Iran Minister Says Tehran, Moscow To Sign Long-Term Deal

Gen. Mohammad-Reza Naghdi, the coordinating deputy to IRGC commander Hossein Salami, in a speech on Wednesday stressed that Iran needs to rely on its internal capabilities instead of counting on economic improvement through negotiations. He was referring to nuclear talks with the United States and its allies that could lift sanctions and offer the battered economy a lifeline.

Naghdi also repeated criticism by other hardliners that former President Hassan Rouhani linked the fate of the country to negotiations with the West.

Iran’s economy entered a long-lasting crisis after 2018 when former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal known as the JCPOA and imposed sanctions.

Naghdi also urged Iranians to obey Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to achieve a better future. Last week, clerics loyal to Iran’s 83-year-old ruler also praised him as God’s representative and urged obedience.

Anti-regime protests that began last September in Iran were largely directed against Khamenei, who is seen by many as dictating policy at every level and responsible for increasing poverty in the country. Most Iranians are in favor of talks with the West and yearn for the lifting of sanctions to improve their lives.

Protesters also want social and political freedoms and see Khamenei as the leader of hardliners who control the authoritarian government.

Developments during the past few days show that the Iranian regime is infuriated by the growing ties between Israel and regional countries and is trying to take advantage of the protests in Israel to strike blows. 

As Israel opened its embassy in Azerbaijan on Wednesday, Baku’s State Security Service announced that it was investigating "a terror attack" that injured lawmaker Fazil Mustafa, known for his strong anti-Iranian views. He has been hospitalized after receiving wounds to his shoulder and thigh after being shot with a Kalashnikov assault rifle Tuesday night. 

Relations between Azerbaijan and Iran, which has a large population of ethnic Azeris in its northwest, have been strained in recent months after Baku announced plans to open formal diplomatic ties with Israel. In January, Azerbaijan closed its embassy in Tehran after what it called a "terrorist attack" that killed the embassy's head of security.

Moreover, Greek police said Tuesday they had arrested two men from a group that was planning to attack an Israeli restaurant in Athens, a case which Israel said was orchestrated from Iran. The two men, 27 and 29 years old, are Iranian born with Pakistani background. Israel's intelligence service Mossad, which aided Greek authorities with intelligence on the terrorist operation, said, "The investigation exposed that the operation in Greece was part of a vast Iranian network, operated from Iran across many countries."

During the joint press conference after the meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov on Wednesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said, “Iran is a regional threat... Israel and Azerbaijan must share the same understanding regarding the Iranian threat. Iran threats our region, and creates non-stability in the Middle East by supporting and financing terrorism. We should jointly act against Iran. We should not allow Iran to expand its nuclear opportunities.”

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In an online conference with other foreign ministers on Tuesday Cohen said, "Iran's involvement in the war in Ukraine is a wake-up call for democracies across the globe." Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the foreign ministers of France, the Czech Republic, Argentina, Zambia, Liberia, Malawi, Japan and Italy were also attending the meeting.

Also on Tuesday, the spokesman of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) called on Palestinians to take advantage of ongoing protests in Israel to destabilize the country. Brigadier General Ramezan Sharif said that “the occupied territories are the scene of confrontation of a movement within the Zionist regime that wants to stand against the totalitarianism of another wing. This is a golden opportunity for the Palestinian fighters to take advantage of the situation.”

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Iranian officials have rejoiced at the political dispute over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's effort to overhaul the country's judicial system, with hardliner media, mostly controlled by the IRGC, publishing daily articles about a "looming civil war" in Israel and predicting its demise in the near future.

Earlier in the month, Israel’s National Security Council released a statement, cautioning Passover travelers over the possibility of being incidentally harmed in Iranian plots abroad. This year, the holidays – starting on April 5 – coincides with the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which usually sees a surge in terrorist attacks by extremist Islamists. 

Israel’s National Security Council claims the Tehran will continue its attempts to harm Israelis around the world, especially in the countries near Iran in broader West Asia. It emphasized that Iran and its proxies present a particular threat in the United Arab Emirates, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Bahrain, as well as Iraq’s Kurdistan region, where Israelis are prohibited to enter according to Israel’s own laws. 

During the past two years, Israel foiled attacks organized by the IRGC-affiliated agents in Georgia, Turkey, Cyprus and more, the statement read. 

In June 2022, Turkish forces foiled an attempt by Iran's intelligence agents to kill Israelis in Istanbul, arresting eight men. Also in June, security forces in Thailand reportedly thwarted a plot by an Iranian agent to establish a terror cell in the country and carry out attacks against Israelis. In October 2021, Israel said that an Iranian plot against an Israeli businessmen in Cyprus was foiled.

The decades-long shadow war between Iran and Israel across the Middle East and beyond is not so covert anymore, with both countries becoming more vocal – yet tactical -- about their activities against each other.

Since July 2020, a series of spectacular attacks began against Iran’s well-defended nuclear and weapons development sites, as well as key individuals, such as top nuclear official Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in November 2020. Hackings, mysterious fires, sinking of ships and disruption of infrastructure continued until the daylight assassination of a key official, Colonel Hassan Sayyad-Khodaei on May 22, 2022, in Tehran. The man was reportedly the commander of a secretive unit tasked with terror operations abroad.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart that the Islamic Republic believes the continuation of tension in the Caucasus region is not to the benefit of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia, advocating a dialogue to resolve differences.

