

It was prepared by office of Vice President of Women and Family Affairs. There is a downside to the bill. Men may become concerned that lest any behavior or act be considered an example of instances of violence against women. Such concerns and fears may affect the peace and soul of intimacy and integrity in the family. This could result in homes where women would flee their responsibilities and would destabilize man’s status as head of the family.

As per the guidance in Islam, the best support for women would be to let men support and protect women and rest of the family. Whenever the government, the law and any other power, such as international pressures and media, have come to the support of women, the result was that men were pitted against women, each taking vengeful measures against the other. In many instances, it resulted in men moving away from marriage and seeking refuge in moral deviations. Such Western-style support for women would have

consequences similar to the ones in the West. Forty percent of the violence in the United Kingdom is now against men. Of course, the real numbers of women’s violence against men is higher than this.

The main reason for the men to abstain from reporting violence against them by women is fear of ridicule and disrespect for them [men] by the society.

The bill is focused on supporting the women [against violence] from outside the family. The bill appears to incite deviance rather than protect the weak and oppressed woman. Therefore, it would be easy to predict what would happen. The Islamic Iran would move towards the same filth that West is in today. In reality, the bill wants to blindly implement 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Goal 5, clause 5.2 about achieving gender equality and empower all women and girls. It says:

Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.

It was reported back in June 2017, that Iran has stopped implementing the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. President Rouhani’s government wanted to the implement the document. But conservatives argued that the implementation of the agenda is betrayal of Iran’s Islamic codes and will

“demoralize” the education system. Back in October 2015, the then Iran’s envoy to the UN Gholamali Khoshroo had presented a statement to the UN expressing Iran’s commitment to promotion of sustainable development.

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5 What is Germany’s position on JCPOA?

After a controversial announcement by the President of the United States about the nuclear deal, Gabriel apparently defended the nuclear deal, stating, “we won’t hesitate to persuade Congress to maintain the nuclear deal with Iran.”

In February 2017, the German Foreign Minister supported Trump government’s approach towards Iran and stated that Congressional sanctions against Iran is fully understandable.

Although in a recent report released in November this year, the volume of trade between Iran and Germany reached 2.9 billion Euros, and the Germans are specially regarding the business grounds in our country, but one should not forget the fact that only one strategic and security synergy between Germany and the three Western countries, can thoroughly change Berlin’s attitude towards the JCPOA.

On the other hand, in the course of the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the members of the P15, Germany has practically proved that it doesn’t see standing against the “Washington-Paris-London Triangle” as synonymous with the fulfilment of its own “interests”, and thus it didn’t stand against the above triangle in the course of nuclear talks with Iran.

German authorities have repeatedly made a link between “the JCPOA” and “change in Iran’s regional approach” and, on the other hand, have considered the missile power of the Islamic Republic of Iran unacceptable.

This has led to controversial expressions and vague and paradoxical conducts by individuals such as Sigmar Gabriel: From consultations with the US Congress on maintaining the nuclear deal, to talks about Iran’s commitment to the JCPOA, or the need to restrain Iran’s missile power.

Farsi-language Mehr News Agency: Sigmar Gabriel German Foreign Minister who is also one of the leaders of the Social-Democratic Party in the country, has recently held talks with members of the US Congress over what he calls “preservation of the JCPOA”.

The German foreign ministry wrote in a Twitter post, “Sigmar Gabriel met with members of Congress in Washington. Iran’s nuclear deal must not be broken and violated.”

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Also in September this year and before the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Bloomberg announced in a report that Germany had more explicit positions on maintaining the nuclear deal with Iran compared with Britain and France. Even this news website claimed that Trump had asked the authorities of Britain and France to seek Germany’s assent to hold talks on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) again. After a controversial announcement by the President of the United States about the nuclear deal, Gabriel apparently defended the nuclear deal, stating,

“we won’t hesitate to persuade Congress to maintain the nuclear deal with Iran. We will consult on what can be done to change Iran’s positions on its policies in the Middle East.”

