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Iran Crisis Update, February 1, 2023

Iranian officials across the political spectrum are cohering around different lessons the regime should draw from the protest movement and how to best respond.
IRGC-affiliated and ultra-hardline individuals advocated for exerting greater control over Iranian youth and women on February 1.
At least one protest occurred in one city across one province on February 1.
Protest organizations called for individual and sustainable acts of anti-regime defiance from February 1-11.
Iranian officials close to President Ebrahim Raisi are attempting to downplay recent criticisms of the Raisi administration.
President Ebrahim Raisi ordered First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber to form a working group to implement Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s economic recommendations.
Anti-regime outlet Iran International published a report claiming that the officials working at the Iranian embassy in Baghdad are involved in an IRGC Quds Force money laundering operation.

A credible, open-source intelligence Twitter account claimed unspecified IRGC forces are preparing to conduct cross-border attacks on anti-regime Kurdish groups along the Iran-Iraqi Kurdistan border.

A possibly Iran-backed militia launched at least eight rockets at the Zilkan Turkish military base near Bashiqa, Nineveh Province, Iraq.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-crisis-update-february-1-2023

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