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Six candidates have been approved by Iran’s theocracy to run in Friday’s presidential election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash with several other officials in May. Among them, Iran’s parliament speaker stands out as the most recognizable figure. A little-known politician and heart surgeon is also on the ballot. He is the only reformist while the others are more skewed toward hard-liners who back Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei without question and challenge the West. And if previous elections are a guide to Iranian politics, several candidates could drop out in the final days before the vote to coalesce around a unity candidate. Meanwhile, authorities are not urging the public to vote as vocally as they have in the past, particularly after a parliamentary election earlier in the year that saw the lowest turnout since the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iran will elect a new president Friday after the death of hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi. Whoever takes the helm in the country will inherit Iran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, which now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels. Here’s a time line of the major events involving Iran’s atomic program, which first came to the country under American aspirations of peaceful energy but later drew Western fears over the Islamic Republic’s possible development of nuclear weapons through it.
Iran’s Onerous Hijab Law For Women Is Now A Campaign Issue | The New York Times
Iranian officials insisted for decades that the law requiring women to cover their hair and dress modestly was sacrosanct and not even worth discussion. They dismissed the struggle by women who challenged the law as a symptom of Western meddling. Now, as Iran holds a presidential election this week, the issue of mandatory hijab, as the hair covering is known, has become a hot campaign topic. And all six of the men running, five of them conservative, have sought to distance themselves from the methods of enforcing the law, which include violence, arrests and monetary fines. “Elections aside, politics aside, under no circumstances should we treat Iranian women with such cruelty,” Mustafa Pourmohammadi, a conservative presidential candidate and cleric with senior roles in intelligence, said in a round-table discussion on state television last week.
UANI IN THE NEWS
Iran Pushing Ahead With Its Nuclear Program | i24 News
Iran ‘does not fear a credible military threat from the United States,’ says UANI Policy Director Jason Brodsky in a recent interview with i24 News.
NUCLEAR DEAL & NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Rising Risk Of Nuclear Proliferation In Mena Due To Iran, EU Warns | The National
The EU warned on Monday that Iran's direction is increasing the risk of a nuclear proliferation crisis in the Middle East. “Iran's accumulation of high-enriched uranium, its continuously growing enriched uranium stockpile and the expansion of its nuclear enrichment infrastructure are alarming,” the head of the EU's delegation to the UN, Stavros Lambrinidis, told the Security Council. “Such actions carry very significant proliferation-related risks and raise grave concerns about Iran's intentions.” Tehran's announcement of its intention to further increase its installed enrichment capacity, as reported by the International Atomic Energy Agency on June 13, has further increased the EU’s concerns. “If implemented, these actions would constitute a significant escalation by Iran with regard to its nuclear programme and capabilities, and a further departure from Iran's commitments under the JCPOA and UNSC Resolution 2231,” said Mr Lambrinidis.
Iran Calls For New Nuclear Talks Amid Worsening Middle East Crisis | Newsweek
Iran has issued an appeal for new negotiations toward reviving a multilateral nuclear agreement against the backdrop of deepening geopolitical tensions and worsening unrest across the Middle East. The appeal came Monday in the form of a statement addressed to the president of the United Nations Security Council, currently held by South Korean Permanent Representative Joonkook Hwang, and shared with Newsweek by the Iranian Mission to the U.N. In the statement, Iranian Permanent Representative Amir Saied Iravani criticized recent comments from the U.S. and European powers that have all expressed concern over Tehran's decision to double down on nuclear activities amid ongoing Western sanctions in place since Washington pulled out of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018. Iravani acknowledged that the JCPOA "was not perfect," but asserted that "it remains the most viable option."
