Iran Democracy Monitor No. 10, May 11, 2006

Editor: Ilan Berman

Ahmadinejad's War on Lax Morals

The government of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is continuing its efforts to clamp down on "immoral behavior" within the Islamic Republic. In recent weeks, regime authorities have reportedly enacted a series of restrictive new social measures aimed at greater regulation of the public conduct of Iranian citizens. Among them is an effort by Tehran's deputy attorney general, Mahmoud Salarkia, to impose a de facto dress code on the city's female population. The regime is also said to have organized some 50 additional patrol groups for its morals police in an effort to more closely monitor "un-Islamic behavior" such as females exposing too much hair or the playing of pop music in public - with violators facing steep fines or jail time. (Berlin Der Spiegel, May 9, 2006)

Iran Expands Iraq Presence

Iran's influence in neighboring Iraq is poised to enter a new phase. Iran's Charge d'Affaires in Iraq, Hossein Zolanvar, has announced that the Islamic Republic will formally re-open its consulate in the southern Iraqi city of Basra "as soon as possible." The move will dramatically upgrade the Islamic Republic's presence in Iraq's heavily-Shi'ite south, where it currently operates a makeshift visa office with permission from the Iraqi government. Iran has already re-opened its consulate in the holy Iraqi city of Karbala. (Persian Journal, May 1, 2006)

Doubts About Dubai

Iranian hardliners are publicly expressing worries about American activities in Iran's sometime regional adversary, the United Arab Emirates. After the U.S. and Europe, "Dubai is the third center of America's political and cultural activities against the Islamic Republic of Iran," writes columnist Sa'adollah Zare'i in the conservative daily Kayhan. "America is especially taking advantage of the United Arab Emirates' claim over the three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf and has centralized its regional activities against Iran in Dubai."

Although this activism is not new, Zare'i warns, Washington now appears to be ramping up its efforts to gain intelligence on the Iranian regime and establish contacts with opposition elements. "The Americans, by establishing an intelligence, cultural and media base in the vicinity of the Iranian borders and by using the Iranian passengers to Dubai, have been trying to send the required intelligence and analyses to their two centers in Europe and the U.S. State Department." (Tehran Kayhan, April 30, 2006)

Tinkering With The U.S.-Turkish Relationship

Iran appears to be trying to drive a wedge between the United States and Turkey through a familiar - and contentious - bilateral issue. "We informed Turkey about American contacts with the [Kurdish Workers Party, or PKK] terrorist organization in Northern Iraq," Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's powerful Supreme National Security Council, told diplomats in Ankara in early May during an official state visit. "We forwarded detailed information about the U.S. meetings with the PKK in Mosul and Kirkuk... these meetings took place at the American military officials' and commanders' level." "According to the information we have, the meeting was last held a month ago," Larijani has claimed. (Istanbul Zaman, May 9, 2006)

Former President to Rally Reformists

Is Mohammad Khatami making a comeback? According to Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a member of the central council of the Militant Clerics Society (and Khatami's former chief-of-staff), Iran's former president has stepped up his political activities in an effort to create greater coordination among segments of Iran's beleaguered "reformist" camp. The reason? "In the last election, the present president managed to go to the second round only with 100,000 votes difference with his rivals," Abtahi explains. "This shows that if the reformers had reduced some of their differences they would have been able to be victorious in the election." (Tehran E'temad, May 7, 2006)

Copyright (c) 2006, American Foreign Policy Council

American Foreign Policy Council, Washington, DC
http://www.afpc.org

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