Iran Democracy Monitor: No. 149

CELEBRATING DIVORCE IN TEHRAN
Iran, which was recently ranked as the unhappiest place in Middle East by a prominent Washington think tank, is popularizing a new social practice: divorce parties. A fifth of all marriages in the Islamic Republic now end in divorce. But, far from lamenting the trend, Iranians are increasingly celebrating it with lavish parties featuring catering, black roses and theme music. The trend has sparked concern among senior Iranian clerics, who have called attention to the larger malaise it underscores. Over the past year, the national divorce rate has climbed 4.6 percent. The marriage rate has declined 4.4 percent during the same period. (BBC, May 20, 2014)

HOW IRAN HELPED ASSAD GET HIS GROOVE BACK
Over the past year, the tide of conflict in war-torn Syria has shifted back toward the once-embattled Assad regime. It has done so largely because of support from Syria's principal strategic partner: Iran. Though the numbers of Iranians actually on the ground in Syria remain comparatively modest (estimated at less than 1,000 fighters), a massive contingent of up to 130,000 “reservists” is reportedly being prepped for the Syrian battlefield. One IRGC commander has equated participation in the war in Syria with Iran’s “sacred defense” of its homeland in the Iran-Iraq war. (Christian Science Monitor, May 30, 2014)

SHIPPERS REMAIN WARY
Like the global banking industry, international shipping is approaching the prospects of reengagement with Iran with considerable caution. Shipping companies, fearing their loss of access to U.S. banks (and therefore to trade in dollars), have so far avoided doing business with Iran - notwithstanding the sanctions relief proffered to the Islamic Republic as a result of the current nuclear negotiations with the P5+1 nations. The result has been a delay in the shipment of commodities, even humanitarian goods such as food and medicine that have never been subject to sanctions. However, port operator Tidewater Middle East Co, which operates seven terminals in Iran, remains under sanctions, and fear that doing business with it may have adverse consequences. (Reuters, May 28, 2014)

A NEW WRINKLE IN IRANIAN CYBER-ESPIONAGE
A new report from internet security firm iSight has shed light on a novel way in which the Islamic Republic is exploiting cyberspace. The study describes what is being called NEWSCASTER, a systematic multi-year campaign by Iranian cyberactivists to exploit a fictitious news website and associated social media accounts to carry out cyber-espionage on policy-related targets. “This campaign, working undetected since 2011, targets senior U.S. military and diplomatic personnel, congressional personnel, Washington D.C. area journalists, U.S. think tanks, defense contractors in the U.S. and Israel, as well as others who are vocal supporters of Israel to covertly obtain log-in credentials to the email systems of their victims,” iSight details. In all, some 2,000 individuals - including a number of high-profile public personalities - have been targeted in the scheme. (Christian Science Monitor, May 29, 2014)

[EDITORS’ NOTE: Newscaster appears to be, at least in part, an Iranian attempt to gain insights into U.S. policymaking, particularly with regard to American and allied attitudes in the current nuclear talks now underway between Iran and the countries of the P5+1 (the U.S., Great Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany).]