The United States and its key European allies clashed with Iran and Russia over Tehran’s expanding nuclear program, with the U.S. vowing “to use all means necessary to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran” in a U.N. Security Council meeting on Monday. The U.S., France, Britain and Germany accused Iran of escalating its nuclear activities far beyond limits it agreed to in a 2015 deal aimed at preventing Tehran from developing nuclear weapons, and of failing to cooperate with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran and Russia accused the U.S. and its allies of continuing to apply economic sanctions that were supposed to be lifted under the deal, and insisted that Tehran’s nuclear program remains under constant oversight by the IAEA.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
Sanctions Cost Iran $1.2 Trillion Over 12 Years, Businessman Says | Iran International
Hossein Selahvarzi, the former head of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, says sanctions have inflicted approximately $1.2 trillion in damages on the country between 2011 and 2023. In comments published on Monday in Tehran's Shargh daily, Selahvarzi discussed the economic opportunities lost in Iran due to the sanctions. His remarks came just days before Iran's presidential election, where a victory for a hardline candidate could potentially prolong the stalemate in Iran's nuclear negotiations with global powers. Saying that the issue of sanctions has not received much attention during the election campaign, Selahvarzi estimated that the lost per capita income for each Iranian due to sanctions over the 12-year period is around $14,000. In other words, each Iranian has lost an average of $1,202 annually due to the sanctions.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
Dissident Rapper’s Death Sentence Overturned In Iran, His Lawyer Says | The New York Times
Iran’s supreme court has overturned the death sentence of a dissident rapper who backed nationwide protests, according to his lawyer, reversing an April decision that had brought widespread criticism and outrage from human rights organizations and others. Amir Raesian, the lawyer for the rapper, Toomaj Salehi, said in a post on X that by overturning the sentence, the court “avoided an irreparable judicial error.” He added that the court found that Mr. Salehi’s earlier prison sentence of six years and three months to be excessive, and that the case would be sent back to a lower court for review. Mr. Salehi, 33, was one of the most prominent voices during the nationwide protests against Iran’s clerical rulers two years ago after the death in police custody of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini.
Scientist Tells Swedish PM Prisoner Swap With Iran Has Left Him Facing Execution | The National
A scientist facing execution in Iran has accused the Swedish Prime Minister of abandoning him in a recent prisoner swap between the two countries. In voice messages from Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, Ahmadreza Djalali, a Swedish–Iranian, made a plea to Ulf Kristersson to work for his release, after Iranian citizen Hamid Nouri was freed in return for the release of Swedish citizen and EU diplomat Johan Floderus and dual citizen Saeed Azizi. Mr Djalali was arrested on a trip to Iran in 2016 and sentenced to death after he was convicted of sending confidential details to Israeli intelligence service Mossad, but told his family this was after he had refused to co-operate with Iran’s intelligence services. In the voice messages, which his wife Vida Mehrannia shared with The National, Mr Djalali accused Mr Kristersson of abandoning him to his fate.
Khamenei Urges Judges To Abandon 'Western Human Rights' In Rulings | Iran Wire
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has advised judges in Iran against referencing the "basics of Western human rights" in their rulings. "I heard that some honorable judges refer to the principles of Western human rights in their judicial rulings," he said during a meeting with judicial authorities. "This is wrong." "Those foundations are false foundations. Now they are not doing anything - the clear signs are in front of everyone's eyes in the world today that they are not acting either - but the basics are wrong," he added. Khamenei's comments appear to be directed at Heshmat Rostami, a well-known judge in Iran's Mazandaran province, who serves on the Court of Appeal and specializes in family cases. Judge Rostami has gained recognition among Iranian legal scholars for his unique approach, which includes references to human rights and international standards, albeit limited. Such citations are rare in the history of the Islamic Republic.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Iran’s Presidential Election Dominated By Khamenei Loyalists | Reuters
Iranians choose a president on Friday in a tightly controlled election following Ebrahim Raisi's death in a helicopter crash last month, with the outcome expected to influence the succession to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's top decision-maker. With Iran's supreme leader now 85, it is likely that the next president will be closely involved in the eventual process of choosing a successor to Khamenei, who has ensured candidates sharing his hardline views dominate the presidential contest. The election coincides with escalating regional tensions due to the Israel-Hamas conflict, increased Western pressure on Iran over its rapidly advancing nuclear programme, and growing domestic dissent over political, social, and economic crises.
However, the looming succession to the fiercely anti-Western Khamenei is the overriding concern among Iran's clerical elite.
Why Iran's Presidential Election Matters More Than Past Votes | RadioFreeEurope RadioLiberty
Iranians will choose a new president on June 28, more than a month after the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash. Six candidates, including one lone reformist, have been handpicked by the Islamic republic's political establishment. The winner could play a major role in choosing the successor to aging Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But some Iranians told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that they will boycott an election they see as being engineered.