Amir-Abdollahian arrived in Russia on Tuesday to hold talks with the country's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov over different issues.

During the joint press conference, Lavrov said he hoped what he called "frictions" between Azerbaijan and Iran would soon be resolved.

Relations between Azerbaijan and Iran, which has a large population of ethnic Azeris in its northwest, have been strained in recent months after Baku announced plans to open formal diplomatic ties with Israel.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan's State Security Service said on Wednesday that it was investigating "a terror attack" after a lawmaker with strong anti-Iranian views was wounded in a gun attack at his home.

Regarding the nuclear deal with the West the Iranian foreign minister said Tuesday that “the window of dialogue is still open and one of the topics of the conversation with Lavrov was the JCPOA and the return of parties to their commitments.”

A statement by the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office on Tuesday said Mustafa, who is the head of Azerbaijan's Great Order Party, was attacked by unknown assailants outside his house in the Sabunchi district of capital Baku.

Covering the news of the attack, the Telegram channel affiliated to Iran's IRGC called him "a staunch enemy of Shia Muslims."

"Mustafa received gunshot wounds from an unknown person or persons near his house in Baku. The lawmaker was hospitalized with gunshot wounds in the leg and shoulder," the Interior Ministry said.

Later, the Azerbaijani Parliament said his state of health is assessed as stable.

"A criminal case has been opened following the terrorist act against Azerbaijani MP Fazil Mustafa, Azernews reported, citing the State Security Service of Azerbaijan.

"Comprehensive urgent operational-search measures are being carried out in order to identify the person who committed the terrorist act, and other persons involved in the crime, and bring them to criminal responsibility," the Azerbaijani State Security Service said.

Relations between Tehran and Baku soured more after a gunman assaulted Azerbaijan’s embassy in Iran’s capital Tehran in late January prompting Azerbaijan to evacuate staff and family members from the country. Baku also detained 19 people, alleging that they were working for Iranian intelligence services.

As in some Middle Eastern countries, Tehran sees Azerbaijan’s majority-Shia population as fertile ground for propagating its narratives and creating local proxies to influence Baku’s decision-making.

Vahid Beheshti has been battling the bitter winter outside the UK Foreign Office to raise awareness for the need to designate the Iranian terror group responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Iranian citizens since September.

He has got the attention of key political figures and has been joined by supporters hoping to force the UK government to take action on the brutal security forces.

On Monday, he met with the Minister of State for Security, Tom Tugendhat. Beheshti said, "He expressed his concerns for my health and emphasized that the Government's position is to proscribe the IRGC, but could not share the timescale in which this would happen."

His simple camp outside the Foreign Office has become a meeting place for activists, with others joining him.

His campaign has proven so successful that his name has been frequently mentioned during the sessions of the UK House of Commons. He has repeatedly urged UK lawmakers to hold official meetings with him instead of unofficial visits to his corner, to raise the profile of the issue to the highest echelons

Beheshti’s campaign is even reaching back home.

A boy in Iran holds a placard that urges Beheshti to break his hunger strike

As his body is getting weaker, temperatures at night dropping to freezing, his determination is growing stronger as he has vowed not to break the strike until the IRGC is listed as a terrorist organization.

The 46-year-old journalist is surviving on a daily diet of one cup of coffee, a few cubes of sugar, some salt and “plenty of water”.

“A policy of appeasement with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has not worked in the last 44 years, and it will never work going forward,” Beheshti said last week, calling on Sunak, for “strong leadership” and to stand by his pledge to designate the group before his recent election.

Before embarking on his hunger strike, Beheshti held several meetings with British lawmakers, pleading with them for the proscription, but no action was made.

The tipping point came in February when Iran International was forced to close its London studios after repeated death threats from the regime.“The main point I highlight to British politicians is that their country’s principles are under threat today... I cannot understand why the British police, with all their power, cannot protect journalists against IRGC threats,” Beheshti said.

The Revolutionary Guard is the Islamic Republic’s leading military, intelligence and internal security juggernaut, responsible for cracking down on dissent inside Iran and managing the proxy militias throughout the region including the Houthis in Yemen which have caused devastation to the country.

Beheshti has been actively raising the voice of Iranians among the international community with his numerous interviews, speeches and video messages to global events on the uprising in Iran.

He says the designation is the first practical step toward further isolation of the Islamic Republic and the final overthrow of the regime.

Rallies against the IRGC have taken place globally including just last week in Brussels. The UK’s current list of 78 proscribed terrorist organizations includes Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Several countries including the US, UK and EU have been cautious to designate the IRGC for fear it will further alienate the regime and in turn, limit negotiating capacity regarding its nuclear program.

In December, members of the UK House of Commons unanimously voted for a motion that urges the government to proscribe the IRGC but it has split the House.

Prominent Iranian opposition figures have repeatedly called on London to blacklist the Guards with exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi describing the move as to be akin to “pulling out the regime’s biggest tooth.”

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