LATEST: Guardian Council Says Key Rouhani Organization is Unconstitutional
THURSDAY FEATURES
- Russia: Lavrov – “Iran Inevitably Must Be Part Of Efforts To Resolve Syrian Crisis”
- Iran: Could Tehran & US Co-operate Over Regional Crises?
In what has become a “tour for Syria”, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met President Assad in Damascus on Wednesday.
No significant news came out of the meeting, with Syrian media focusing on Assad’s denunciation of “terrorism” and its backers like Saudi Arabia and Iran’s outlets heralding Zarif’s “support for a political solution“.
Instead, it is the context of the discussion that points to significance: Zarif arrived in Syria after discussions in Lebanon, Iraq, and Jordan. Perhaps most importantly, the Iranian Foreign Minister is in Russia today to talk to Assad’s other leading foreign backer.
Zarif’s tour is a surrogate for Iran’s participation in the international “peace” conference in Switzerland on January 22. Tehran’s attendance has been vetoed by the US, so Tehran is ensuring that its line is coordinated with Moscow, as well as trying to persuade Middle Eastern states — and Turkey, which Zarif visited earlier this month — to distance themselves from the Syrian opposition and insurgency.
There also is an important economic element to the mission. In the one important detail from Syria on Wednesday, Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi referred to the “activation” of a $3.6 billion credit line from Iran to prop up Damascus amid the economic difficulties of the conflict.
Guardian Council Says Key Rouhani Organization is Unconstitutional
The Guardian Council has ruled that the Management and Planning Organization is incompatible with the Constitution.
The Organization was dissolved in 2007 on the direct order of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. President Rouhani revived it, soon after his inauguration, as a central part of his initiative to regain control of the Iranian economy and social programs.
Foreign Minister Zarif Meets Russia’s Lavrov in Moscow
Iran’s State news agency IRNA reports on Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s meeting with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, with the two men hailing “collaboration and co-operation over regional issues”.
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs puts out the same line:
#Lavrov: Both parties have confirmed their intention to develop cooperation with a greater focus on stability and security in the region
— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) January 16, 2014
Activist Tabarzadi Imprisoned Again
Activist Heshmatollah Tabarzadi has been arrested again.
Tabarazdi, a leader of protests in 1999, has spent several years in Iranian prisons. He was detained in December 2009 and sentenced the following October to nine years.
See Iran Document: Heshmatollah Tabarzadi Responds to His 9-Year Sentence
While on temporary leave from prison, on the condition of remaining silent, he called for a campaign against executions and for freeing of political prisoners. Shortly afterwards, on January 6,he was summoned back to prison. He refused, calling it “oppression and bullying” and instead chose “civil disobedience”.