Iran’s supreme leader called Tuesday for “maximum” voter turnout in this week’s presidential election to “overcome the enemy,” denouncing politicians who he described as believing that everything good comes from the United States. While not naming any particular candidates, the comments by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared to directly undercut the candidacy of the race’s sole reformist candidate, 69-year-old heart surgeon Masoud Pezeshkian. In recent speeches, Pezeshkian has urged Iran to return to the 2015 nuclear deal and increase its outreach to the West. “The one who has the slightest opposition to the revolution ... or the Islamic system, is not useful to you,” Khamenei said. “The person who is attached to the U.S., and imagines that without the U.S. favor it is not possible to move a step in the country, he will not be a good colleague for you.”
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
Moscow Expects To Sign New Co-Operation Pact With Iran In 'Very Near Future', RIA Reports | Reuters
Moscow expects to sign a new agreement on comprehensive cooperation with Iran "in the very near future," Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko told Russia's RIA state news agency in an interview published on Tuesday. "We expect that this agreement will be signed in the very near future, since work on the text is already close to completion. All the necessary wording has been found," RIA cited Rudenko as saying. Earlier in June, Russia's foreign ministry said that work on the agreement was temporarily suspended, while Iran said there was no break in preparing the new pact. Russia and Iran signed a 20-year strategic agreement in 2001 that was automatically extended in 2020 for five years, according to Russia's TASS state news agency reports. Both sides also agreed in 2020 to work on a new pact that would replace the old document.
Netanyahu: Iran Is Working On All Front To Destroy Israel | The Jerusalem Post
Tehran is working on multiple fronts to destroy Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Knesset on Monday, as he pledged full victory as the IDF battles Iranian proxy groups, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. “At any cost and in any way, we will thwart Iran's intentions to destroy us,” Netanyahu said. “We are in an existential war on seven fronts,” Netanyahu said, that this war was led by Iran, which is “working in obvious ways to destroy us.” The deeper the IDF goes into Gaza, the more it has uncovered about Iran’s activity against Israel, he said. Iran has erred in not taking into account Israeli resilience and its determination to defend itself and to accept a stiff price from those who attack it. He spoke as Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was in Washington to discuss Israel’s multi-front war, including against the Iranian proxy groups Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
NATO's Deputy Chief Says Iran Helping Russia 'Threat To European Security' | Al Monitor
NATO is increasingly concerned about Iran's "destabilizing actions" in the Middle East as well as its relations with an axis that includes Russia, North Korea and China, the defense bloc's Deputy Secretary-General Mircea Geoana said. In an interview with Al-Monitor ahead of NATO’s summit in Washington, which is set for July 9, Geoana described Iranian help to Russia — in the form of drones and military equipment in Ukraine — as a "threat to European security," sharing concern with Israel. He also said that the Abraham Accords, a series of normalization agreements signed in 2020 between Israel and Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan, should serve as a blueprint for greater stability in the region. Romania-born Geoana was appointed NATO deputy secretary-general in October 2019 after a long career as a diplomat and politician in his country.
OTHER FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Iran And Bahrain To Discuss Frozen Foreign Reserves, Normalizing Ties | Al Monitor
Iran and Bahrain have started talks on the release of frozen Iranian funds in addition to the resumption of diplomatic ties, Tehran announced on Monday, potentially signaling an improvement in bilateral relations after years of tensions. The official Islamic Republic News Agency reported on Monday that officials from Iran's and Bahrain’s central banks held a meeting the day prior to discuss the release of Iran's “foreign exchange resources in Bahrain.” According to the agency, the funds belong to the Central Bank of Iran as well as other Iranian banks, and the talks will continue in the coming days. Also on Sunday, Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani met his Iranian counterpart, Ali Bagheri-Kani, in Tehran. Following the meeting, the two countries released a joint statement saying they “agreed to set up required mechanisms to initiate talks between the two countries to discuss the resumption of political relations between them,” the official Bahrain News Agency reported.
Iranian Parliament Proposes Labeling Canadian Army As Terrorist Group | The Jerusalem Post
Iranian lawmakers introduced a motion on Sunday to label the Canadian army a “terrorist” entity, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency. This move follows Canada’s recent designation of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization. The motion was presented during an open session in Tehran, where the Iranian parliament reacted to Canada’s declaration on Wednesday. The new measure mandates the Iranian government to categorize the Canadian army and affiliated armed and security forces as “terrorist” organizations. A statement signed by 250 Iranian parliament members condemned Canada’s decision to blacklist the IRGC. They expressed strong support for the IRGC and criticized the Canadian action as “unwise” and in violation of international laws.