Iran Update, April 27, 2023
The domestic Iranian information space is currently shaped such that violence against religious figures is being viewed as part of escalating tensions between the public and Iranian regime.
Iranian state media published slightly differing reports on Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf’s call for privatizing the economy.
Iraqi Interior Minister Abdul Amir al Shammari announced plans to “restore the security situation” in Tarmiyah, Salah al Din Province, Iraq on April 27, which could lead to Iranian-backed Shia militias conducting sectarian cleansing against the local Sunni community under the guise of counter-ISIS operations.
Foreign Affairs Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian met with senior Lebanese politicians during an official visit to Beirut.
The Artesh Navy seized the Chinese-owned, Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Advantage Sweet in the Gulf of Oman.
The Iran-aligned Shia Coordination Framework is trying to further manipulate Iraqi elections processes to consolidate its political power.
IRGC Quds Force Deputy Commander for Abu Kamal Hajj Sajjad met with an unidentified Russian general in Abu Kamal, Deir ez Zor Province.
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-april-27-2023
Mohammad Mohajeri, a conservative himself and former editor of hard-line daily Kayhan, has said in an interview that conservatives believe the current government has left such a bad record that its opponents are highly likely to win the next parliamentary and presidential elections.
“However, their fear may be baseless as the supporter of reformists and a large part of Iranian voters are not willing to take part in the elections,” Mohajeri said, adding that nonetheless, conservatives will continue their smear campaign against relative moderates such as former President Hassan Rouhani, former Majles Speakers Ali Larijani and Ali Akbar Nateq Nouri.
Meanwhile, Mohajeri said in another interview that Iran's reformists and conservatives have influence only among 15 to 20 percent of the society. He also charged that 90 percent of Iran's Friday Prayer Imams belong to the conservative camp and the Friday Prayers are a podium for only one political faction.
President Ebrahim Raisi will visit Damascus on April 3 to initiate several economic projects, possibly to reinvigorate Iran's economy by securing resources outside of Iran.
Protesters in Zahedan, Sistan and Baluchistan Province called for a referendum following prominent Sunni cleric Abdol Hamid’s weekly Friday prayer sermon on April 28, underscoring the extent to which the idea of referenda has permeated the Iranian political discourse.
At least two protests occurred in two cities across one province on April 28.
Western Persian-language media reported that pro-regime actors have been issuing hijab observance warnings to women across Tehran, citing eyewitness accounts.
Pars Special Economic Energy Zone CEO Sakhavat Asadi threatened to dismiss workers who participate in strikes on April 28.
Foreign Affairs Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian stated that Iran and the US concluded a prisoner exchange agreement 13 months ago during a press conference in Beirut on April 28.
The US military is equipping A-10 Warthog aircraft in the Middle East with 250-pound “bunker busting” bombs to deter Iran.
Several Shia Coordination Framework party leaderships held separate meetings with a Kurdistan Workers Party (PUK) delegation, likely to negotiate Kurdish support for the proposed 2023-2025 budget.
The Intelligence and Security Ministry (MOIS) downplayed ongoing poisoning attacks in Iranian schools in a report published on April 28.[21] The MOIS blamed ”mischievous” students using pepper spray, tear gas, stink bombs, and other non-toxic substances for the “malaise” students experienced and emphasized that reported poisoning incidents did not involve poisonous materials. The MOIS also blamed foreign outlets for spreading mass hysteria by reporting school incidents as poisonings reported poisonings on foreign actors. The regime has continuously failed to halt school poisoning attacks, demonstrating that it is either incapable of protecting students or that it is tolerating these attacks, as CTP has previously assessed.[22]
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-april-28-2023
The link 21 is this https://www.farsnews.ir/news/14020208000518/ It's a long document from MOIS in Persian, but it looks like it's edited to make it politically correct. My guess is that they have removed the juicy parts of the original report as it cannot be shown, even to government officials. What remains is gibberish about foreigners and foreign media and some probably real parts about copycats.
There are several comments at the end of the article, and it may be interesting to read them continuously and see what is removed.