{"id":6229,"date":"2019-02-09T01:03:27","date_gmt":"2019-02-08T22:03:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/?p=6229"},"modified":"2019-02-09T01:03:27","modified_gmt":"2019-02-08T22:03:27","slug":"velayat-e-faqih-has-failed-and-the-red-meat-crisis-in-the-islamic-republic-worsens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/monitoring-and-translation\/iran-in-a-week\/velayat-e-faqih-has-failed-and-the-red-meat-crisis-in-the-islamic-republic-worsens\/","title":{"rendered":"Velayat-e Faqih Has Failed, and the Red Meat Crisis in the Islamic Republic Worsens"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nThe European Union Changes its Position<\/span><\/strong>
\nThe editorial of Arman Emrooz deals with the recent European Union (EU) statement, which was issued after launching an alternative financing mechanism for doing business with Iran and it expressed serious concerns over the Islamic Republic\u2019s missile testing and its activities.
\nThe EU statement commends the Islamic Republic\u2019s commitment to the full implementation of its obligations with regard to the nuclear deal. Yet it expresses serious concerns over Tehran\u2019s missile activities, asking the Islamic Republic to avoid these actions particularly that of launching missiles in defiance of the UNSCR 2231. Given the relatively good relations between Iran and the EU during the past three years, it is hard to predict with certainty which direction the relations are heading for.
\nThe editorial continues by mentioning that there is now a change in the EU\u2019s behavior and position with regard to the nuclear deal. The EU\u2019s position was that the nuclear deal is apart from other issues related to the Islamic Republic. When the Islamic Republic is acting in accordance with its obligations to the IAEA and NPT, the statement shouldn\u2019t have dealt with issues that are not related to the nuclear deal and its details.
\nHowever, the issued statement contradicts the EU\u2019s earlier stand. The statement can be worrying and might end in Europe and the United States getting closer to each other, thus undermining Europe\u2019s decisive position with regard to the nuclear deal. The longstanding political relations between the United States and the EU must not be forgotten.
\nThe editorial suggests that what Iran can do is to enhance and expand the level of dialogue between different groups of people in Iran and Europe. Therefore, the issue of the nuclear deal must be brought to the domain of public diplomacy, and NGOs, academics, elites, and journalists must get involved in this domain to prepare the ground for dialogue.
\nArman Emrooz \u2013 February 6<\/a><\/p>\n

Unemployed University Graduates in Iran<\/span><\/strong>
\nThe editorial of Mardomsalari newspaper focuses on the shocking statistics of the rate of unemployed among university graduates in Iran.
\nThe statistics show that 75% of the unemployed are university graduates. The Iranian youth spend the best years of their lives in universities, imposing many costs on their families and society to get an academic degree. Nevertheless, eventually, academic degrees are worthless, making it impossible for these people to be absorbed by the labour market.
\nThe editorial goes on to say that unlike in developed countries, having an academic degree in Iran doesn\u2019t increase the chance of employment; on the contrary, these degrees decrease the probability of employment for the graduates. This hasn\u2019t happened overnight. The officials have been warned for years that increasing the number of students without paying attention to the labour market \u2013 particularly given the fact that the graduates do not have the proper training for the market \u2013 will add fuel to the unemployment crisis.
\nThis warning was not taken seriously. Due to the expansion of universities with no acceptable standards, the number of graduates with little knowledge and no skills has increased. On the other hand, a considerable increase in the statistics of applicants for postgraduate studies indicates that graduate students apply for higher degrees because they haven`t found proper jobs. However, this means more expenses, wastage of time, and lost opportunities.
\nThe editorial asserts that they are now talking about an increase in the number of Ph.D. graduates. Annually 30,000 Ph.D. graduates are added to the unemployed in Iran. It is about time officials should think of a solution to put an end to this situation. Only those who are qualified must be accepted to postgraduate and Ph.D. studies; the capacity in universities must be in accordance with the labour market, and students must have adequate training for the market.
\nMardomsalari\u2013 February 5<\/a><\/p>\n

