Iran Crisis Update, March 28, 2023
IRGC Ground Forces Commander Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour claimed foreign-backed threats are the source of unrest in Sistan and Baluchistan Province, possibly to set conditions to degrade Prominent Sunni Cleric Moulana Abol Hamid’s anti-regime following in Zahedan.
At least ten protests occurred in ten cities across 8 provinces in Iran.
Raisi administration officials continued to discuss Iran’s economic problems without presenting meaningful solutions to alleviate them.
The Iranian rial depreciated from 511,500 rials to one US dollar on March 27 to 524,500 rials to one US dollar.
Foreign Affairs Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian stated that Iran responded to an invitation by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for President Ebrahim Raisi to visit Saudi Arabia at an unspecified date.
The Israeli Mossad issued a statement announcing that it aided Greek authorities thwart a plot by two Pakistani nationals with connections to Iran to attack Israeli and Jewish targets in Greece.
The Emtidad Movement – an independent political bloc in Iraqi Parliament – announced that the party submitted an appeal on March 27 to overturn a list of election laws passed on March 26.
An IRGC Quds Force (QF) delegation visited locations struck by US airstrikes in Deir ez Zor Province, Syria on March 27, likely to assess and reconstitute forces.
The US and UK jointly sanctioned seven individuals affiliated with Lebanese Hezbollah and the Assad regime for their involvement in the production and exportation of captagon.
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-march-28-2023
Iran Crisis Update, March 29, 2023
Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian alluded to Iranian involvement in the recent attacks on US bases in Syria during his meeting with Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia.
President Ebrahim Raisi announced temporary economic solutions on March 29 that will likely not alleviate Iran’s economic problems in the long term.
Some regime officials are increasingly advocating for a social pressure campaign to enforce the mandatory hijab law.
At least three protests occurred in three cities across two provinces in Iran.
Iran cancelled its contracts with the Assad regime to rehabilitate two power stations in Aleppo and Hama provinces.
Unidentified militants gunned down a Shia family in Al Khalis district, Diyala Province.
The Iraqi Wisdom Movement party and the Coordination Framework – a loose coalition of pro-Iranian political parties – are negotiating an agreement to remove judges from Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) according to a statement given to Iraqi news outlet Al Mada.
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-march-29-2023