Iran Democracy Monitor: No. 107

AHMADINEJAD TAKES AIM AT THE EXPEDIENCY COUNCIL
In a sign of deepening divisions within the Islamic Republic’s labyrinthine political system, one of the regime’s most powerful bodies has come under fire from the administration of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. An aide to Ahmadinejad has publicly criticized the Expediency Council, a powerful advisory committee appointed by the Supreme Leader and charged with adjudicating disputes between the country’s parliament (majles) and the Council of Guardians, the clerical body tasked with advising the Supreme Leader and interpreting the country’s constitution. In a comment widely seen as being endorsed by Ahmadinejad himself, press spokesman Ali Akbar Javanfekr has said that members of the Expediency Council “should definitely change” the way they do their job and bring their conduct in line with the country’s constitution. (Radio Free Europe, November 11, 2010)

[Editor’s Note: The charge leveled at the Expediency Council is, by all accounts, politically motivated. The body is chaired by Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president of the Islamic Republic and a key rival of Ahmadinejad for political influence today. Under Rafsanjani’s direction, the Expediency Council has positioned itself as a vocal critic of Ahmadinejad’s handling of domestic and foreign affairs.]

THE S-300 BY OTHER MEANS?
Russia may have reneged on its 2007 contract to supply Iran with advanced air defenses, but Tehran may succeed in obtaining the systems by other means. That’s the warning from Israeli defense officials, who are increasingly worried about the Islamic Republic’s efforts to harden its nuclear program against external attack. The most likely culprit to aid Iran’s air defense ambitions? The regime of Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, with which the government of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has developed a burgeoning strategic partnership over the past half-decade.

In the wake of the UN’s passage of the fourth round of multilateral sanctions against Iran this past June, Russia announced it would not deliver units of the S-300 system to Iran as originally pledged three years ago. But Moscow’s deals to sell the S-300 to other countries – including Venezuela – are still ongoing, and observers worry that Iran could end up acquiring the S-300 after all if the Chavez regime or some other sympathetic source opts to pass along the advanced technology. “This is a real possibility, considering the close ties between Venezuela and Iran,” according to one Israeli official.

Iran, meanwhile, is hard at work on a substitute of its own for the S-300. Officials with Iran’s Defense Ministry have announced that testing for an indigenous “long range” air defense capability – modeled off of the Mersad and Shahin missiles – will begin in the near future. (Jerusalem Post, November 1, 2010; Tehran IRNA, November 10, 2010)

AN IRANIAN RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT
After years of deepening strategic ties with regimes in the Western Hemisphere, the Islamic Republic is poised to orchestrate what is perhaps its most ambitious joint project to date there. The regime of Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega is said to be in the process of creating a “Nicaragua Canal” linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. When completed, the passageway – conceived of by Ortega and Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, and reportedly bankrolled by Iran – will serve as an alternative to the strategically-vital Panama Canal, a key economic passageway for Latin America. (Tel Aviv Ha’aretz, November 11, 2010)