Revisiting the Government\u2019s Relationship with its People on the Revolutions 40th Anniversary<\/span><\/strong>
\nThe 40th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution has coincided with vicissitudes in both the domestic and international spheres. The editorial of Arman Emrooz goes over the relationship between the Government and the people particularly focusing on their rights.
\nThe Republicans\u2019 gaining power in the United States and a new cold war between the east and west indicate that there are new conditions for Iran\u2019s presence on the international level. On the other hand, economic and managerial crises in Iran, along with extensive corruption, has had an inevitable impact on the Iranian people.
\nThe editorial continues to mention that even though the Iranian people have faced war and sanctions before, what adds to the complexity of sanctions and tensions now is the increasing frustration due to extensive corruption and inequality among different groups of people, elites, and officials. Any political system needs the public\u2019s support to overcome the crises it is facing.
\nLikewise, the Government\u2019s duty is to provide a proper life for the people in which they can personally flourish and enjoy welfare. If people are used as soldiers to support the establishment, the Government, must not forget that it must provide livelihood, jobs and social welfare for the people. It seems that this mutual relationship has become one-sided, with the Government\u2019s demands outweighing its ability to fulfill its duties.
\nThe editorial goes on to say that the Iranian Revolution is now facing serious challenges. It must announce its own policies for Iranian society while fighting corruption and inequality. If the revolution is to continue under the current sensitive conditions, it requires the reconstruction of mutual relations between the Government and the people; with the Government meeting public demands.
\nThe editorial concludes by mentioning that the most significant right of the people on the government is to enjoy livelihood, freedom, and security \u2013 to which the Government must pay attention.
\nArman Emrooz \u2013 February 4<\/a><\/p>\n

Can Trade with Europe be Turned into an Opportunity?<\/span><\/strong>
\nBritain, Germany, and France \u2013 and not the European Union \u2013 announced their financial mechanism to cooperate with Iran, even though there has been a delay due to their own differences and Trump\u2019s pressure. The editorial of Setareh Sobh daily focuses on how Iran can change this into an opportunity.
\nThis is a step forward and can save Iran\u2019s economy from the suffocation it is experiencing under the current US sanctions, holds the editorialist. Under the present conditions when Iran is facing Trump\u2019s excessive pressures, the Europeans\u2019 move must be deemed as a step forward and an opportunity for Iran to form strategic cooperation with Europe. First, Iran can use this opportunity to stand up to Trump and sidestep the sanctions. Second, the oil revenues must be kept in the euro. Third, the country\u2019s banking and financial problems can be solved.
\nFour features of this mechanism — which was previously called the Special Purpose Vehicle and is now named as INSTEX — are: 1) it works like a \u2018clearing house\u2019 in double accounting where debts are cleared with credits. 2) The clearing of accounts takes place in two Iranian and European chambers. 3) It is a \u2018barter arrangement\u2019 that takes place outside the financial system dominated by America. 4) The details of the programs and activities will be formed as it moves forward.
\nThe editorial adds that this fluid structure will help both sides to regulate their future activities based on needs and requirements, as well as global standards. This will allow Iran to improve the level of the country\u2019s obsolete banking system to international standards and to provide for the country\u2019s extensive trade needs.
\nThe editorial concludes by saying that this European measure can help in bringing stability back to the Iranian market which has experienced severe challenges due to US economic sanctions.
\nSetareh Sobh \u2013 February 3<\/a><\/p>\n

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Velayat-e Faqih has Failed
\n\"\"<\/span><\/strong>
\nOn the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Islamic Republic in Iran, a group of prominent Iranian Muslim thinkers have issued a statement, emphasizing that the idea of a state based on Velayat-e Faqih [Islamic jurisprudence] has totally failed. They have called for the separation of religion from the state in Iran.
\nThe signatories of the statement urge that even though the current government in Iran was formed after a popular, anti-despotic revolution, it has reproduced despotism in a religious form. They have also called for equality in the religious, gender, language, and ethnic spheres, as well as the recognition of the rights of all Iranian citizens.
\nThe thinkers who have signed the statement hold that the 40-year experience of the Islamic Republic shows that deploying the principles of the past centuries has resulted in destruction and disaster while making society imbued with poverty, discrimination, and corruption.
\nThe statement reads: the Islamic Republic, with its shallow religious jurisprudence and its adventurism in the international domain, has inflicted a heavy burden on Iran\u2019s economy, rights, politics, women and ethnic and religious minorities under Velayat-e Faqih.
\nAccording to these thinkers, the religious state in Iran has manifested itself to the people \u2013 particularly the youth \u2013 in the form of floggings, amputations, forced hijab, and the state policing morality. Moreover, it interferes in the private sphere in the name of enjoining good and prohibiting evil, bans music and concerts, allocates significant amounts of money to religious propaganda organizations, creates a mass following for religious figures, and it indulges in despotism, torture, and mass executions as witnessed in the 1980s. In addition, it has been known for practicing discrimination against women, religion and other minorities, and structural corruption.
\nZeitoon<\/a><\/p>\n

