Iran Democracy Monitor: No. 134

AHEAD OF ELECTIONS, IRAN’S INTERNET GOES DARK...
The Iranian regime is tightening its hold over the World Wide Web in the run up to next month’s presidential election. As authorities prepare for the June 14th poll, observers are reporting an intensification of governmental control over social media and Internet activity in the Islamic Republic. The new curbs reportedly include a significant slowdown of bandwidth, which has made downloads of video and media content virtually impossible, and even complicated the ability of Iranian citizens to access email and browse the "web." "The Internet is in a coma," one Iranian daily has reported. (Agence France Presse, May 19, 2013)

...EXECUTIONS RISE...
Over the past month, executions in the Islamic Republic have risen sharply. According to statistics released by official sources, at least 58 individuals were hanged in Iran between mid-April and mid-May. While officially the punishments are in response to “criminal offences,” human rights activists say that many of the executions were politically motivated in nature—and intended to send a chilling effect to potential dissidents as voters head for the ballot box. (Tehran Rooz, May 20, 2013)

...AND FIELD OF CANDIDATES GETS SMALLER
On May 21st, Iran's Guardian Council formally released its list of approved candidates for the country’s upcoming presidential poll. Strikingly absent from the list of approved aspirants were two key names. The first was former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a late entrant into the race for Iran's top political office who many in the West had hoped might be more willing to strike a deal over Iran’s nuclear program. The second was Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, a key political ally of outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The decision leaves eight approved candidates in the running for Iran’s presidency. They include Saeed Jalili, the country’s former chief nuclear negotiator, and Ali Akbar Velayati, a foreign policy advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. All of the approved candidates have views closely in line with those of the Supreme Leader—including devotion to the ideals of “Khomeinism” and a commitment to “resistance” against the West. (Financial Times, May 21, 2013; New York Times, May 22, 2013)

THE IRANIAN CYBER THREAT, RELOADED
Iran’s growing capabilities in cyberspace are generating fresh concern in Washington. Earlier this year, Iranian-backed hackers targeted a number of U.S. financial institutions, including Bank of America and JP MorganChase, with “distributed denial of service” attacks. Of late, however, Iran’s cyber efforts have focused on a different target: the American energy industry. In recent weeks, a number of U.S. energy firms along the U.S.-Canadian border have reportedly been targeted by Iranian hackers, who have attempted to gain control over the software and systems that regulate oil and gas pipelines. And while none of the intrusions have resulted in an actual hijacking of energy infrastructure, Iran’s efforts have gone "far enough to worry people," U.S. government officials say. (Wall Street Journal, May 23, 2013)

IRAN’S DEEPENING FOOTPRINT IN SYRIA
The Iranian regime is continuing to provide critical assistance to the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. U.S. officials have now confirmed the allegations of Syrian opposition forces that the Islamic Republic has deployed an unknown number of military forces to prop up the Assad regime.

Iran’s efforts aren’t just concentrated on keeping Assad in power, however. According to one Lebanese newspaper, Major General Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Quds Force paramilitary unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, has been tasked with using Syrian territory to perpetuate the fight against Israel—including through the coordination of Hezbollah and various Palestinian terrorist organizations operating on Syrian soil. (Tel Aviv Yediot Ahronot, May 17, 2013; Washington Post, May 21, 2013)