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Iran Democracy Monitor No.
67, February 5, 2008
American Foreign Policy Council, Washington, DC
Editor:
Ilan Berman
CRACKS IN IRAN’S ECONOMIC FACADE
Publicly, the Iranian regime may have struck a
defiant stance in response to the latest international
deliberations over its nuclear program, and the prospect of
a new round of economic sanctions. More subtle signs,
however, suggest that international sanctions - amplified by
economic mismanagement on the part of the Ahmadinejad
government - are beginning to bite. According to a new
report from Iran's official customs agency, total imports
into the Islamic Republic rose by nearly 10 percent between
March and November of last year. Staples such as corn, rice
and sugar are among the goods now increasingly being
acquired from abroad. In particular, imports of metal have
soared, with the Iranian government reportedly spending
approximately $4 billion during the period in question to
alleviate pressure on the country's metallurgical sector.
(Tehran Tabnak,
January 17, 2008)
A HELPING HAND FOR EGYPT...
As part of this growing thaw in relations with the
government of Hosni Mubarak, Iran has offered to assist
Egypt with its most immediate security problem: the
Palestinians. In a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister
Ahmed Aboul Ghait, Ali Asghar Mohammadi, the Iranian Foreign
Ministry's director-general for Arab, Middle East and North
African Affairs, offered his government's "cooperation" in
providing humanitarian assistance to the residents of the
Gaza Strip, which have breached the common border between
Egypt and the Palestinian Authority in recent days. (Jerusalem
Post, January 28, 2008; Tehran
IRNA, January 28, 2008)
...AND ECONOMIC SUSTENANCE FOR SYRIA
Iran’s ties with its most prominent regional partner,
meanwhile, are also expanding. According to Mohsen
Shater-Zadeh, Iran’s Assistant Minister of Industry, the
current volume of the Islamic Republic’s investments in the
Syrian industrial sectors totals nearly $1 billion. Among
the government-to-government investments being made,
Shater-Zadeh disclosed to reporters in Damascus, are
allocations to Syria’s national car manufacturer, Siamco.
These economic ties, however, could be just the beginning.
According to Shater-Zadeh, the Iranian regime hopes
exponentially expand its investment in the Ba’athist state,
with projected investment a decade from now totaling $10
billion. (Damascus
SANA, January 28, 2008)
IRAN’S OTHER FRONT
In recent months, much has been made of Iranian
meddling in Iraq, where Coalition officials charge the
Islamic Republic with expanding the scope and lethality of
Shi'a militias. Increasingly, however, Iran's destabilizing
influence is being felt in another theater as well. A
late-January security raid by law enforcement officials in
Afghanistan's western Farah province has reportedly
uncovered a major Taliban weapons cache containing
Iranian-made armaments. The weapons – including
antipersonnel and anti-tank mines - "were recently brought
from Iran" and provided to Taliban irregulars fighting
against local security forces loyal to Afghan president
Hamid Karzai. The incident comes on the heels of recent
allegations from NATO that the Islamic Republic was playing
a role in the provision of sophisticated weaponry to the
ousted Islamist movement. (Radio
Free Europe, January 25, 2008)
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