Iran Crisis Update, February 2, 2023
A group of pragmatic hardliners are continuing to cohere around calls for the regime to reconcile with its alienated population in the wake of the Mahsa Amini protests.
At least one protest occurred in one city across one province.
Iranian regime-affiliated news outlets confirmed reports that one hundred protesters chanted anti-regime slogans and damaged pro-regime symbols in Abdanan, Ilam Province on February 1.
Armed Forces General Staff Chief Major General Mohammad Bagheri called for expanding ties with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)
A senior Iranian diplomat explicitly blamed Israel for the January 28 drone attack on a military munitions factory in Esfahan City, Esfahan Province for the first time and warned of Iran’s right to retaliation.
Information and Communications Technology Minister Issa Zahreh Pour announced on February 2 that unknown actors conducted a cyberattack that significantly impacted Iranian internet infrastructure on January 24.
President Ebrahim Raisi defended his administration’s economic policies amidst growing criticism.
The Israeli Air Force conducted an airstrike on two Hamas weapons manufacturing facilities in the Gaza Strip.
Turkish forces have likely withdrawn from a military checkpoint located in Qastoun, Syria.
The Iraqi and Saudi governments signed a memorandum of understanding to link Iraq’s electrical grid to the Saudi electrical grid on February 2
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-crisis-update-february-2-2023
Iran Crisis Update, February 3, 2023
The Iranian regime is in a steady pattern of escalation with prominent Sunni cleric Moulana Abdol Hamid, which risks stoking sectarian tensions in Iran.
At least four protests occurred in four cities across three provinces.
An Israeli open-source Twitter account tweeted a claim that the recent Israeli kamikaze drone strike in Esfahan targeted a centrifuge assembly facility.
Several protest groups, including the Iranian Neighborhood Youth Union, circulated posts calling on “Turks” to publicly condemn the regime oppression of Iranian Baloch.
The Iranian-backed Fatemiyoun Division delivered a shipment of drones and rockets to the Mahin military storage facility near al Qaryatayn, Homs Province in Syria, according to anti-regime outlet Qasioun News.
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-crisis-update-february-3-2023