KHAMENEI'S HEALTH, AND THE FUTURE
Rumors concerning the declining health of the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are once again swirling in Tehran. Iran's Supreme Leader has been out of the public view for some three weeks now, fueling speculations regarding the state of his health—speculation precipitated by Khamenei’s failure to deliver a state holiday address and send out his customary greeting to Iranian pilgrims performing the Hajj pilgrimage. The rumors have also brought to the fore an off-again, on-again topic of political discussion: succession within the Islamic Republic. Khamenei, who has served as Iran’s Supreme Leader since 1989, is now 74 years old and has no known heir. Reports of ill-health have dogged Khamenei for years, but the current political climate—in which Iran and the West are at long last in dialogue over the former's nuclear ambitions—dramatically raises the stakes of any potential political transition at the Islamic Republic's highest echelons of power. (Times of Israel, October 31, 2013)
IRAN'S FALTERING AUTO INDUSTRY
Western sanctions continue to take a toll on the Iranian economy, especially its auto-making industry. Iran ranks as the top automobile producer in the Middle East, but production is plummeting thanks to growing economic pressure from the United States and its allies. Two years ago, the Islamic Republic produced 1.65 million cars annually. But this year alone, production has plummeted by nearly half. In the first half of 2013, the Islamic Republic exported just 1,456 cars, and mostly to its main clients: Syria, Iraq, and Venezuela. (Washington Post, October 14, 2013)
ANOTHER REFORMIST PAPER BITES THE DUST
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani may have campaigned on a platform of domestic reform, but intellectual dissent within the Islamic Republic still carries a high price. Last month, the reformist Bahar newspaper became the latest publication to be banned by the country's media oversight agency. The charge? Undermining Islamic values through an oped “that expressed doubt the Prophet Muhammad had appointed a successor.” The closure follows a familiar pattern; since the year 2000, Iran’s judiciary has shut down more than 120 reformist newspapers for deviating from established ideological guidelines in both religion and politics. (Fox News, October 28, 2013)
AN OPENING TO CHINA
Amid warming diplomatic ties with the West, Iran is ramping up its outreach to a key economic partner: China. Some $22 billion of revenue from Iranian oil sales currently remains in China, barred from repatriation to Iran by Western sanctions. Accessing this money was the focus of a recent trip to Beijing by Iran's parliamentary speaker, Ali Larijani. During his visit, Larijani held meetings with high-ranking Chinese officials, including president Xi Jinping, with significant results. "Chinese officials have agreed to finance some $20 billion in Iran in lieu of the blocked assets in China which belong to the Islamic Republic,” the Tasnim news agency has reported. (London Al-Sharq al-Awsat, November 3, 2013)