Will INSTEX Solve the Islamic Republic\u2019s Economic Problems?<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nBritain, Germany, and France eventually announced launching a special financial mechanism for Iran called INSTEX (Instrument In Support of Trade Exchange), a system that is meant to help non-dollar trade with Iran and avoid US sanctions.
\nEven though the details of INSTEX have not been announced yet, it seems that as a first step, it is just for food, drugs and medical equipment that are not directly under the US sanctions. According to documents published by the European Troika, this financial channel works within the legal framework of the United Nations and the European Union, anti-money laundering laws (AML), and combatting the financing of terrorism (CFT). It is also urged that observing FATF recommendations be stipulated as one of the working regulations for INSTEX.
\nIran\u2019s Chief Justice Sadegh Larijani reacted to the preconditions set by the Europeans for implementing INSTEX and called them \u201chumiliating\u201d. In addition, Mohsen Rezaee, secretary to the Expediency Council, posted a tweet in this regard, calling setting precondition for INSTEX \u201cextortion\u201d. He wrote, \u201cINSTEX is a channel for bartering and goods. After so much delay, tying AML and CFT to INSTEX is extortion. The Europeans must fulfill their obligations in the nuclear deal and should not set new conditions for us.\u201d
\nFollowing the announcement of INSTEX, the European Union issued a statement, expressing serious concern over Tehran\u2019s ballistic missile activities, asking the Islamic Republic to stop these activities particularly launching ballistic missiles.
\nThe EU statement addresses a wide range of issues related to Iran including its ballistic missile program, Tehran\u2019s role in the region, launching INSTEX, Iran\u2019s commitment to its obligation within JCPOA framework, and Tehran\u2019s hostile activities in some European capitals. The statement emphasized Iran`s efforts to increase the range and precision of its missiles, adding that such activities foster distrust and instability in the region.
\nGooya news<\/a>
\nRadio Farda<\/a><\/p>\n

The Red Meat Crisis Continues on the 40th Anniversary of the Islamic Revolution<\/span><\/strong>
\n\"\"
\nThe Tehran prosecutor announced two meat importers who violated the law have been arrested. Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi added he has issued an order to seal off a store that sold meat at 150 thousand tomans per kilogram.
\nThe red meat market has been hit by a crisis due to its skyrocketing prices on one hand and a lack of policymaking to decrease its price on the other. Red meat is sold at more than 100 thousand tomans a kilogram in Tehran these days. Although its price is lower in the stores where governmental food support packages and imported meat are presented, people have to stand in queues from 5 a.m. to buy it, as its amount is limited.
\nThis is happening despite the unprecedented increase in the import of meat, which reached 188 percent in the first 10 months of this year, compared to last year, according to the head of the Iranian Customs Organization.
\nAn official in the Ministry of Agriculture stated the reason for the rising prices of meat is smuggling livestock. He added that US sanctions affecting foreign currency in the country have played a major role in this regard as well. Moreover, the head of the central union of Iran\u2019s animal farmers has said smuggling meat to Arab countries, especially Iraq, has worsened the crisis. He added nearly one million livestock is smuggled into Arab countries on a yearly basis; that is, 200 thousand tons of red meat.
\nHowever, the statistics announced by officials is much less than what people living near the borders and smugglers say. It should also be mentioned that no serious obstacle exists in the path of livestock smugglers. According to the people living near borders, the livestock, which is smuggled out of Iran usually, returns to the country through import and sold at a much higher price.
\nMizan online news agency<\/a>
\nRFI news<\/a><\/p>\n