Although these positions by the German Foreign Secretary on defending the nuclear deal have led to a kind of optimism towards the Germans, the equation is far more complex than what it is supposed to be:

Sigmar Gabriel made a controversial speech in September, which, incidentally, did not reflect on many of our state-run media. He emphasized that his country, along with the United States and France, will do its utmost to secure Iran’s “commitment to all its obligations”, while supporting the JCPOA. These statements came at a time when the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in several reports confirmed Iran’s full commitment to the nuclear accord. In February 2017, the German Foreign Minister supported Trump government’s approach towards Iran and stated that Congressional sanctions against Iran is fully understandable. In the course of the Joint Commission meeting on the JCPOA, Berlin, along with its three Western partners, the United States, France and Britain, didn’t recognize the numerous violations by the White House and the Congress as examples of violating the nuclear deal. In such circumstances, how can optimism about Germans’ approach towards the JCPOA be justified?

On December 5, the German Foreign Minister, criticized US policies (Trump’s government policies) an emphasized that in such a situation, Berlin would only think of its own interests. A simple decoding of Gabriel’s remarks suggests that Berlin looks at the JCPOA according to its own interests, just like Paris and London. Although in a recent report released in November this year, the volume of trade between Iran and Germany reached 2.9 billion Euros, and the Germans are specially regarding the business grounds in our country, but one should not forget the fact that only one strategic and security synergy between Germany and the three Western countries, can thoroughly change Berlin’s attitude towards the JCPOA. On the other hand, in the

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course of the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the members of the P15, Germany has practically proved that it doesn’t see standing against the “Washington-Paris- London Triangle” as synonymous with the fulfilment of its own “interests”, and thus it didn’t stand against the above triangle in the course of nuclear talks with Iran.

Another point is about Germany’s regional approach and Berlin’s look to our country’s missile power. German authorities have repeatedly made a link between

“the JCPOA” and “change in Iran’s regional approach” and, on the other hand, have considered the missile power of the Islamic Republic of Iran unacceptable. German officials, like the US and French authorities, consider the containment of Iran’s missile power as one of their main regional goals, and believe in the policy pf carrot and stick towards our country. People like the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Sigmar Gabriel, argue that Iran’s missile power should be restrained in line with our country’s nuclear capability.

However, the main concern of the Germans is the way to implement this tactic. Berlin believes that the nuclear capability, missile power and regional approach of Iran should all be restrained at the same time. But it must be done in such a way that people don’t take it synonymous to the violation of the JCPOA. In this regard, the Germans believe in an apparently independent negotiation and a second consensus on Iran’s missile power. It should be acknowledged that Germany has not yet been able to adapt its “underlying approach” and its “superstructure” and apparent attitude to the missile capability of our country. This has led to controversial expressions and vague and paradoxical conducts by individuals such as Sigmar Gabriel: From consultations with the US Congress on maintaining the nuclear deal, to talks about Iran’s commitment to the JCPOA, or the need to restrain Iran’s missile power.

Obviously, in such a situation, any optimism about the independent conduct of Berlin regarding the JCPOA would turn to the Achilles heel of our foreign policy calculations. Basically the separation between the Germans and the other three Western players is a terrible strategic mistake, and it would consequently affect our policy towards Western countries. The various statements made by the Germans about Iran and the JCPOA are the best evidence for adopting a prudent approach towards Germany. Otherwise, a “sudden turn” or “change of position” by the German authorities would disrupt the calculations of our country’s diplomacy system.

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8 Korean news corner

 Farsi-language Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) reports that China’s statistics show that Beijing did not export oil products to North Korea in November. These restrictions appear to be more severe than the United Nations sanctions earlier this year, which aimed to restrict shipments of oil to Pyongyang. Tensions have flared anew over North Korea’s ongoing nuclear and missile programs, pursued in defiance of years of U.N. resolutions. Last week, the U.N. Security Council imposed new caps on trade with North Korea, including limiting oil product shipments to just 500,000 barrels a year. Beijing also imported no iron ore, coal or lead from North Korea in November, the second full month of the latest trade sanctions imposed by UN.

 Farsi-language Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) reports that South Korea’s Unification Ministry predicted today (Tuesday) that North Korea would look to open negotiations with the United States next year in an optimistic outlook for 2018, even as Seoul set up a

specialized military team to confront nuclear threats from the North. The U.N. Security Council unanimously imposed new, tougher sanctions on North Korea on Friday for its recent intercontinental ballistic missile test.

without offering any reasons for its conclusion, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said that North Korea will seek negotiation with United States, while continuing to pursue its effort to be recognized as a de facto nuclear- possessing country. The tensions over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs have worsened with the verbal spat between Pyongyang and the Washington.