Iran Crisis Update, February 7, 2023
Multiple Iranian political factions, including hardliners, are coalescing around the assessment that the regime has lost touch with its people.
Senior Iranian officials offered to provide humanitarian aid to Syria and Turkey following a 7.8-magnitude earthquake on February 6 amidst criticisms of the regime’s poor handling of a recent domestic earthquake.
At least two protests occurred in two cities across one province.
The Artesh Air Defense Force unveiled a new underground air base and cruise missile on February 7.
Supreme National Security Council Secretary Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani met with Russian Presidential Assistant Igor Levitin in Moscow.
The Financial Times reported that Tehran has substantially increased its efforts to help Moscow evade oil sanctions in recent months.
Iranian leadership may seek to use unspecified debts and infrastructure projects in Iraq to circumvent sanctions.
Iranian-backed Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) have deployed to Syria to provide humanitarian aid to earthquake victims
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-february-7-2023
Iran Crisis Update, February 8, 2023
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force Commander Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani traveled to Aleppo City, Syria on February 8.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei set rhetorical conditions for how officials should discuss responding to divides between Iranian leadership and its people, suggesting that he may tolerate limited debates on the future of the regime.
At least two protests occurred in two cities across two provinces.
The Iranian Judiciary announced on February 8 that it began releasing prisoners in Alborz, Ghazvin, Semnan, Sistan and Baluchistan, Tehran, and West Azerbaijan Provinces.
Supreme National Security Council Secretary Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani met with Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev in Moscow.
Vice President for Parliamentary Affairs Mohammad Hosseini announced that President Ebrahim Raisi will travel to China at an unspecified time in the near future.
The IRGC Aerospace Force displayed a Shahab-3 missile featuring “Death to Israel” during a military exhibition in Esfahan City, Esfahan Province.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Bagheri Kani and Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani met with Lebanese Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri in Beirut.
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-february-8-2023