IRAN’S MORALS POLICE VENTURE ONLINE...
As part of its expanding efforts to control and constrain Internet usage, the Islamic Republic has trained its sights on Facebook. In late January, regime authorities arrested four administrators of a user group on the popular social networking site. The offending group had launched an online beauty competition in which Iranian citizens of both sexes submitted their photos to the site. In a note on the Facebook group’s page, Iranian cyber police stated that “The four main managers of this group have been identified and arrested on the charge of inciting and encouraging individuals to access vulgar content through the Internet.” Many now fear that those individuals who submitted their photos can be identified by Iranian authorities and arrested. (Radio Free Europe, January 30, 2012)
...AS AUTHORITIES INCH CLOSER TO A NATIONAL INTRANET
Fearful of the role that social media sites played in uprisings in the Arab world over the past year, the Iranian government is taking serious steps to limit its population’s exposure to them. Iranian authorities have already disabled software permitting Iranians to bypass official firewalls; now the Iranian government is reportedly working to create a domestic intranet “comparable to an office intranet,” that will exclude numerous sites which the Iranian government deems “damaging.” (Washington Post, February 9, 2012)
SOME STRATEGIC MESSAGING TO SOUTH AMERICA
Iran’s efforts to expand its ties to, and influence among, the countries of Latin America have taken a major step forward with the launch of HispanTV, a Spanish language analog to the regime’s ubiquitous English-language PressTV channel. The launch, which follows Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s January 2012 four-nation tour of the region, has been depicted by Ahmadinejad as part of his government’s efforts to “limit the ground for supremacy of dominance seekers”—a thinly-veiled reference to U.S. influence in the Western Hemisphere. (Washington Post, January 31, 2012)
SANCTIONS TRULY BEGIN TO BITE
Mounting international sanctions making it increasingly difficult for it to conduct trade—or to pay its debts. The Iranian regime was recently forced to default on its payments for imports of Indian rice, a commodity that it previously was able to procure without difficulty. It likewise increasingly has been forced to resort to other methods of payment. Recently, the Iranian regime has begun bartering gold and oil for basic food supplies, after attempts to trade in other currencies, such as the Japanese Yen, the Indian Rupee, and the South Korean Won, proved too problematic to execute.
Iran’s economic woes don’t end there, however. European sanctions against Tidewater, the company that operates Iran’s only port (and which is connected to major container ship companies), have further complicated Iran’s efforts to conduct international trade. Moreover, measures currently under consideration by Congress would levy penalties against Iran’s largest container ship company, the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), as well as its state National Iranian Oil Company—steps that would amount to “de facto oil and shipping embargoes.” (New Delhi Economic Times, February 7, 2012; Reuters, February 9, 2012; Reuters, February 9, 2012)
TIGHTENING THE FISCAL BELT – AND DOUBLING DOWN ON DEFENSE
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has presented a controversial new budget to the Iranian parliament, or majles. The document reflects a shift in priorities for the Iranian regime as it struggles to respond to growing international pressure over its nuclear program. Proposed changes include a 5 percent reduction in governmental spending, and efforts to decrease its reliance on oil exports, which currently account for 80 percent of the regime’s foreign revenue. But not everything is being cut; although overall spending will decrease, the budget more than doubles the Iranian regime’s spending on defense—an increase that lawmakers say reflects “increasing pressure and threats against Iran...” (Washington Post, February 1, 2012; Istanbul Hurriyet, February 2, 2012)