Category: Iran

Overview.  Another terrible month for Iran as the regime struggles to manage a sharp deterioration in the value of the rial and spike in inflation. These twin factors will hamstring economic recovery and hopes for job creation as the C19 pandemic continues to weigh heavily on the economy, exacerbating structural weaknesses and straining state finances.………

Overview.  Iran ‘reopened’ for business in the latter half of May as pressure to revive the battered economy has won out against medical advice to the contrary. With case numbers still rising, community spread will continue and the death toll rise. Politics has also restarted with a new session and a new speaker in the…

Overview.  New reported cases of C19 peaked in early April, although the daily death toll seems not to have followed suit. Following the Nowruz holiday, Iranians start to resume some pre-pandemic routines, as businesses slowly reopen and travel restrictions ease. Like governments elsewhere, Rouhani’s administration is fighting domestic critics of its pandemic response and struggling…

Overview. The spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus (C19) continued apace across Iran. Until late in this reporting period, Iranian officials resisted the enforced social distancing measures seen in other parts of the world. Iranians spent the Persian New Year (Nowruz) fearful; some for their lives and many for their livelihoods.…… Read the rest

Overview. As if Iran’s people needed further bad news after an appalling January, the arrival of Covid-19, its rapid spread and a number of fatalities probably signal worse economic news to come. The Iranian rial fell further in response to the outbreak and FATF’s decisions to re-impose countermeasures after the latest reform deadline passed without…

Overview. Iranian resistance to the US campaign of Maximum Pressure through deniable actions and regional proxies attracted little military response in 2019 from the US. That ended this month. Iranian national morale, national unity and faith in the Islamic Revolutionary regime is at rock bottom after the death of its feted Quds Force commander and…