The Oil Minister: US Sanctions are Tougher than the War with Iraq<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nThe Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh admitted that the US sanctions against Iran are tougher than the 8-year war with Iraq.
\nSpeaking at a press conference in Tehran, Namdar Zanganeh complained that no country buys oil from Iran. He added the Europeans, except for Turkey, have not purchased oil from Iran. Although Greece and Italy have been granted exemptions to buy oil from Iran, they refuse to do so, said Zanaganeh, adding that those countries do not even announce the reason for it.
\nThe entire export of Iran\u2019s crude oil shows more than a 50% decrease after the US pulling out of the nuclear deal, dropping to 1 million bpd.
\nZanganeh then pointed to Iraq\u2019s lack of interest in cooperation with Iran and not accepting partnership in two small oil fields in Khorramshahr and Naft Shahr. \u201cWe used to swap 11 thousand barrels of oil from Kirkuk,\u201d said Zanganeh, \u201cbut they even stopped that after the sanctions.\u201d Zanganeh also said Iraq owes $2 billion to Iran for importing gas and electricity but it refuses to pay Iran due to the sanctions.
\nIran has five big joint oil fields with Iraq \u2013 with Iraq producing twice as much oil as Iran from these fields.
\nThe United States exempted Iraq from the sanctions to import Iran\u2019s gas, but the exemption is valid until spring. Iraq says it needs Iran\u2019s gas for producing electricity. Iran also exports electricity to Iraq directly.
\nBBC Persian<\/a>
\nRadio Farda<\/a><\/p>\n

The IRGC Threatens Europe with a Strategic Leap in its Missile Program<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nThe IRGC second-in-command, Brigadier-General Hossein Salami, called the Islamic Republic\u2019s missile capacity unstoppable and uncontrollable, adding that if the Europeans are after \u201cconspiring to disarm Iran\u2019s missile program, we have to turn to taking a strategic leap\u201d. In an interview with the Iran state-run TV, Salami mentioned that the Islamic Republic has \u201cenemies\u201d that are after undermining it and want to \u201cdisarm the Iranian nation through mental, political, economic pressure.\u201d
\nSalami emphasized that nobody should even make any recommendations or demands with regard to Iran\u2019s missilee programs as it might make the Islamic Republic change its \u201cpreemptive strategy\u201d. The fixed range of Iranian missile, stressed Salami, is not because of technical issues, but due to the Islamic Republic\u2019s strategy.
\nThe IRGC second-in-command added that the Islamic Republic has no limit for increasing the range, precision, and the desired destructive power of the missiles. In another part of his interview, he went on to threaten Israel, saying if it starts another war in the region, it will be annihilated.
\nCurrently, the range of Iran\u2019s mid-range missiles is 2000km, which can reach Israel and the European Union.
\nOne of the reasons the United States withdrew from the nuclear deal was the Islamic Republic\u2019s missile activities. Recently the European Union has issued a statement expressing concerns over Tehran\u2019s missile program considering it as a serious threat to stability in the region.
\nDespite the international pressure on Iran to stop developing its missile program, the Islamicc Republic\u2019s defense ministry recently announced the delivery of long-range Hoveizeh cruise missile to IRGC\u2019s Aerospace, while showing footages of this missile being fired. Hoveizeh is said to have a range of 1350km and can be used against land targets.
\nDeutsche Welle<\/a>
\nIran International<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The European Union Changes its Position The editorial of Arman Emrooz deals with the recent European Union (EU) statement, which was issued after launching an alternative financing mechanism for doing business with Iran and it expressed serious concerns over the Islamic Republic\u2019s missile testing and its activities. The EU statement commends the Islamic Republic\u2019s commitment […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":4612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[2819,2978,481,2977,355,430,2288,2975,2723,2976,1693],"class_list":["post-6229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iran-in-a-week","tag-cft","tag-economic-problems","tag-fatf","tag-instex","tag-irgc","tag-jcpoa","tag-missile-program","tag-oil-minister","tag-us-sanctions","tag-velayat-e","tag-islamic-revolution"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6229"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6238,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6229\/revisions\/6238"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}